Pacific Legal Foundation on YouTube: Oklahoma can’t cancel the First Amendment
Peggy Fontenot, a member of a state-recognized tribe in Virginia, is challenging a new law in Oklahoma that bars her from marketing her works as "Indian." Her attorney, Caleb R. Trotter of the Pacific Legal Foundation, explains what the case is all about, addressing what he calls "condescending criticism" from Cherokee Nation citizen Steve Russell:
In fact, the federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act has answered the question unequivocally: Any artist from a state- or federally recognized tribe, or person certified as an artisan by a tribe, can truthfully market his or her work as American Indian. But Oklahoma’s restrictive law permits only artists from federally recognized tribes to market their work as “American Indian-made.” In other words, Oklahoma politicians have singled out artists from dozens of other tribes – state-recognized tribes, such as Ms. Fontenot’s Patawomeck Tribe – and prohibited them from describing their art for what it is. This violates the free speech rights of Ms. Fontenot and other disfavored American Indians, and severely hampers their ability to earn a living through their art in Oklahoma. Mr. Russell unfairly maligns Ms. Fontenot as “a pawn in a much larger game.” No one who has met Peggy Fontenot – an award-winning, nationally renowned American Indian artist – would mistake her for anyone’s “pawn.” The reality is that by standing up for herself and her art, Ms. Fontenot is proud to enlarge the freedoms of many other American Indian artists. Pacific Legal Foundation is representing her free of charge because her lawsuit encompasses two of the organization’s signature causes: free speech and the right to earn a living.Read More:
American Indian Artist Shows Courage and Principle In Free-Speech Lawsuit (Indian Country Today 12/9) Also Today:
Steve Russell: Who Is an Indian Artist? (Indian Country Today 11/28)
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