A Florida man is charged with pretending to be Native American and selling his jewelry as “Native American-made” in northern Wisconsin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin has announced.
Jose Farinango Muenala, 45, of Casselberry, Fla., allegedly sold the misrepresented jewelry during the Loon Day Festival in Mercer, in violation of the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a truth-in-marketing law.
“The Act is intended to rid the Indian arts and crafts marketplace of fakes to protect economic livelihoods and cultural heritage of Indian artists, craftspeople and their tribes, as well as the buying public,” said Meridith Stanton, director of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board, in a statement. “Authentic Indian art and craftwork is an important tool for passing down cultural traditions, traditional knowledge and artistic skills from one generation to the next.”
She said Farinango Muenala marketed and sold his work pretending to be a member of the Pueblo Nation of New Mexico.
U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O’Shea said in a statement the indictment alleges Farinango Muenala devised his scheme to defraud from Dec. 3, 2015, to Jan. 17, 2024, when he applied to art shows across the country to sell his jewelry.
The indictment alleges Farinango Muenala also committed mail and wire fraud in connection with the scheme.
“There is harm in falsely presenting something as authentic Native American-made art when it is not,” said Karen Ann Hoffman, a renowned Oneida Nation beadwork artist from Wisconsin. “In addition to being a violation of federal law, it is fraud and theft perpetrated on both the buyer and the authentic Native American artist who should have had the sale.”
Farinango Muenala faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the mail and wire fraud charges and five years in prison for misrepresentation of Indian produced goods.
The charges were the result of an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior’s Indian Arts and Craft Board.
“Safeguarding Native American culture, traditions and the consumers who purchase authentic Native American art are a critical part of these investigations,” said Edward Grace, assistant director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Office of Law Enforcement, in a statement.
Farinango Muenala's first court appearance is scheduled for July 30.
Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-
More: Tribal leaders in Wisconsin warn of ‘pretendians’ after Madison arts leader accused of pretending to be Native American resigns UW residency
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Florida man indicted in Wisconsin on charges of selling fake Native American jewelry
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