S 254
Became law
Allows Alaska Natives to create and sell handicrafts and clothing made from marine mammal ivory, bone, or baleen, and bars states from banning those sales, by amending the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Official title: ARTIST Act
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
House
Received
10-OCT-2025
Passed
03-JUN-2026
Senate
Introduced
24-JAN-2025
Referred
24-JAN-2025
Approved by committee
25-JUN-2025
Reported
06-OCT-2025
On the calendar
06-OCT-2025
Passed
08-OCT-2025
President
Presented
08-JUN-2026
Signed
12-JUN-2026
Became law
12-JUN-2026
- Expands the Marine Mammal Protection Act's exemption for Alaska Natives to cover taking marine mammals for creating and selling authentic Alaska Native handicrafts and clothing, as long as the taking is not wasteful.
- Defines an authentic item as one made by an Alaska Native who lives in Alaska and dwells on the North Pacific or Arctic coast, without pantographs, multiple carvers, or other mass copying devices.
- Prohibits states from banning the interstate sale, transfer, or possession of marine mammal ivory, bone, or baleen used in authentic Alaska Native items.
- Requires the Secretary of Commerce to show in writing, and post publicly, that depletion findings or restrictions are supported by substantial evidence, including Indigenous knowledge, when an Alaska Native organization brings suit.
Current. The Congressional Research Service's summary covers the bill's latest wording (Public Law, 12-JUN-2026).
CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.govNative Americans
■ 1 R
1 Republican