[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 113 (Thursday, July 13, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1437]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            ELIMINATION OF THE INDIAN ARTS AND CRAFTS BOARD

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                            HON. TIM JOHNSON

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 13, 1995
  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition 
to the elimination of funds for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board at the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Board is the primary Federal advocate for 
American Indian and Alaska Native art and its interconnected economic, 
cultural, social, and spiritual purposes. I feel strongly that the 
activities of the Board are in large part responsible for the explosion 
of interest in contemporary Native American arts and crafts in recent 
years, laying the ground work for long-term economic benefits to Indian 
tribes.
  The Board is the only Federal program concerned with increasing the 
economic benefits of American Indian creative work. According to a 1985 
Congressionally-mandated Commerce Department study, annual sales of 
Indian handicrafts and other artwork are over $1 billion. Many 
producers reside on their own reservations, however American Indians 
and tribes control only a small portion of this market. The Board 
engages in a variety of promotional efforts to change that. For 
example, the Board's source directory publication is the primary means 
of establishing direct contact between consumers and Indian producers 
at an annualized cost of $50,000--this publication will end with the 
termination of the Board.
  Federal expenditures for social programs continue to exceed 
investments for economic growth in Indian country. I feel strongly that 
the role of the Federal Government must be to encourage tribal self-
sufficiency at every opportunity and to prioritize programs which 
enhance economic growth for tribal communities. Without the Board, the 
Federal Government will no longer have the capacity to provide economic 
development assistance for Indian art to the 554 federally-recognized 
tribes and their thousands of artists and crafts people.
  Additionally, the Board has been charged by the Congress with 
developing regulations and administering, on an ongoing basis, the 
Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-6440), which 
provides specific legal protection for Indian art producers. This 
congressional charge of responsibility reflects the unique expertise of 
the Board relative to marketing Indian arts and crafts. Abolishing the 
Board will deprive the Secretary of the Interior of the expertise 
necessary to fulfill this congressional mandate.
  The Board maintains outstanding collections of contemporary and 
historic American Indian and Alaska Native art (23,000 objects), which 
are a multi-million dollar promotional asset and include over 50 
percent of the artwork managed by the Department of the Interior 
nationwide. The Board's collection's will require continued management 
and protection and should not be hastily dispersed, as they include 
objects that some tribes consider sacred, as well as objects of 
cultural patrimony under the Native American Graves Protection and 
Repatriation Act (Public Law 101-601). Although the board's collections 
are well cared for, management of museum property in general is 
currently identified as one of the most critical department material 
weaknesses under the Federal Financial Manager's Integrity Act. 
Abolishing the Board will add to, not diminish, this departmental 
material weakness.
  Mr. Speaker, two thirds of these collections are located at the three 
Indian museums operated by the Board in reservation areas in Montana, 
Oklahoma, and my State of South Dakota. They are major economic, 
cultural and educational attractions in their regions. In Browning, MT, 
annual attendance at the Museum of the Plains Indians averages over 
78,000. Annual attendance at the Southern Plains Indian Museum in 
Anadarko, OK, and the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City, SD, averages 
over 41,000. For $600,000 per year, the Board maintains its collections 
and operates these three museums with contemporary exhibitions and 
sales of the work of emerging Indian artists These museums, and the 
museum sales shops operated by local Indian organizations, will close 
their doors if funding for the Indian Arts and Crafts board is 
eliminated.
  Closing the Sioux Indian Museum in South Dakota will have an 
especially adverse effect, as the city of Rapid City has just voted 
$11,000,000 of local tax funds to build an innovative new museum 
facility which will include the Board's Sioux Indian Museum collection 
at no additional cost to the Federal Government. It would have a 
projected operating deficit of $169,000 without the Board's continued 
financial participation in maintaining the Board's own collection. That 
level of operating deficit will undermine Rapid City's plans to raise 
$1.6 million in additional capital from private foundations required to 
complete the project, which is expected to attract at least 182,000 
annual visitors and to generate a direct spending impact of $3.6 
million annually on the regional economy.
  There are nine federally recognized tribes in South Dakota, whose 
members collectively make up one of the largest native American 
populations in any State. At the same time, South Dakota has 3 of the 
10 poorest counties in the Nation, all of which are within reservation 
boundaries. While the elimination of the Board would be a direct blow 
to the encouragement and development of native American arts and crafts 
in South Dakota as a sound source for economic growth, I believe the 
repercussions of the board's termination will be felt nationwide.


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