Urban Outfitters Removes 24 Products Labeled ‘Navajo’
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Urban Outfitters was selling two dozen products labeled as "Navajo" before the Navajo Nation asked them to cease and desist.
Mass retail chain Urban Outfitters has come under fire for breaking trademark laws by labeling two dozen of its products as “Navajo.”
Some of the items are particularly offensive, including a “Navajo Hipster Panty” and “Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask.” Trying to sell underwear by calling it “Navajo” is pretty outrageous, and a flask is highly insensitive considering the history of alcohol abuse among Native communities. Many Native tribes, including the Navajo Nation, ban the sale and consumption of alcohol on their reservations.
Urban Outfitters has something of a history of knocking off the work of other artists regardless of trademark or copyright. This time, the Navajo Nation hit the company with a cease and desist letter.
The Navajo Nation holds trademarks for 12 derivatives of “Navajo,” including clothing. The Navajo Nation’s Attorney General sent Urban Outfitters a cease and desist letter in June, part of which reads:
Your corporation’s use of Navajo will cause confusion in the market and society concerning the source or origin of your corporation’s products. Consumers will incorrectly believe that the Nation has licensed, approved, or authorized your corporation’s use of the Navajo name and trademarks for its products—when the Nation has not—or that your corporation’s use of Navajo is an extension of the Nation’s family of trademarks—which it is not …
This undermines the character and uniqueness of the Nation’s long-standing distinctive Navajo name and trademarks, which—because of its false connection with the Nation—dilutes and tarnishes the name and trademarks.
Urban Outfitters’ actions are actually illegal for more than one reason. The Federal Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 and the Federal Trade Commission Act make it illegal to:
offer or display for sale, or sell any art or craft product in a manner that falsely suggests it is Indian produced, an Indian product, or the product of a particular Indian or Indian Tribe or Indian arts and crafts organization, resident within the United States.
Violating that law carries fines of up to $1 million.
Minnesota resident Sasha Houston Brown wrote an open letter to Urban Outfitters earlier this month, which was published on Racialicious. Citing the Indian Arts and Crafts Act, Brown writes:
I stand in solidarity with the Navajo Nation and ask that you not only cease and desist selling products falsely using the Navajo name, but that you also stop selling faux Indian apparel that objectifies all tribes. … I am deeply distressed by your company’s mass marketed collection of distasteful and racially demeaning apparel and décor. I take personal offense to the blatant racism and perverted cultural appropriation your store features this season as ‘fashion.’
And then ABC and The Washington Post picked up the story.
In a statement to ABCNews, Urban Outfitters’ Public Relations Director Ed Looram wrote: “The Native American-inspired trend and specifically the term ‘Navajo’ have been cycling thru fashion, fine art and design for the last few years. We currently have no plans to modify or discontinue any of these products.” And on Oct. 13, Looram told Jezebel: “As of this writing the Urban Outfitters brand has not been contacted by any representatives of the Navajo Nation,” though the cease and desist letter was sent in June.
Six days later, Looram responded to Jezebel, saying: “As this matter is now in the hands of our legal dept I'm no longer at liberty to comment on this topic.”
Since then, those 24 items that were previously labeled “Navajo,” have had name changes. For instance, the “Navajo Print Fabric Wrapped Flask” is now just a “Printed Fabric Wrapped Flask.”
In response, Navajo Nation Department of Justice released a statement:
The Urban Outfitters Corporation’s recent removal of the Navajo name from its online marketing and retailing are positive actions that are more consistent with the corporation’s responsibilities than previously demonstrated. If the company has also ceased using the Navajo name in conjunction with its merchandise in its retail stores and print-media advertising, these are encouraging steps by the company towards amicably resolving this matter.
Even clothing company Anthropologie, which is owned by Urban Outfitters, has removed any indication of once having items labeled “Navajo” and is quickly removing any traces of the scandal. On Oct. 7, the blog Native Appropriations pointed out that Anthropologie was selling a Pendleton poncho as “Haida Poncho.” Anthropologie has since renamed it “Ashcreek Poncho.”
One of Urban Outfitters’ other companies, Free People, still lists seven items labeled “Navajo” on its website and Urban Outfitters has yet to publicly apologize for the offensive products and marketing.
Dahlia Grossman-Heinze is a staff writer for Campus Progress. Follow her on Twitter @salvadordahlia.
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