House subcommittee sets hearing on Alaska Native art bill

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Houses Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries – Legislative Hearing on H.R.5694, H.R.6893, H.R.7250 and H.R.7889

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

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The House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries is taking testimony on a bill to ensure that Alaska Native artists can continue to sell goods using ivory,

The agenda for the hearing on Thursday morning includes H.R.5694, the Alaska’s Right To Ivory Sales and Tradition Act. The bill, also known as the ARTIST Act, ensures that Alaska Native art made with ivory can be sold and transported without violating state laws that have been passed in recent years.

“Several states, for example, have enacted bans on ivory, primarily to stem the illegal trade of elephant tusks,” the hearing memo for the bill reads. “But such measures have also banned walrus ivory, which is an essential component of many Alaska Native handicrafts and clothing.”

Megan Onders, the chief of the King Island Native Community in Alaska, is slated to testify about H.R.5694. The Department of Commerce is also sending Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere Tim Petty to the hearing to present the Trump administration’s views about the bill.

Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska): U.S. Senate passes the ARTIST Act

The companion version of the ARTIST Act is S.254. The bill passed the U.S. Senate on October 8, 2025.

“You know, if a visitor wants to come buy some ivory earrings in Alaska by one of our great Alaska Native artists and then bring them home to a state that has a ban,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), the sponsor of S.254, “we want to be able to say at the Federal level that we should be able to do this.”

Alaska Native leaders are supporting the ARTIST Act. Vera Metcalf, the director of the Eskimo Walrus Commission, said the bill will help protect the cultural and economic well-being of communities that have been using the Pacific walrus since time immemorial.

“The Pacific walrus remains a significant component of our Indigenous food security and remains a major feature of Alaska Native cultural heritage. Our use of ivory gives full expression to our traditional relationship with the Pacific walrus and our way-of-life,” Metcalf said in a press release from Sullivan’s office.

Hearing Notice

Hearing Memo

Thursday’s hearing takes place at 10am Eastern in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. Three other bills are on the agenda in addition to H.R.5694, which was introduced by Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska) on October 6, 2025.

Begich is a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, of which the Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries is a part.