# 119-s-3358: Native American Seeds Act of 2025

119-s-3358, Native American Seeds Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM); status introduced (as of 2026-06-11).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3358
- As of: 2026-06-11
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3358
- Congress: 119
- Title: Native American Seeds Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-12-04
- Sponsor: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM] (D-NM)
- Cosponsors: 6
- Policy area: Native Americans
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-06-11

## Summary

**Protect Native American seeds.** This bill would require the Secretary of the Interior to work with Indian Tribes to identify seeds of traditional or cultural importance, support tribal seed banks and traditional agriculture systems, and protect sensitive tribal information from disclosure. - Indian Tribes: Tribes would lead determinations of which seeds are "Native American seeds" and can designate information as culturally sensitive, proprietary, or confidential to keep it protected. - Seed banks and traditional agriculture: The Secretary would be directed to support tribal efforts that protect Native American seeds, including seed banks, related facilities, and traditional farming systems that nurture and harvest those seeds. - Department and legal: The Secretary must begin work within one year and carry out activities only as appropriations allow, and courts would defer to the Secretary's reasonable interpretations of ambiguous provisions. *Would not authorize new funds and limits activities to existing appropriations.*

## Cosponsors (6)

- Sen. Crapo, Mike [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Gallego, Ruben [D-AZ] (D-AZ), 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM), 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Risch, James E. [R-ID] (R-ID), 2025-12-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Mullin, Markwayne [R-OK-2] (R-OK), 2025-12-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Armstrong, Alan [R-OK] (R-OK), 2026-06-09T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Defines tribes and Native seeds: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would define key words used in the Act. It would use the federal definition of "Indian Tribe" from 25 U.S.C. 5304. It would define "Native American seed" as seeds with traditional or cultural significance to an Indian Tribe. It would make "Secretary" mean the Secretary of the…
- Interior must help tribal seed programs: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would require the Interior Secretary, within one year of enactment, to work with tribes to identify which seeds are Native American seeds. The Secretary would also support tribal efforts to protect those seeds, Native American seed banks and related facilities, and traditional…
- Tribes can keep seed info private: benefit, low. If enacted, this bill would bar the Interior Secretary from sharing information tribes give under the Act when a tribe identifies it as culturally sensitive, proprietary, or confidential. The ban would apply notwithstanding any other provision of law. The rule would only cover information submitted…
- Courts must defer to Interior: mixed, low. If enacted, this bill would tell courts to defer to the Interior Secretary's reasonable interpretation of any ambiguous provision of this Act. It says this applies notwithstanding section 706 of title 5, U.S. Code. This would make it harder for parties to overturn the Secretary's decisions in legal…

## Related bills

- 119-s-1547: America the Beautiful Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-s-2858: SHINE for Autumn Act of 2025
- 119-s-1404: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act
- 119-s-1532: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the railroad track maintenance credit.

## Sources
- [119-s-3358 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3358)

## Related
- [119-s-1547: America the Beautiful Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1547)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-1241: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1241)
- [119-s-2858: SHINE for Autumn Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2858)
- [119-s-1404: Combating Organized Retail Crime Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1404)
- [119-s-1532: A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to modify the railroad track…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1532)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3358 (as of 2026-06-11).