2 western Washington men arrested for posing as Native American artists

By Jack Helean

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    SEATTLE (KPTV) — Two men from Western Washington have pleaded guilty to impersonating Native American artists and selling their wares at Pike Place Market art galleries.

FOX 13 Seattle originally reported that both men pleaded guilty to violating the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA) by falsely representing themselves as Native Americans despite having no tribal enrollment or heritage.

“When non-Native artists falsely claim Indian heritage, they can take sales away from true Indian artists working to support themselves with skills and techniques handed down for generations,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “Stores and galleries need to partner with artists to ensure those artisans and craftsmen advertised as Indian Artists truly have tribal status.”

The impersonators, Jerry Chris Van Dyke, 67, of Seattle, and Lewis Anthony Rath, 52, of Maple Falls, will be sentenced in separate criminal cases on May 17.

The investigation into Jerry Van Dyke began in February 2019 when the Indian Arts and Crafts Board received a complaint that he was misrepresenting himself as a Nez Perce Indian Artist, according to the DOJ.

Undercover US Fish and Wildlife agents purchased items from Van Dyke at a gallery in Pike Place Market. He was going by the alias “Jerry Witten” at the time. When questioned, he admitted to knowing about the IACA but not being a tribal member.

Van Dyke sold more than $1,000 in carved pendants based on Native American Aleut masks through the gallery. According to the plea agreement, he had worked for more than a decade with the gallery, which provided him with woolly mammoth ivory, antlers, animal bones, and fossilized walrus ivory to make the pendants.

Van Dyke pleaded guilty to Misrepresentation of Indian Produced Goods, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison.

The investigation into Lewis Anthony Rath began in May 2019 following a complaint filed with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. Rath had falsely identified himself as a member of the San Carlos Apache Tribe, according to the DOJ.

Undercover agents paid more than $1,300 for a carved totem pole and necklace from the same gallery at Pike Place Market.

Agents purchased more artwork, again claiming to be Native American produced, at another shop on the Seattle waterfront. Both shops’ biographies of the artist falsely claimed Rath was Native American.

When agents served a search warrant on Rath’s home and studio in Whatcom County, they discovered feathers from endangered birds such as golden eagles, hawks, blue jays, owls, and others. Rath will now have to hand over all of his feathers to the government. Rath pleaded guilty to misrepresenting Indian-made goods and products, as well as unlawful possession of golden eagle and migrating bird parts. Possession of golden eagle and migratory bird parts is a crime punishable by up to six months in prison.

“Cases like these are critical to preserving the integrity and viability of authentic Native American art and craftwork in general, as well as preserving the rich cultural heritage of the Nez Perce Tribe and the San Carlos Apache Tribe and the economic livelihoods of their artists and craftspeople,” said U.S Department of the Interior IACB Director Meridith Stanton.

Prosecutors will recommend no prison time for Van Dyke under the terms of the plea agreement, but the sentence is up to the U.S. District Judge.

Rath has no agreed-upon sentencing recommendation.

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