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TORONTO — The work of Toronto painter Amanda PL is infused with bright colours and bold outlines often associated with an indigenous art style.

But for many of those familiar with the Woodland School of Art, as the genre is also known, it smacks of cultural appropriation by a young artist with no claim to the tradition.

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Outrage over Amanda PL’s work has renewed debate over who has the right to use and profit from specific customs.

It’s a decades-old problem that is only gradually being understood in a field where ideas and images are continually borrowed, traded and reinvented, say observers.

Does the commodification of their culture put down their culture?

B.C. lawyer Vanessa Udy says the broader public seems to be becoming more sensitive to possible cultural slights.

But the onus of identifying them falls on the person who finds it offensive, and that can be difficult to determine and articulate at times.

There’s no easy formula to apply when feelings are hurt — Udy notes each case requires a nuanced evaluation.