1. Protect Makahs from eco-bullies 2. Anti-Makah Whaling Protesters may disrupt Celebrations 3. Environmentalists meet in Victoria to oppose Makah whale hunt 4. Sea Shepard's alliance with the racist far-right [S.I.S.I.S. note: The following mainstream news article may contain biased or distorted information and may be missing pertinent facts and/or context. It is provided for reference only.] PROTECT MAKAHS FROM ECO-BULLIES Tacoma News Tribune, August 23, 1998 The arrogant activists who have vowed to disrupt the Makah tribe's resumption of whaling this fall can be proud of themselves. With threats of physical obstruction and even murder, some of them have succeeded in scaring a tiny Indian nation whose sole offense consists of trying to revive its ancestral hunt for a non-endangered species of whale. So virulent and vicious have been those threats that Gov. Gary Locke on Friday granted the tribal council's plea for National Guard protection during the annual Makah Days celebration next weekend. Meanwhile, a task force of local, state and federal agencies has been making plans to protect the Makahs who hope to revive a cherished cultural tradition by harpooning a gray whale sometime this October. That these precautions are necessary is proof that cultural imperialism is alive and flourishing in the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, the Chicago Animal Rights Coalition, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and other organizations that seek to block the Makahs' hunt. Admittedly, it is not easy for non-Indians who have never paddled a dugout canoe or heard an ancestral whaling song to understand why some Makahs feel a deep yearning to renew this practice. Whales are majestic and mysterious creatures; they are also appallingly vulnerable to modern whaling fleets. International authorities were right to ban commercial whaling after many species were driven to the brink of extinction years ago. But it is sheer demagoguery to talk as if the Makah hunt were the equivalent of the wholesale slaughter that was once carried out with sonar, helicopters, high-powered catcher boats and harpoon guns. The tribe has been allotted a maximum of 20 whales through the year 2002 - a quota that, even if reached, wouldn't dent the increasing population of gray whales. The Makahs want simply to renew a low-impact hunt that helped sustain their tribe since the dawn of time. Anti-whaling activists have no business lecturing them on what is or isn't important to their cultural identity. More to the point, eco-bullies have no business using illegal tactics to eviscerate the Makahs' treaty with the U.S. government. Many tribal prerogatives - including casino gambling and access to private beaches - are a matter of court interpretation, but the Makahs' right to whale is explicitly guaranteed by their 1855 treaty. The Coast Guard, U.S. Marshals Service and other federal agencies therefore have a profound obligation to ensure that the Makahs are not physically obstructed or intimidated as they resume whaling. If arrests and serious prison sentences are required to protect the tribe and honor its treaty, so be it. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: CLASHES FEARED OVER WHALE HUNT TO TRIGGER CONFLICT L.A. Times, Vancouver Sun, August 28, 1998 SEATTLE -- Up to 20,000 people are expected to descend on the tiny Olympic Peninsula community of Neah Bay this weekend in the runup to the Makah Indians' historic October grey whale hunt. Authorized under a compromise agreement with the International Whaling Commission, which has administered an international ban on commercial whaling since 1987, the Makah hunt for up to five grey whales a year looms as one of the biggest environmental conflicts of the coming decade. Anti-whaling groups around the world have pledged to block the hunt, which they say could lead to a major increase in global whaling. This weekend authorities fear that some of the thousands of visitors at the Makah's annual cultural celebration might be protesters aiming to discourage the hunt. "There are groups that have said that they will be on site during the festival. Whether that will inflame issues or not, we don't know," said Sheriff Joe Hawe, who will have several deputies on duty. Washington state Governor Gary Locke has called on the National Guard to maintain a standby presence. The Makah's petition to resume whaling was backed by the U.S. government, based on an 1865 treaty under which the tribe ceded thousands of acres in exchange for a small reservation and the right to continue hunting whales, a tribal tradition over thousands of years. Since the whales virtually disappeared in the 1920s, the tribe has languished, supported primarily by logging and a dwindling