A bill affirming Alaska Native artists' right to sell art made of marine mammals is headed to the president’s desk. That’s after the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition, or ARTIST Act, on Wednesday.
The House vote was overwhelming and bipartisan, 404-14. The no votes were all Republicans.
The bill would amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a broad set of federal regulations first passed in 1972. If it becomes law, the ARTIST Act would prevent states from banning the import or sale of marine mammal ivory, bone, or baleen. It doesn't change any rules about who can and can't harvest ivory.
Megan Onders is chief of the King Island Native Community. She testified in support of the bill at a congressional hearing in March.
“Ivory carving is culturally informed employment, meaning you have the knowledge system from our ancestors, of our way of life on the ocean,” Onders said. “And it's a job. This is a job that our young people can do in our communities, in our environment, and it's just that important.”
Senator Dan Sullivan sponsored the bill in the Senate. He said at a hearing in October that a 2014 federal ban on elephant ivory confused potential buyers of Alaskan ivory.
“What I want to do is to cut through the confusion that now exists with certain states and a lot of tourists in my great state to affirm the right of the Alaska Native people to continue these centuries old practices of sustainable, respectful ivory carving entirely within federal law,” Sullivan said.
The federal bill would supersede state-level bans on ivory like in California and New Jersey. Sullivan said that would give tourists and collectors confidence in buying Alaska Native art anywhere in the country.
The bill now heads to the president’s desk.
