Kawerak Inc staff and advocates celebrate the good news – the US Senate and House of Representatives both passed the Alaska’s Right to Ivory Sales and Tradition (ARTIST) Act, clearing the path for the bill to head to the President’s desk for his signature.
We express our sincere thanks to Senator Sullivan and Representative Begich who championed this effort through Congress.
“For thousands of years, Alaska Natives have sustainably harvested Pacific Walrus to survive in the arctic. As our ancestors have, we continue to rely on this resource for food, tools, and to create artwork celebrating our culture. We are grateful that Congress has passed this bill to ensure that our artwork and tools are not deemed illegal in the United States. On behalf of Kawerak and the people we serve, thank you Senator Sullivan and Representative Begich, for recognizing that banning our culture is wrong, and for championing this bill. We hope that President Trump will also find that our way of life is worthy of protection and this bill is signed into law,” said Kawerak President Melanie Bahnke.
The work educating the public and lawmakers on this topic has been over a decade of effort involving many Kawerak staff members, partners, regional artists and advocates along the way. The Walrus Ivory campaign started small with postcards at AFN, continued with research and reports in 2020, and culminated into a dedicated website (walrusivory.org) hosting educational materials and artist interviews for the public to learn about the importance of ivory to Alaska Native people. The site details responsible harvest practices and the economic and cultural significance of walrus ivory,particularly in the Bering Strait Region.
“Alaska Native and Arctic Indigenous people have always been absolutely dependent on our intimate relationship with our environment and its gifts,” comments Eskimo Walrus Commission Director and Kawerak employee, Vera Metcalf. “Conservation of these gifts has always been how we show respect to our water, land, air, and all those living with us. It is only by doing so that we remain worthy of continued blessings of harvested whales, walrus, seals, fish, berries, of anything.”
With the passage of the bill through the Senate and now the House, the final step will be for the President to sign it into law. We look forward to continued protections of legal walrus ivory sales by Alaska Natives to support our economies, cultural practices and food security.
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Kawerak Inc. acts in accordance with its mission, to advance the capacity of our people and tribes for the benefit of the region. Kawerak is a nonprofit tribal consortium that provides over 40 different programs to the Inupiaq, St. Lawrence Island Yupik and Yupik people who reside in 16 communities of western Alaska and represents the 20 federally recognized tribes in the Bering Strait Region.
