Native people in Alaska hunt the animals that live there. Many hunt for “subsistence.” That means they live off what they hunt. Then they make crafts from walrus tusks, otter fur, teeth, bones, and more. Turning the parts they can’t eat into handicrafts is a creative way to use the entire animal. It’s also a way of sharing their culture with the rest of the world—for much-needed income.
The Alaskan natives market these at craft fairs and sell to souvenir shops. But some of those animal products are illegal in other countries. The laws exist to protect rare animals from illegal poaching. Because of those international laws, online craft retailer Etsy.com has a new rule of its own: Etsy no longer allows Alaska natives to sell these kinds of crafts through its site.
Refusing to sell ivory is a way to stop people who illegally kill elephants for their tusks. But other animals also produce ivory, and Alaska Natives have legal permission to hunt some tusked animals—like the walrus. U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan clarified the exemption in a letter to Etsy.
“Your policy fails to recognize that Alaska Natives are explicitly authorized under federal laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, to work with and sell walrus ivory, whale tooth and bone, and other non-elephant ivory," he said.
Etsy replied that it is becoming a “global community.” It won’t make individual exceptions.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States, but its population is sparse. There averages only one person per square mile in Alaska. The internet, then, is a powerful tool to reach people who live too far away to buy the crafts in person.
Native hunter Marcus Gho sold gloves, key chains, scarves, and crafts made from sea otter fur online for about five years. Then the items were delisted. When he complained, an official told him that sea otters were endangered. But according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife regulation, it’s northern sea otters that are endangered—not the southern ones Gho hunts.
Etsy has since relisted Gho’s sea otter crafts. But the company gave no word on whether it will do the same with other accounts.
God told Adam to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the Earth.” (Genesis 1:28) Creatively ensuring that nothing is wasted is one way to do that. Do you agree with Etsy or with the craftspeople in this case?
