Crafts as a specially recognized kind of activity are phenomena of industrial societies, as is the realization that the survival of traditional craft skills and knowledge may be endangered.

North American Indians have long been users of manufactured goods, which began to replace Indian handmade objects as soon as Europeans arrived in America as explorers, traders, settlers, and conquerors. With the increasing integration of Indian communities and Indian individuals into the general American economy and society—especially during the 20th century—the substitution of manufactured products for local handmade objects became more pervasive. Indians involved in the market economy usually found it preferable to buy rather than make the tools, implements, clothing, and other articles needed for daily life.