WASHINGTON – Thursday, U.S. Representative Mary Peltola (AK-AL) helped introduce the Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act with Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02). Their bill would ensure that Native organizations can fully access funding they are entitled to under the Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development Program for cultural programming and activities.

“Alaska Native cultures extend back to time immemorial but are continuously at risk due to historical policies of erasure and forced assimilation,” said Representative Peltola. “Our bill invests in the long-term preservation of our peoples’ ways of life and empowers the next generation to be involved in its safekeeping – following the leadership of generations before us who bravely and resolutely held on to the essential tenets of our Native cultures. I am proud to do my part in keeping our Alaska Native ways of living strong for generations to come.”

The Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development Program was created in 1984 to provide grants through the National Park Service for the scholarly study of and instruction in Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian traditional and contemporary arts and culture. The program was also created to help perpetuate Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian traditional and contemporary arts by developing educational centers and degree programs.

The Native Arts and Culture Promotion Act would remove offensive and unnecessarily restrictive statutory language impacting Alaska Native applicants to increase the program’s accessibility within the Alaska Native community. Additionally, it would amend the program to allow the National Park Service to award grants to a greater variety of Native Hawaiian organizations doing incredible work to study and promote Native Hawaiian culture and art.

“I am proud to introduce a bill to modernize the Native Hawaiian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development Program, which has historically provided support for community-driven efforts to educate, promote, and perpetuate the arts and cultures of Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives,” said U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda (HI-02). “Ensuring that the program functions as intended will enable more Native Hawaiian organizations to receive their fair share of federal resources for historic preservation and creative development. It is critical that we continue to recognize and promote traditional and contemporary native arts and cultures so that the stories and knowledge of indigenous communities can be treasured and embraced by future generations.”

“As a member of our House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, I have worked to expand and fund programs that promote, sustain and honor the culture and art of our nation’s indigenous peoples,” said U.S. Representative Ed Case (HI-01), cosponsor of the bill. “I’m happy to join Rep. Tokuda in this initiative to open up our Native Hawaiian Culture and Arts Development Grant Program to more grant opportunities from more community groups dedicated to those goals for Hawaii’s indigenous people.”

The full text of the bill can be found here.

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  Alaska, arts, culture, handicraft, native