03/08/2007 01:30 PM Senate LABOR & COMMERCE

         SB  97-ALASKA NATIVE ART IDENTIFICATION SEALS                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
1:35:14 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR ELLIS announced the consideration of SB 97.                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
TIM LAMKIN, staff to Senator  Gary Stevens, said that the senator                                                               
introduced SB  97 on behalf  of the  Alaska State Council  on the                                                               
Arts.  Despite its  existence for  decades,  many Alaskans  don't                                                               
recognize the  emblem called the  silver hand. It is  a marketing                                                               
tool that  represents a piece of  art made by an  Alaskan Native.                                                               
Its origins  date back until at  least the 1930s when  demand for                                                               
Alaskan art was  increasing. There has been an  ongoing effort to                                                               
bring credibility to  the silver hand program in  honor of Native                                                               
Alaskan  artists.  The effort  has  been  thwarted by  fraud,  he                                                               
stated. SB  97 is a  housekeeping bill with no  motivation except                                                               
to modernize the statutes and  rejuvenate the program. He said he                                                               
is in the tourism business  and gets requests daily for authentic                                                               
Alaskan  art, so  he  believes  the bill  could  make  it a  more                                                               
recognized  emblem  to  the  public  and a  beacon  of  help  and                                                               
inspiration for artists in Alaska.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
1:37:35 PM                                                                                                                    
SAUNDERS MCNEILL,  Director, Community  and Native  Arts Program,                                                               
Alaska State  Council on the  Arts, said the silver  hand program                                                               
is the only  Native arts authentication program in  the state and                                                               
the nation.  The program serves  people from 143  communities and                                                               
includes all Alaska Native groups.  The proposed changes embodied                                                               
in SB 97 represent decades  of feedback offered and gathered from                                                               
a multitude of Native artists  and Alaska businesses. The changes                                                               
will  accomplish  the following:  retire  the  agent arm  of  the                                                               
permit program; remove reference to  blood quantum and replace it                                                               
with  federally-recognized   Alaska  Native  tribes;   add  civil                                                               
penalties for  the misuse of  the silver hand; link  the consumer                                                               
protection fair-trade statutes and  silver hand statutes; include                                                               
Alaska  Native   artists  producing  contemporary   work;  expand                                                               
allowable materials  for artists; expand the  definition section;                                                               
and define eligible  art mediums. The council is  in full support                                                               
of the bill, she concluded.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:40:27 PM                                                                                                                    
CHARLOTTE FOX,  Executive Director,  Alaska State Council  on the                                                               
Arts, said the previous comments cover her testimony.                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
SVEN HAAKANSON,  Executive Director, Alutiiq Museum  and Chair of                                                               
the Alaska  Council on the  Arts, said he  was on the  task force                                                               
and has no further testimony.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DAVIS asked about page 2,  line 8. There is a significant                                                               
change from "Native arts" to "Alaska arts", she noted.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MR.  LAMKIN  said the  new  language  shall read:  identification                                                               
seals for authentic Alaska Native art created or crafted.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
1:43:30 PM                                                                                                                    
SB 97 was held over.