Handmade Or Rip-Off?

It's one of the fun things about taking a trip - bringing back souvenirs. But if it's Native American art you're after, you'd better be a careful shopper. CBS News Consumer Correspondent Herb Weisbaum reported on CBS This Morning with some important information every tourist needs to know.

Selling American Indian crafts to tourists is big business. In fact, it's now a billion-dollar-a-year industry. The market is being flooded with counterfeits...copycat craftwork that wasn't crafted by Indians at all. Some of the fakes aren't even made in the USA!

With its desert climate and rich cultural heritage, it's easy to see why tourists flock to the American Southwest. And with so many stores selling Southwestern art, it's easy to see why people buy a couple of things to bring home. Just don't assume everything that looks like Indian art is genuine. There's a good chance it's not.

According to Martin Link, who publishes a paper that tracks Indian art and crafts, "You have people out there who think they're getting the real thing, and they're being duped."

Carlton Jamon makes the real thing. He's a silversmith on the Zuni Pueblo outside Gallup, N.M. "It hurts my livelihood, you know. That's how I make a living," says Jamon. "Whoever is doing the importing or the manufacturing, they don't realize how many people they're hurting."

So just how widespread is the problem? New Mexico Attorney General Tom Udall says probably 30 to 40 percent of what's on the market is counterfeit. "This is a big and very serious problem in New Mexico and all across the Southwest," says Udall.

Tony Eriacho is another Zuni artist who collects these fakes. He says most tourists never know they're being ripped off. "You put some of them side by side with pieces that are done here in Zuni, and it's awful hard to tell the difference," Eriacho notes.

Federal law says all of these imported items must be indelibly marked with the country of origin. But most copycat manufacturers don't do that. Eriacho points out, "All they have to do is just cut the little tag off, peel the sticker off, put it on cards that say 'Indian Handmade,' like that."

To find out just what tourists are up against, CBS News Consumer Correspondent Herb Weisbaum went undercover shopping. At one shop, he found a traditional necklace. The salesman assured him that both the thunderbird and the beads were turquoise. He took the necklace to Albuquerque jewelry dealer Joe Dan Lowry, who knew right away the beads weren't the gemstone turquoise. "No. It's plastic. But it is turquoise colored," Lowry confirmed.

Herb got more bad news about the earrings he bought at another store. The card says "genuine Indian handcrafted." In this case, that meant someone's hand put together a bunch o parts made by machine.

But some stores do a good job of letting customers know what they're buying. At the Covered Wagon in Albuquerque, Herb found lots of signs like the one saying "not Indian made but good value." Manny Goodman, who owns the store, says "I think that's good for business." But there are plenty of other places willing to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists.

If you're shopping for something of value, make sure you do your homework first. Certificates of authenticity are pre-made forms that are completely worthless. And unless you know the terminology, you can be told what you're getting and still be confused or deceived. For instance, "handmade" means the entire item was made by hand. "Handcrafted" means only part of the work was done by hand.

The problem of counterfeit crafts is not limited to the American Southwest. It's happening wherever native artwork is popular, including in the Northwest and in Alaska. So the message is clear: tourists beware!

More tips on how not to get ripped off from the New Mexico Attorney General's Office