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.

One of the well-known Indigenous artists to have images of their work reproduced without permission is Victoria carver Richard Hunt.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e stopped people making postcards of my work IB次元官网网址檝e found out about. In Bali, Indonesia, they are making northwest coast masks. They are selling them as Indigenous,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淭hese things have got to be stopped. We need the governmentB次元官网网址檚 help. ItB次元官网网址檚 like the dreamcatcher coming from Taiwan or China. Buyer beware.B次元官网网址�

The federal government is facing calls to take action, including from a senator who wants a reform to copyright law, a unit to help Indigenous artists track down fakes and stronger border checks for art in Indigenous styles.

Hunt said raising tariffs on imports of copies could slow them down but he said the fakes were being mass produced, undercutting genuine Indigenous artists and making it harder for young First Nations carvers to make a living in what he said is a $1-billion industry.

Sen. Patricia Bovey, the first art historian to sit in the Senate, said the industry of fake Indigenous art may be worth millions of dollars and breaches artistsB次元官网网址� intellectual property rights.

She is lobbying the government to reform copyright law to give more protection to Indigenous artists against unscrupulous businesses reproducing their images without their knowledge.

The unauthorized and fake Indigenous works range from reproductions of First Nations art on T-shirts, bedspreads, plastic bowls and bags, to carved masks and totem poles made from wood grown in Southeast Asia.

Many of these are near-exact copies of original works in galleries in Canada and the problem is acute with West Coast art.

Bovey wants ministers to set up a unit to help Indigenous artists whose work is being reproduced without their knowledge track down and chase those who infringed their copyright, at least so they get paid.

Not only are Indigenous artists having their creations purloined, she says, but people buying Indigenous work in Canada and abroad may have little idea it may be fake or has been produced without the artistB次元官网网址檚 permission.

Bovey was shocked to find that some images on orange T-shirts made following the discovery of unmarked graves last year were reproduced without the artistsB次元官网网址� knowledge by companies making a profit, not raising funds for Indigenous causes.

She warns buyers of Indigenous work to ask before they purchase where the work came from, whether it was made with the permission of the artist and whether the artist is being paid.

B次元官网网址淭his is a really serious issue,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 plagiarizing the work, itB次元官网网址檚 appropriating the work and both are wrong and the artists donB次元官网网址檛 have the resources to fight all this in the court.B次元官网网址�

Helping Indigenous artists reclaim their copyright would be an example of B次元官网网址渞econcili-action,B次元官网网址� the senator added.

She wants an upcoming review of the Copyright Act by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez and Minister of Innovation and Science Francois-Phillippe Champagne to include protections for Indigenous works, which she says are integral to CanadaB次元官网网址檚 culture and history.

Not only should there be specific safeguards for artists but a mechanism to track down companies fabricating Indigenous works, or failing to pay artistsB次元官网网址� royalties, including in China and eastern Europe, she said.

B次元官网网址淲e all have a responsibility for this. We need to find ways to support artists who are maligned that way to have legal funds,B次元官网网址� she said.

Alex Wellstead, spokesman for Champagne, said the review of the Copyright Act would B次元官网网址渇urther protect artists and creators and copyright holders.B次元官网网址�

He said B次元官网网址淚ndigenous Peoples and artists will be consulted in the process.B次元官网网址�

Current copyright law offers protection for Indigenous craftsmen and women, including Inuit sculptors and jewellers, but Bovey said the process is so complex and time-consuming to chase, few artists have the time to pursue it.

She also wants closer checks at borders and investigations of the provenance and destination of art in Canadian Indigenous styles, particularly made from wood that is not native to Canada.

Fake masks and Indigenous carvings have been openly sold to tourists in Vancouver as genuine, according to Lucinda Turner, an apprentice to NisgB次元官网网址檃a sculptor and totem pole carver Norman Tait.

Turner, who died this week, spent years listing, tracking and challenging fraudulent Indigenous works claiming to be authentic, and lectured on the subject.

Hunt said she had done much to draw attention to the illicit trade, and had helped many Indigenous artists claim their copyright.

In an open letter to the government last November Turner said over 1,000 appropriated images were removed after she and others wrote takedown letters supporting artists whose copyright had been breached.

In a lecture to the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle, she said a few copied carvings in mahogany were so authentic-looking that they have been hung in Canadian galleries.

Among the fakes she identified are reproductions of 19th-century carvings in major museums, such as a beaver rattle from the British Museum, and copies of works by contemporary northwest coast artists including acclaimed carver Bill Reid.

She lobbied the federal government for greater protection for Indigenous artists, calling for a law, as in the United States, with huge fines for selling Indigenous work that is not genuine.

The U.S. Indian Arts and Crafts Act criminalizes misrepresentation and copying of Indigenous art. There is also a fake art hotline south of the border to make reporting of unauthorized copies easy.

In the open letter to the federal government, she called for action to tackle misrepresentations on the online market.

Well-intentioned buyers trying to support the Orange Shirt movement had been duped into buying clothing that Indigenous people would gain nothing from B次元官网网址� including the artists whose images had been used, she said.

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls movement was also exploited by money-making businesses making handbags, T-shirts with Indigenous images without the artistsB次元官网网址� permission, she warned.

The internet has led to mass marketing of fraudulent, copied or stolen images of art and ceremonial artifacts by companies with no links to the Indigenous artists, she said.

Bovey, who says she plans to raise the issue again with ministers when the Senate returns from its summer break, said few people realize that Indigenous art on sale in Canadian stores could be made in China, eastern Europe and Taiwan.

B次元官网网址淭he buyers donB次元官网网址檛 know, the artists donB次元官网网址檛 have the means to monitor it and the predators are having a great time,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 theft of their iconography. ItB次元官网网址檚 stealing peopleB次元官网网址檚 cultural heritage and it is both morally and legally wrong.B次元官网网址�

The Canada Border Services Agency said there were currently B次元官网网址渘o import restrictions related to items that imitate Indigenous art.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擬arie Woolf, The Canadian Press