AK Native Ivory Initiative

• In an effort to stem the poaching of African elephants, various U.S. states have passed laws banning the sale, use, or possession of all ivory, and additional states are considering such laws.  
• These  ivory ban laws may cause residents to face prosecution for buying, owning, or bringing home legally acquired ivory from Alaska.  
• The traditional and customary use and harvest of walrus has never been the reason for a decline of the species and walrus ivory continues to be a source of pride, tradition, and artistic production.   
• The ban would have an economic impact to communities who use the resource and to artists, buyers of walrus ivory products, mammoth and mastodon ivory products and gift shops that sell them.

States Banning the Sale of Ivory

https://www.aaps-journal.org/journal/fossil-ivory-legislation.html

US Fish and Wildlife Ivory Identification Guide

https://www.fws.gov/lab/ivory_natural.php

Download: USFWS Ivory Trade distinctions between African elephant and walrus, mastodon, mammoth

Bering Straits Native Corporation Ivory Booklet

Native Alaskans concerned after Etsy bans ivory products – Alaska’s News Source

Protecting our precious subsistence resource walrus ivory – Cultural Survival

For two Alaska villages, walruses remain essential. As sea ice disappears, can it last? – ADN

They Carve to Have a Place to Sleep – Alaska Public Media

Carving a Path – Alaska Airlines Magazine Article

Rural Native artist Jason Iya reaches new audiences online

Handmade Portraits: The Bone Carver

Smithonian Arctic Studies Center : Sculpting Ivory series (17 videos)

King Island Carvers in Nome – UAF Video Archives 1945-1955

Carving Life: Walrus Ivory Carvings from the Bering Sea