Indigenous artists and allies are mourning the death of Lucinda Turner, a British Columbian artist who worked to expose fraudulent Indigenous artworks, and helped repatriate Indigenous artifacts to their rightful owners.
‘These things have got to be stopped. We need the government’s help. It’s like the dreamcatcher coming from Taiwan or China. Buyer beware.’ Victoria carver Richard Hunt
First Nations art, from hand-carved masks to totem poles, draws on generations of tradition and skill and can take months to craft. But a flood of fakes and commercial knock-offs produced in Asia and eastern Europe are exploiting Indigenous culture, the artists say, and robbing them of revenue.