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Travelers' Warning

THIS IS A TRAVELERS' WARNING Let the Buyer Beware-Especially When Buying a Hopi Kachina Doll On Sunday, August 10, 1997, we visited the Hopi Indian Reservation, on a trip through the Indian Country of Arizona. We stopped at several locations on Third and Second Mesas, and at Keams Canyon. At Old Oraibi, on Third Mesa we met a Hopi woman at her home. We visited for some time and discussed her carvings of Kachina Dolls, as we had become interested in the possibility of collecting them. During the conversation, we also learned that this woman's mother was "a big Elvis (Presley) fan." We made mental notes about this woman's skill as a carver and her mother's interest as well, and departed. We did not take her name and address at the time. We did not buy a Kachina Doll at that time, but thought about purchasing one from her at some time in the future. In October 1998, while planning another vacation to Arizona, we purchased several Elvis Presley souvenirs in Sacramento for this woman's mother. We planned to give them to her during another visit to Old Oraibi. Later that month, we returned to Arizona on vacation. On Tuesday, October 20, 1998, we again visited the Hopi Indian Reservation. We were specifically interested in purchasing a Kachina Doll. We went to Old Oraibi and again located this woman's home. We identified ourselves has having visited her the previous year. She was very friendly and promptly invited us into her home, indicating that she had remembered us from our visit last year. We asked about her mother, who was not there. We presented this woman with the Elvis Presley souvenirs we had purchased for her mother. We asked about Kachina Dolls and their carving. This woman described her work in progress and the process she used to create a Kachina Doll from cottonwood stock. We indicated an interest in a Morning Kachina. This woman brought out one for her reference books and showed us color drawings of various Kachina Dolls, including the Morning Kachina. We negotiated the purchase of two Morning Kachina Dolls, for $100.00 each, plus shipping of $35.00, for a total cost of $235.00. This woman said she shipped her dolls from the Post Office in Flagstaff, Arizona because, from her experience, she trusted their ability to handle the package properly. We gave her a check for $235.00 to cover the cost of the dolls plus the shipping charge, and our name, address and telephone number. We ended our conversation and departed, pleased that we had purchased the dolls that interested us, and that this woman would receive the income for her work, directly. On or about October 26, this woman called my wife and asked if it was all right to cash the check, we had given her. My wife told her to cash the check. On Wednesday, October 28, my wife received another telephone call from this woman, who said she was in Flagstaff. The call was made collect and was placed from Flagstaff, AZ (520) 556-0010 at 4:09 P.M. MST. She told my wife she had tried to cash the check at a Bank of America Branch in Flagstaff. She said the bank refused to cash the check. She said she had gone to a Check Cashing Service and attempted to cash the check there. She told my wife they told her they could not cash the check unless there was three times the balance of the check in the account. My wife called me and told me what had happened. I told her that I would obtain cash and wire it to this woman via Western Union. She contacted this woman and told her that we would wire the funds immediately, and obtained the information for a Western Union terminal to which the funds could be wired. It was at the Safeway Store, 1500 East Cedar Avenue, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. Telephone (520) 774-3774. My wife told this woman to either tear up our check or send it back with the Kachina Dolls. This woman said she would ship the dolls on the following Monday (November 2, 1998. I immediately went to a Check Mart (check cashing service) at 2001 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95818, telephone (916) 456-2274 and had funds transmitted to this woman via Western Union. I next contacted the Safeway Store in Flagstaff, AZ by telephone. I was transferred to the Safeway employee who handled Western Union money transactions. I inquired if this woman had received the funds. The employee asked me may name. She replied, "She got the money. I kept the name on the screen and checked it until it came through." I asked if this woman was still there. She said the