This bill makes it legal for Alaska Native people to make, sell, and trade traditional handicrafts, clothing, and art that contain parts from migratory birds—like feathers or bones—without breaking federal law. Currently, a law called the Migratory Bird Treaty Act prevents people from possessing or selling anything made with protected bird parts, but this bill creates an exception specifically for authentic Alaska Native cultural items, as long as the birds weren't killed wastefully or illegally.

To make this work, the bill requires the U.S. State Department and Interior Department to work together with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia—countries that signed the original bird protection treaties—to officially agree on how to handle Alaska Native crafts containing bird parts. The Interior Department also has to update its regulations to reflect this new rule. Essentially, this protects Alaska Native cultural traditions and economic practices by allowing indigenous artisans to continue creating and selling traditional items that have been part of their heritage for generations, while still maintaining protections against illegal or wasteful hunting of migratory birds.

Archie Cavanaugh Migratory Bird Treaty Amendment Act

Sullivan, Dan

Archie Cavanaugh Migratory Bird Treaty Amendment ActThis bill states that nothing in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) prohibits possessing, selling, bartering, purchasing, shipping, or transporting any authentic Alaska Native handicraft, clothing, or art on the basis that it contains a nonedible migratory bird part, so long as the bird was not taken in a wasteful or illegal manner. (The MBTA implements four international treaties that the United States entered into with Canada, Mexico, Japan, and Russia. The MBTA prohibits the taking of protected migratory bird species without prior authorization.)The bill directs the Department of&nbsp;State to work with the Department of the Interior to enter into appropriate bilateral procedures with countries that are parties to the treaties under the MBTA&nbsp;to clarify the treatment of Alaska Native handicraft containing nonedible migratory bird parts from the species of migratory birds listed in those treaties. Further, Interior must modify any regulations implementing the MBTA to implement this bill.