Sign the petition to: REVOKE MAKAH WHALING RIGHTS!
Dear Activists and Concerned Citizens:
On Saturday, September 8th, 2007, the Washington State Indian tribe known as the "Makah", brutally slaughtered a GENTLE & TRUSTING resident Gray whale… This despicable act took place without the necessary permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service… [This whaling is also] in direct violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
The Makah Treaty of 1855, preserves the Indian tribe's right to whale. However, after killing a female, juvenile Gray whale in 1999, the Makah have been in the midst of court challenges brought by animal rights groups. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals twice ruled the tribe must procure a "waiver" from MMPA [Marine Mammal Protection Act], before being allowed to legally continue whaling. Permission [to whale] is PENDING until the waiver is granted… [On Sept. 8th] the Makah broke U.S. federal laws by viciously attacking [harpooning and shooting] this whale without the necessary federal authority to do so. According to observers, it took 10 hours of agonizing suffering for this poor creature to die...its body has yet to be recovered.
Three of the five tribesmen perpetrating this cowardly act, were members of the Makah's own WHALING COMMISSION. Yet, Makah Elders (who sit on the same board) maintain they had no prior knowledge of this planned atrocity.
This killing was a contemptuous, inflammatory act carried out by individuals who enjoy HIGH RANKING POSITIONS within the Makah tribe. As such, the tribe's whaling rights under Article 4 of the 1855 Makah Treaty should, and MUST be permanently REVOKED.
Much is at stake here. If the Makah are granted their waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act it means they will be allowed to continue whaling forever--TORTURING & KILLING up to 5 Gray whales each year!!
We are petitioning NOAA; asking that the agency permanently STRIP Makah whaling rights for the following reasons:
A) The Makah Treaty of 1855; [specifically Article 4, which allows the tribe to whale], is a 152 year old document; one which pre-dates the AMERICAN CIVIL WAR BY 6 YEARS, and is therefore no longer relevant; anymore than the past 'traditions' of slavery, cannibalism or the ritualistic murders of innocents as offerings to the "Gods".
B) The Makah claim of 'subsistence' whaling [under the International Whaling Commission's criteria] is obviously false. You can not "subsist" on whales that your tribe has not hunted for over 70 years.
According to the Christian Science Monitor: Environmentalists worry “that renewed "subsistence" whaling could be a first step toward commercial whaling.” They also worry “that one tribe's action may lead others to assert similar rights, boosting the whale harvest dramatically.
Will Anderson, a spokesman for the Progressive Animal Welfare Society in Lynnwood, Wash., says other tribes nearby may push for a more liberal interpretation of their treaties. In British Columbia, Canada, several tribes with whaling in their past are already negotiating their first treaties with the Canadian government….”
C) The Makah right to whaling on a 'cultural' basis is no longer true or applicable. In the hunt of 1999 the tribe… [used] speed boats; cell phones; Coast Guard cutters; "spotters" from helicopters; high powered rifles and machine guns to bring down their prey. The traditional long boats and spears used by their ancestors played a minor and incidental role in the kill. From a "traditional" standpoint, the methods employed were solidly 21st century...and a complete travesty of Makah ancient whaling practices. [It should also be noted that when the 1999 "hunt" was complete, the Makah people (other than a few elders who tasted one or two strips of flesh) left 99.9% of this whale's body to ROT on the beach].
D) Whale populations are being depleted at an alarming rate. Pollution, global warming, dwindling food sources, ship strikes, disease, sonar disturbances and rogue whaling worldwide, have all taken a devastating toll on a species capable of producing only one calf, per adult female, per year. No ONE group should be exempt from the global responsibility we ALL share for ensuring the continued survival of our whales.
Scientists have recently admitted to miscalculating the 'success' of the Gray whales' return from the brink of extinction. They have observed several 'skinny' Gray whales and conclude that their food sources may be rapidly declining due to global warming.
According to the Christian Science Monitor: Will Anderson, leader of PAWS, an environmental group even argues, "You wouldn't think a city of 21,000 people is very big," he says. Grays are the only whales that feed directly off the ocean bottom.”
…If the Makah are genuinely interested in "honoring" whales, they must be committed to allowing them to live in peace and safety; while helping improve the quality of life for all Makah by increasing financial and educational opportunities for their people.
At a time when the world is faced with multiple species extinction; pollution; global warming and rapidly dwindling natural resources, eliminating ALL whaling is the only ethical, moral and ecologically responsible decision to uphold.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/2/help-revoke-makah-whaling-rights
"We've adapted, and the Makah need to, also"
The hunt for heritage need not encompass barbaric throwback
Regarding "Gray whale shot, killed in rogue tribal hunt" [Times page one, Sept. 9]:
I've always thought the Makah Tribe's reason for hunting whales was weak.
The idea that because their ancestors hunted whales, they therefore should be able to hunt whales, is silly. Our European ancestors hunted whales in the 18th and 19th centuries; but guess what? Our modern world has a revolutionary new concept: grocery stores! We don't need to go out destroying these intelligent and highly social mammals in order to obtain food. We've adapted, and the Makah need to, also.
The fact that this creature was tortured for 12 hours makes me sick. What is so traditional about using speedboats and powerful guns to hunt whales with?
The only reason I can see for this barbaric practice is that a few tribal members can prove they are some sort of He-Men. What a sad tradition.
— Craig Erkelens, Seattle
A salvage mission
The intentional, brutal killing of a gray whale this week was outrageous. The animal slowly bled to death for close to eight hours. For what? For someone to revive their heritage? Must we hold onto, or revive, heritages that are abhorrent or cruel, especially when that tradition is no longer necessary for survival? First Nations people in this area haven't relied on whale meat to survive for decades.
We wouldn't approve slavery or head-hunting simply because it was a tradition in the past, why should we allow whale hunting, simply because a particular cultural group wants to do it?
One man involved in the Makah hunt attempted to justify their actions by claiming that the whale "chose them" by swimming toward their boat ["Whale hunter: 'I'm not ashamed,' " page one, Sept. 10]. What a distortion. The poor animal simply didn't know to fear man, and slaughtering it was akin to shooting any unsuspecting animal or pet that has become accustomed to living with humans.
Native communities would be far better served attempting to encourage whale populations that don't fear man. They could then develop businesses that would build on the tourist attraction of whale watching and enjoy the economic spinoffs.
It is also extremely upsetting to learn that Vancouver Island Natives are also being given the treaty right to kill whales. Why is this happening? If we want to build a better world, we need to value the environment and animals that live in it, and we need compassion for those that can't speak for themselves. This includes intelligent and rare sea animals such as whales.
— Jane Walton, Chemainus, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Clinging to jetsam
The Makah Indians should have the right to hunt any whale any time, provided they do it like their ancestors did 200 years ago — by forgoing outboard motors, fiberglass boats, aluminum boats, high-powered weapons, cellphones, iPods, computers, telephones, televisions, radios, indoor plumbing, modern medicine, pickup trucks, cars; by using bones for spear tips instead of steel, and not using power tools for canoe-making, or electricity, of course, for the aforementioned power tools; foreswear modern dentistry, Wal-Mart, central heating (a big fire in the middle of their abode is OK), MTV.
Yes, this is sarcasm. It is also 2007.
— Bob Johnson, Renton
Thursday, September 13, 2007 - Page updated at 02:04 AM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgibin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003881579&zsection_id=268883724&slug=thulets13&date=20070913