woman had already left. On Tuesday, November 10, 1998, we received our bank statement with cancelled checks. The check for $235.00 written to this woman was one of the cancelled checks. It was endorsed with the name of this woman, and showed what was apparently an account number and a Bank of Arizona clearing stamp. From the markings on the back of the check, it appears the check actually cleared on October 29, 1998. The check had been cashed, instead of being either destroyed or sent with the Kachina dolls as my wife had instructed. We have never received the Kachina Dolls. On Sunday, November 15, 1998, at approximately 2:30 P.M. PST, I contacted the Safeway Store, described, by telephone. I talked to the Assistant Manager. He searched the store records and state they had a printout showing the money had been paid to this woman on the date indicated. On Monday, November 16, we sent a letter via certified mail to this woman asking about the dolls and the money transactions. On Tuesday, November 24, we received the Return Card for the certified letter send to this woman. It showed via a date stamp, that the letter had been claimed on November 20, 1998. The signature on the car is the same that appeared on the endorsement of the check. We have never received any response to our letter of November 15, 1998, either verbally or in writing. We have never received the Kachina Dolls ordered, or any amount of money paid by check or by wire transfer. We reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They explained how criminal cases were handled on the Hopi Reservation and referred us to the Hopi Law Enforcement Agency. We contacted the Agency and worked with one of their investigators, by telephone, FAX and mail. We provided him with a complete statement, identifying this woman by name and address, as well as with copies of the documents she had signed. We repeatedly told him that we would be willing to come to Arizona for the court appearances that would be necessary for a criminal prosecution of this matter. He reported that he had located this woman, and confronted her with our complaint. She denied any wrongdoing, but said she would ship the dolls the next week. We told him we had never received anything, and that we had been defrauded of $470.00. He told us he had investigated similar cases involving other members of the tribe. He agreed to turn the case over to the prosecuting authority for the Reservation. We have heard nothing since then. We contacted the State of Arizona, Attorney General's Office, Consumer Information and Complaints. We provided the same information that we furnished the Hopi authorities. We were told that this was a matter that was handled by tribal authorities, and that the Attorney General's Office would not pursue an investigation. SOME OBSERVATIONS This woman is only one of probably hundreds who carve Kachina Dolls for a living. This woman is the only member of the Hopi Nation with whom we have a fraud case. The Hopi Law Enforcement authorities conducted an investigation as we had requested and based upon the written information we provided, and our statements via telephone. They fully understood that we were willing to come to Arizona to testify in the matter. The Hopi Law Enforcement investigator said he turned the case over to the prosecuting authority, and we believe him. We have heard absolutely nothing from the prosecuting authorities for the Hopi Nation. We can only conclude, some 18 months after our original complaint, that the Hopi Nation will do absolutely nothing about this matter. We can only conclude further, that since it involves one of their members versus a non-member of the tribe, they will protect their own through inaction. This is a cover-up. I am not a stranger to the Hopi Reservation. My first visit was in 1951. I returned twice because I was interested in and respected the people and their culture. While there, I traveled unarmed, in peace, and obeyed their laws. This case is the result of our good faith negotiation with a member of the tribe. We were defrauded, but we are telling about our experience to prevent others from being similarly victimized. We are still willing to prosecute this matter. Therefore, please be warned when buying anything produced on the Hopi reservation. Do not order anything by mail or over the Internet As a traveler in their reservation, do not deal with individuals who are similarly situated to this carver Work only with dealers-and check them out ahead of time Do not make advance payment for anything to be made to your order.

