Have you come across viral videos showing people who appear to mock Native Americans selling Indigenous-style jackets? Lead Stories has identified several of these clips in recent weeks and determined that many were AI-generated. The people are not real Native Americans and scenarios depicted in the videos were not real -- social media accounts posted this kind of content to generate outrage for racism, driving likes and shares as a way to promote the products sold by a dropshipper.
This article is part of a series of stories examining various types of what is commonly called "AI-slop": short, vertical videos generated with artificial intelligence tools with the aim of going viral, often by exploiting the emotions or curiosity of the viewer with made-up content.
What these videos of fake Native Americans selling indigenous jackets and 'experiencing' racism look like
The videos show similar stories. A person who appears to be Native American is selling Indigenous-style jackets and showing the jackets to a white person or couple. The white customers tell the Native Americans they do not belong in the United States or laugh at them and leave the table. The Native American then tearfully asks if people would support their indigenous jackets.
Some examples
The TikTok account @Tomahasjackets (archived here) has multiple videos claiming that people do not want to buy his jackets, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: @Tomahasjackets account on TikTok.)
This video from @Tomahasjackets (archived here) shows a white couple insulting the Native American man:
@tomahasjackets Atleast be honest with me so I know Im not wasting my time..😔🧥 #nativeamerican#indigenous♬ original sound - Tomahasjackets
@elijahcrochet Please be honest..❤️🩹🧥 #indigenous #nativeamerican #handmade ♬ I'm Right Here - Young Spirit
Instagram account @Aiyanajackets (archived here) posted a video of a young Native American woman being insulted by a white man:
(Image source: post by @aiyanajackets on Instagram.)
Keywords
Here are hashtags or keywords often associated with videos like these: #indigenous #nativeamerican #handmade #native #jackets #handmade.
How to tell they are false
A video posted by TikTok account @elijahcrochet (archived here) was tested by Lead Stories using online AI detection tool Hive Moderation. It gave the video a score of 100% likely to be AI-generated:
(Image source: Hive Moderation.)
Some of the videos on TikTok account @kodasjackets (archived here) are tagged "Contains AI-generated media," as this screenshot shows on the bottom right of the text:
(Image source: post by @kodasjackets on TikTok.)
Accounts across different social media platforms and accounts appear to have the same white couple laughing and insulting the Native American selling the jackets.
The Instagram account @kayasjackets (archived here) has a video showing a white couple laughing at the woman selling the jackets, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: post by @kayasjackets on Instagram.)
The same couple appears in a video posted on TikTok account @kodasjackets (archived here) as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: post by @kodasjackets on TikTok.)
One pattern seen across multiple accounts and videos are the captions begging viewers to keep watching for seven or nine seconds. This is likely an attempt to gain extra watch time in order to fool social media algorithms into rating the videos as more interesting so they will get shown to more people.
Here is a video on TikTok account @elijahcrochet (archived here) asking viewers to stay for seven seconds:
@elijahcrochet Please let me know in the comments if you would wear one 🧥 #nativeamerican #nativeamericans #handmade #jackets ♬ Native American Tribal Music - Native American Music Consort
Another video posted by TikTok account @elijahcrochet (archived here) asks viewers to stay for nine seconds:
@elijahcrochet Folks be honest would you wear this? #nativeamerican #nativeamericans ♬ I'm Right Here - Young Spirit
Instagram account @aiyanajackets (archived here) asks viewers to stay for nine seconds, as this screenshot shows:
(Image source: post by @aiyanajackets on Instagram.)
Not all accounts post a link to buy the jackets but TikTok account @tomahasjackets links to the website tomahasjackets.store (archived here). According to Whois (archived here), the tomahasjackets.store website is registered to "Tucows Domains Inc." and was registered in June 2026. While there is no registrant contact information, this registrar matches a company registered to a "Dyllan Toledo" in Tennessee, which Lead Stories previously reported on here.
A LinkedIn profile (archived here) associated with this name and this location described the account owner as "6 fig dropshipper." This is a reference to an e-commerce business model in which someone runs an online store without actual inventory or products; any orders get passed on to other suppliers (often foreign) while the dropshipper marks up the price.
If you see videos like these on social media, here are some things you can try.
First, look for AI-disclaimers added by the platform or the poster. On TikTok they might say "Contains AI-generated media" or "AI-generated" (archived here), on X they read "Made with AI" (archived here) and on Facebook/Instagram they often say "AI info" (archived here). Check the description of the video too: In some cases the creator might have added a note or a hashtag like #AI, #madewithAI or #fiction. Don't forget to check the main page of the account that posted the video either: Maybe there is a disclaimer in the bio. In some cases AI use is really obvious when an account is posting dozens and dozens of variations of the same type of video.
Don't stop at the account that posted the video: Maybe they copied it from somewhere else. Use a tool to take a screenshot of the first frame of the video and run it through a reverse image searching tool to see where else on the internet it appears. It may have originated on an account that posts satire, AI-creations or actual art.
If you are still not sure, try downloading the video itself. There are several AI detection tools that can tell you if there are watermarks or other technical characteristics present in the video that would indicate it was likely made with AI.
Finally, use common sense: If the video shows an event that would otherwise be newsworthy, use a news search engine to check if it has been reported on by a news service you trust. Also pay close attention to the video itself: Look for physical impossibilities or glitches typical of AI-generated footage like:
- People or things appearing (or disappearing) out of thin air
- Objects behaving in physically impossible ways (heavy objects falling slowly, rigid objects bending ...)
- Garbled writing, oddly shaped letters or signs
- People or objects blending into or moving through each other
- Inconsistencies between different shots of the video (extra architectural elements in buildings, changing backgrounds, differences in clothing or hairstyle)
- An audio track that sounds strange: flat, unnatural speech, scripted-sounded yelling from bystanders ("Did you see that? OMG!"), sound effects being out of sync with events.
Unsure about a video? Email [email protected] and we will take a look!
These materials were developed in 2026 for the Prebunking at Scale project, with support from the European Fact-Checking Standards Network. If you share this on social media, use #prebunkingatscale.
