An effort to help consumers identify Alaska Native-made products and get folks to report fakes has resulted in a handful of investigations by the Federal Trade Commission.

Some 950,000 brochures and post cards were distributed in Alaska communities, gift shops, art galleries and on cruise ships this tourist season to help visitors tell the difference from genuine Alaska Native arts and crafts from imitations, said Chuck Harwood, FTC regional director in Seattle.

Harwood said the campaign, which cost $46,000, has spurred a few reports from consumers who believed they may have been duped into buying counterfeit Alaska Native-made arts or crafts. Other reports have come from former employees of Alaska gift shops, who are reporting their old bosses, Harwood said.

No reports have come from Alaska Natives, Harwood said.

Harwood would not go into detail on his agency's investigations since they are ongoing.

The FTC was joined in the campaign by the state attorney general's office, the Alaska State Council on the Arts and the U.S. Department of Interior's Indian Arts and Crafts board.