As used in the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act [30-33-1 to 30-33-11 NMSA 1978]:

A. "Indian tribe" means:

(1) any tribe, band, nation, Alaska native village or other organized group or community that is eligible for the special programs and services provided by the United States government to Indians because of their status as Indians; or

(2) any tribe that has been formally recognized as an Indian tribe by a state legislature;

B. "Indian" means:

(1) any person who is an enrolled member of an Indian tribe as evidenced by a tribal enrollment card or certified tribal records; or

(2) any person who can meet the minimum qualifications for services offered by the United States government to Indians because of their special status as Indians as evidenced by a certificate of degree of Indian blood card;

C. "authentic Indian arts and crafts" means any product, including traditional or contemporary Indian arts, that:

(1) are Indian handmade; and

(2) are not made by machine;

D. "person" means any individual, firm, association, corporation, partnership or any other legal entity;

E. "made by machine" means the producing or reproducing of a product in mass production by mechanically stamping, blanking, weaving or offset printing;

F. "Indian handmade" means any product in which the entire shaping and forming of the product from raw materials and its finishing and decoration were accomplished by Indian hand labor and manually controlled methods that permit the maker to control and vary the construction, shape, design or finish of each part of each individual product, but does not exclude the use of findings, hand tools and equipment for buffing, polishing, grinding, drilling, sawing or sewing and other processes approved by regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act;

G. "Indian crafted" means any item that is made by an Indian when it is not entirely Indian handmade or is at least in part made by machine, including Indian-assembled and Indian-decorated items and other items consistent with this definition and approved by regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act;

H. "findings" means an ingredient part of the product that adapts the product for wearing or display, including silver beads used in jewelry containing Indian handmade adornments in addition to beads, leather backing, binding material, bolo tie clips, tie bar clips, tie-tac pins, earring pins, earring clips, earring screw backs, cuff link toggles, money clips, pin stems, combs and chains;

I. "product" means the finished tangible arts or crafts;

J. "raw materials" means any material that can be converted by manufacture, processing or a combination of manufacture and processing into a new and useful product, and includes:

(1) "naturally occurring material", which means any material created and produced by nature;

(2) "natural material", which means any material created and produced by nature that is only altered in shape, form, finish or color as long as the color change is the result of finishing or polishing agents used that do not penetrate the surface of the material by more than one millimeter, or as further defined consistent with this definition in regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act;

(3) "treated material", which means any material created and produced by nature that has been altered by man-made processes that leave the material in its original shape and size after processing, but alter the color, hardness or character of the material, which may be formed, shaped or finished after treating, or as further defined consistent with this definition in regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act; and

(4) "reconstructed material", which means any material created and produced in nature that has been altered by man-made processes that change the color, hardness, shape or character of the material, provided that more than fifty percent of the original naturally occurring material is contained in the product after processing, or as further defined consistent with this definition in regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act but excludes synthetic material; and

K. "synthetic material" means any material that imitates natural materials and is man-made or contains fifty percent or less of the original naturally occurring materials, or as further defined consistent with this definition in regulations adopted under the Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act.

History: 1953 Comp., § 40-21-25.2, enacted by Laws 1973, ch. 163, § 2; 1975, ch. 261, § 2; 1977, ch. 334, § 1; 1991, ch. 90, § 3.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1973, ch. 163, § 2, repealed 40-21-25.2, 1953 Comp., defining various terms, and enacted a new section.

The 1991 amendment, effective June 14, 1991, rewrote this section.