"Kathy Dickerson grew up in St. Louis in the 1970s, a time when it wasn't "cool" to be an Indian. "The kids in the schoolyard teased me terribly," Dickerson recalls. "They called me a savage. I wanted no part of my Indian blood."
Three decades later, the 43-year-old Dickerson has embraced her ancestry. The daughter of a full-blooded Kiowa Indian woman from Oklahoma and an Italian man from St. Louis, Dickerson spends her days curing animal hides with cow brains � a natural way of tanning leather � and crafting ornate moccasins and jewelry out of her south-city home. When her fingers and eyes grow tired, Dickerson pushes aside ancient traditions and logs on to her Web site, www.kiowakat.com.
Originally designed to market her handiwork, the site now serves as Dickerson's main tool for exposing people she believes are masquerading as Indians. These frauds, says Dickerson, distort the true heritage of Native Americans and rob them of what little income they can generate by selling craftwork and participating in demonstrations. In 1990 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, a truth-in-advertising law that makes it illegal to sell handiwork that falsely suggests it is Indian-produced.
"Are you dealing with a native or a wannabe?" Dickerson warns on her site. "This is an attempt to stop the cons, deceit and bad information from ruining what culture we have left."
Last year Dickerson formed the St. Louis American Indian Consortium, a group of Native Americans seeking to monitor who is � and who isn't � a bona fide Indian. Now, after months of planning, the consortium is on the warpath against rival Indian groups that it claims are full of imposters.
"These fake groups have seen Dances with Wolves one too many times," says John White Antelope, a founding member of the consortium and member of the Arapaho Indian tribe. "They only associate the romantic and spiritual with being a Native American. They think we're these mystical creatures. They don't see my nine-to-five job.""
Get the Story:Going Native (The St. Louis Riverfront Times 11/1) Relevant Links:
Kathy Dickerson - http://www.kiowakat.com
Thunderbird Society - http://www.thunderbirdsociety.org