New law restricts export of sacred Native American items from US

Pictured are drawings from an 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures, created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other notable measures. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers
Pictured are drawings from an 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures, created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other notable measures. Image courtesy of LiveAuctioneers
These drawings are from Jesse Walter Fewkes’ 1894 anthropological book on katchina or katsina figures created by the native Pueblo people of the Southwestern United States, who regard them as spiritually important. On December 21, President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act (aka the STOP Act) into law, which prohibits the export of sacred Native American items, among other cultural measures. Public domain image

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) – Federal penalties have increased under a newly signed law intended to protect the cultural patrimony of Native American tribes, immediately making some crimes a felony and doubling the prison time for anyone convicted of multiple offenses. President Joe Biden signed the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony Act on Dec. 21, a bill that had been introduced since 2016. Along with stiffer penalties, it prohibits the export of sacred Native American items from the U.S. and creates a certification process to distinguish art from sacred items.

Continue reading