IMO the Hopi are rather odd people. We talked to a number of most unusual Hopi when we were on the reservation for some length of time a few years ago. We bought a kachina doll from a carver who gave us his name if we wanted more. We did later and called him and he asked us to send him $40 to start the carving. We did so. He phoned us several times after that many weeks apart and would just talk about things in general at some length. He said the doll was partly carved the last time he called us but then he never contacted us again. When we tried calling him at the phone number he gave us they told us he had left for parts unknown. At least we only were out $40....but he probably spent about that amount in his long daytime phone calls to us. Like I said they seem odd and impossible to figure out.

When will we all learn that YOU CANNOT TRUST ANYONE??? It's so sad, but true! I personally would not hand someone a check for something I didn't walk out with! I don't trust members of my own family sometimes, sorry to say, much less strangers on a reservation. I hope you've learned an important lesson from this - it took a few times for me before I got it! Better luck in the future, Joely

Dick, you sound like an older gentleman, and things were probably different when you were younger. The world has changed. I would never pay for something, even at a store, and trust them to ship it to me. Giving money to some woman on an Indian reservation is kissing it goodbye. You should have called your own bank when this woman claimed the check wouldn't clear. It might have saved you at least half of the money you lost.

Dick and Sara, So sorry about your monetary loss. It is just so risky to special order something and pay for the whole darn thing in advance. Under those circumstances, the seller has little or no incentive to complete the job, particularly when the victim lives far away. Heck, once she had your money, she could have sent you a couple of cheap trinkets she purchased along the highway, and you'd be out the money that way, as there was no mention of a written contract specifying exactly what and when she had to deliver. Actually, the situation is kind of sad. When I lived in Arizona and worked in retail, merchants openly discriminated against Native Americans by refusing their checks. The reason was that there was believed to be no recourse if the check bounced. Obviously, this worked to the detriment of many honest, hard-working people. Thanks for sharing this tale of woe, as it might help someone else beware. Let it go, I guess, and chalk it up to experience and bad luck and bad karma or whatever. Better luck next time.

Maybe the Indians were just trying to get even for the way they have been treated in this country. Seems to me that we pretty much stole their country from them. After all, we celebrate Columbus for "discovering" a country that was already occupied. Besides, a quality hand carved Kachina would certainly cost more than $100. I don't believe that the FBI or the State would have jurisdiction on an Indian reservation..I'm suprised that they didn't tell you that.

What in the world does this post have to do with travel?

JohnJohn, Let me try to help you out here, as you are dead now and your critical thinking is probably not as sharp as it once was. This post is related to travel because it is a cautionary tale of how one must not let down one's guard while traveling, even if someone seems to be very nice and helpful. It shows that one cannot assume that the authorities will always be willing or able to help you if you are ripped off while traveling. Responses have pointed out ways these problems could have been avoided (checking with the bank about the deposit of the check or attempting to stop payment before paying a second time for merchandise not yet received), which might help someone traveling to a a distant place where payment customs might be unfamiliar. So it is a travel post, OK?

Am I the only one who sees a fair amount of responsibility for the fraud on the part of the traveler? These are the items that troubled me: buying unasked-for souvenirs for a total stranger, not double checking the claim that the check wasn't cashable/cashed, proceeding with dumping more money into an obviously troubled transaction...just regular caution should have been in play at all of these points. It is really a shame that these folks lost money, but all travelers need to take responsibility for their well-being when out and about. And because people may be "different" from oneself--or in an unusual location--it is peculiar to assume that human nature itself is going to vary all that much. We all need to learn from our mistakes, and I bet these nice people will.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: There's a sucker born every minute, etc., etc., etc.

The purpose of the Traveler's Warning was to stimulate awareness of a problem. We knew we would receive some rather judgmental responses about our apparent naievte. Keep in mind: this was our second visit to this woman's home. We did offer to send the gifts for her mother, and she was pleased to accept. They were not unwanted. With respect to the white man stealing the Indians' land: let's bring this back to our approach: the initial visit almost half a century ago; my regard for their history and culture--which is why I returned; the offer to help someone directly--on a second visit--who was obviously living in native surroundings in a home that reflected poverty by any standard in any culture. Just respect. Check cashing. I don't know if there are any banks on the Hopi Reservation. There are banks on the Navajo reservation. I do know that the check cashing policy of the Bank of America for non-account holders prohibits cashing checks drawn its customers' accounts. The Bank of America in Arizona has yet to relate well to the Bank of America in California. We have had an account at BofA when it took over Security Pacific National Bank. I didn't vote for that caper. The BofA is a rather mean-spirited outfit to the ordinary account holder. The price of the Kachinas was requested. She said $100.00 each. We appreciate Cindy's help: it is a cautionary tale. With respect to the FBI: the reservations are under Federal jurisdiction and the Bureau does conduct criminal investigations where necessary. More minor issues are the responsibility of the Hopi Law Enforcement Agency. The major issue here is not the criminal behavior of individual members of this tribe, but the failure--and by this time, it can only be considered deliberate--of prosecutors to recognize and respond to the complaint. This is a cover-up. That is a serious problem for a tribe that, like other Indian tribes, wants to be considered a sovereign nation. If the Hopi nation wants to behave this way toward "international trade" with visiting non-members, then the visiting non-members should boycott them altogether. Go through the reservation with a full tank of fuel and adequate food and water. Don't stop and buy anything. International trade cannot exist outside the rule of law and be sustainable. Developing nations ignore this principle at their economic peril. The Hopi Nation had better look at this situation from that point of view. If the Hopi Nation considers ITSELF a sovereign nation, they had better learn how to behave like one: recognize and abide by the rule of law. We appreciate all of your comments. This effort has been worthwhile.