salmon fishery, while the whales have staged a remarkable comeback. More than 20,000 now ply the coasts of California, Oregon, Washington and B.C. twice each year on their migration route, and they were removed from the U.S. endangered species list in 1994. Tribal leaders believe the hunt will give the tribe a renewed sense of purpose and pride, in addition to feeding the tribe's 2,300 members, 1,400 of whom still live on the reservation near the northwest tip of the Olympic Peninsula. "There are whaling families . . . that have been passing on dances and songs and rituals that help men and women become sound and self-assured, but those things didn't have the edge as time went on," said Keith Johnson, president of the Makah Whaling Commission. "My father wasn't on a hunt. But he knew the value of this training, adapted to cleansing one's spirit, focusing one's mind, and having direction," Johnson said. "It's a link to the past, and it validates us, who we are as a people and a culture." Johnson said he expects that once people understand the purpose and manner of the hunt, controversy will disappear. The Makah sought to conduct the hunt purely by traditional means, with harpoons. But for humanitarian reasons, the whaling commission insisted that the whale, once harpooned, must be finished off quickly with firearms. Leading opponents of the hunt, including the Sea Shepherd Society, the Progressive Animal Welfare Society and the Humane Society of the United States, say they plan no demonstrations now but will definitely have a presence when the hunt begins in October. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Sea-Shepherd's Watson 'Whales Away' against Native hunt NUU-CHAH-NULTH CHIEF BACKS GLOBAL DRIVE TO RENEW WHALE HUNT Victoria Times Colonist, August 26, 1998, Page A4 by Susan Chung Whale hunting is a practical, sustainable way to feed an ailing aboriginal culture, but the public is being brainwashed into believing that it isn't, says the head of the World Council of Whalers. Natives all over the globe have been whale hunting for centuries in a sustainable manner before big business arrived, and it can be done again, said Tom Mexis Happynook, hereditary whaling chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth. Natives are malnourished in part because of poverty and a departure from their traditional diet, he said. "People are eating fried bologna, hamburger soup and Kraft Dinner (macaroni). They don't have the money. I think that's hard for those who can go out and eat a lovely meal in a restaurant to understand," he said. "Our message is that people don't need to worry about the whale population plunging. We are not going to over-harvest," said Happynook. The whaling council is gearing up to broadcast that message worldwide, especially with the Makah of Washington state planning to hunt a gray whale Oct. 1. The International Whaling Commission has given the Makah clearance to hunt up to four gray whales each season. Whale hunts are a Makah treaty right, the only such right in the US. The Makah and the Nuu-chah-nulth are part of the same cultural group. They were separated when the US Canada border was established. Whale hunting is also a part of Nuu-chah-nulth past, said Happynook, who lives in the Victoria area. "My great-grandfather in 1928 was the last to hunt. People think there is such a huge gap (since the time of the last hunt), but there isn't," he said. Happynook's father would have gone whale hunting as well but died at a fairly young age. The traditions and secret rituals were passed down to Happynook who is teaching them to his 17-year-old son. While the Nuu-chah-nulth have made no plans for a whale hunt, Happynook said he intends to fulfil the tradition, which he says has become a food issue. But others worry a native whale hunt will lead to a repeat of wholesale slaughter of the species. "I feel this return to whaling will only set a precedent for the reopening of a commercial hunt based on profit-making," said Anna Hall, a marine biologist. Hall and Andria Allen are organizing a meeting in James Bay Saturday to protest the Makah whale hunt. It will be held at the James Bay community school centre at 140 Oswego St. from 7-9 p.m. Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and Greenpeace founder will be speaking along with Michael Kundu of Project Sea Wolf in Seattle. Letters to Times-Colonist - mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:Forwarded message:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Date: Fri, 28 Aug 1998 08:08:10 -0700 From: Arthur J Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: : DUMP JACK METCALF NOW! please spread widely ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK-- ACTION ALERT --DUMP JACK METCALF NOW! When confront about having Rep. Jack Metcalf as a speaker at their "Town Hall Panel" on June 30th in Seattle, Sea Shepherd defended directly working with Metcalf and called him a "stellar leader" and one of their supporters called him "a great public servant". They did not at all try to deny any of the information we gave them on Metcalf. All they would say was that Metcalf supported their issue and that is all that is important. We have been informed by a lawyer who was an activist against the former Apartheid regime in South Africa, in Olympia, that when they lobbied the legislature "he, several times made staggeringly racist comments about Africans being genetically incapable of governing themselves, and made them in open committee hearings." EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK. Rep. Jack Metcalf is known through out the state of Washington as the second most influential long time racist anti-tribal activist, next to the king of racism Sen. Slade Gorton, in this state. Jack Metcalf is one of the founders of S /SPAWN which later became the United Property Owners of Washington (UPOW). And Jack was on the UPOW Board until he left for congress. There is a great over lap of members and rhetoric between UPOW and the Washington Property Rights Network which is led by Jim Klauser who began, with other officials of the Builders Industry Association of Washington, the "Wise Use" Movement in this state. They also receive support from the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise. Also connected in this is the Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, a co-founder of the "Wise Use" Movement and is a national anti-treaty rights organization. UPOW has always used itself as a means for white property owners to fight tribal sovereignty and Native treaty rights. They have led the fight against tribal shell fishing rights, including a suit in which the Defenders of Property Rights (DoPR) is co-counsel. DoPR is an extremist right wing group whose board members include James Watt, Ed Meese, Robert Bork, Sen. Orrin Hatch and Sen Larry Craig, and is associated with the Heritage Foundation, the Alliance for America and other far right wing organizations. Rep. Jack Metcaf was elected to congress along with other right wing "Contract On America" Republicans like Linda Smith and Randy Tate. But Jack just maybe the worst of the much. The extreme right wing paper "The Spotlight" has had a number of write-ups on Jack, and one issue featured a photograph of him in the office of the Liberty Lobby which is the publisher of that paper. According to the League of Conservation Voters Jack has one of the worst environmental voting records in congress. Sea Shepherd rather than acknowledging that they made a mistake in joining forces with a man like Metcalf, sought to praise him. The only reason Metcalf is willing to work with Sea Shepherd is that they are fighting the Makah Nation over a purposed whale hunt, and Metcalf is clearly one of them most anti-tribal people in congress. Were the issue U.S. corporations wanting to get back into whale hunting he would be on the other side of the issue. By joining forces with Metcalf, Sea Shepherd is telling all those who have been victimized by the "Contract On America", the poor, people of color, working people and real environmentalists, and all Native people who have been victimized by the right wing racist anti-tribal campaign, that their struggles are not important to Sea Shepherd. We believe differently. We believe that all these struggles are important and none of them should quietly sit back and allow a self-righteous organization like Sea Shepherd stab them in the back by joining forces with a man like Metcalf. It matters not how you feel about the issues of Sea Shepherd, or its past activities, nothing justifies their alliance with the extreme racist right wing. We are calling on all people to e-mail DUMP METCALF NOW! and their comments directly to Sea Shepherd at:: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In Solidarity Arthur J. Miller ANTI-RACIST EMERGENCY ACTION NETWORK [EMAIL PROTECTED] :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: S.I.S.I.S. Settlers In Support of Indigenous Sovereignty P.O. Box 8673, Victoria, "B.C." "Canada" V8X 3S2 EMAIL: [EMAIL PROTECTED] WWW: http://kafka.uvic.ca/~vipirg/SISIS/SISmain.html SOVERNET-L is a news-only listserv concerned with indigenous sovereigntist struggles around the world. To subscribe, send "subscribe sovernet-l" in the body of an email message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information on sovernet-l, contact S.I.S.I.S. :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-: Louis Proyect (http://www.panix.com/~lnp3/marxism.html)
