Enacted
ARTIST Act
This bill protects the right of coastal Alaska Natives to harvest marine mammals for food and to craft and sell authentic handmade goods made from ivory, bone, or baleen. It allows these handmade items to be sold across state lines and prohibits individual states from banning their sale, trade, or possession. Federal regulators could still restrict hunting if an animal population becomes depleted, but they must publicly prove any restrictions are supported by substantial evidence, including Indigenous knowledge.
People affected—not determinable from the text provided
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided
Reach28provisional · pending reviewrigor: heuristic llm
What this bill touches.
Animal protection−35Federal vs. state/local+25Native American affairs+45
Who it helps · who it burdens.
Who it helps
- Coastal Alaska NativesSec. 2(b)(2) and Sec. 2(b)(4) exempt coastal Alaska Natives from federal marine mammal hunting bans for subsistence and authentic handicrafts, allow them to sell edible meat locally, and protect their ability to sell authentic ivory, bone, and baleen handicrafts in interstate commerce free from state-level bans.
Who it burdens
- State governmentsSec. 2(b)(4) prohibits states from enacting or enforcing bans on the import, sale, possession, trade, or interstate commerce of authentic Alaska Native handicrafts made with marine mammal ivory, bone, or baleen.
- Federal wildlife agenciesSec. 2(b)(3)(C)–(E) requires federal agencies to conduct notice-and-hearing proceedings before imposing harvest restrictions and, if challenged by an Alaska Native organization, to produce and publish written determinations showing their regulations or depleted-status findings are supported by substantial evidence and Indigenous knowledge.
- Commercial mass-producers of Native-style craftsSec. 2(b)(1)(A) and Sec. 2(b)(2)(B)(i) prohibit makers or sellers from marketing items in interstate commerce as authentic Alaska Native handicrafts if they are produced using pantographs, multiple carvers, or mass-copying devices.