Etsy questioned on policy on Alaska Native products

Company cites a single, global policy that excludes acceptance of certain items

A set of fossil ivory earrings from Alaska.

In the wake of reports that the online global marketplace Etsy has terminated or delisted products or artwork by Alaska Native artisans, the company is being asked to reconsider its policies and recognize that sale of such work is legal and traditional.

The request to the New York based headquarters of Etsy from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, whose office has heard complaints from Native artisans of what they considered to be unfair termination of their sales on www.etsy.com

“While we can all agree that measures must be taken to combat elephant poaching and protect various species of marine mammals, harming Alaska’s rich cultural traditions and rural economies will do little to achieve additional conservation benefits,” Sullivan said in a letter to Josh Silverman, chief executive officer of Etsy.

A spokesperson for Etsy said that the company “strives to be an ivory- and endangered species-free marketplace and removing this exemption helps us create a single, global policy prohibiting such products.

“As a global marketplace, we base policies on both U.S. and international standards,” the spokesperson said on Feb. 7, in an email response to a query. “With increased global regulation surrounding ivory and animal products, we can no longer accommodate such products produced by Native Alaskans in our marketplace. We have deep respect for Native Alaskan crafts and continue to allow handmade items that meet our policies on animal products,” the spokesperson said.

The company’s policy states that “certain animal products are highly regulated and not in the spirit of Etsy due to the risk of harm to live, companion, or endangered animals.” Etsy’s list of animal products they will not accept for sale include ivory or homes from ivory-producing animals, including tusks, elk ivory, fossilized ivory and wooly mammoth ivory, and items made from human remains, except for teeth and hair.

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The company cites an extensive list of species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, from birds, reptiles, fish and mammals from specific areas of the globe, but does not address Sullivan’s argument that from the complaints came from Alaska Natives who are legally selling sustainably harvested sealskin, sea otter and ivory based art and clothing products.

Etsy’s decision that these are “prohibited items” seems to lack awareness and recognition that Alaska Natives have historically and legally created and sold these products as a key source of income in rural economies, he said.

“Your prohibition without recognizing the legal production and sale of these items by Alaska Natives is disheartening and shortsighted,” he said. “Worse yet, Etsy explicitly allows the sale of items made from human teeth and hair.”

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