===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== GORE- THE BUCK STOPS THERE! NO, THERE! NO, OVER THERE! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- You'd think Al Gore would have at least issued a STATEMENT by now regarding his personal whale hunt. But our heroic vice-president does business another way, as a list subscriber shares with us: "I was referred to the Council of Environmental Quality (http://www.whitehouse.gov/CEQ), who advise the President and VP on environmental issues. (202) 456-6224. They were polite but said comments should be given to NOAA (www.noaa.gov) who is the lead agency on this issue. (202) 482-3567. I called them and they referred me to their division called Protective Resource Office/NOAA at (301) 713-2322. I called them and they referred me to our local contact for NOAA..Janet Sears at (206) 526-6172. I called and left her a message asking her who was managing the Makah's permit." ***** BUSINESS AS USUAL FOR THE WHALE KILLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- British group loses whaling observer status over Makah protest- International commission expels Breach Marine Protection activists (AP) ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada - The International Whaling Commission has expelled the British activist group Breach to punish it for a protest over whale hunting by Makah Indians in Washington state. The 34 countries attending the commission's annual meeting in St. George's, Grenada, voted unanimously Wednesday to take away the observer status of Breach Marine Protection. That means it no longer can attend the closed committee meetings where the commission drafts international policies on whaling. Tuesday, Breach activists invaded the commission's headquarters in Britain and chained themselves to furniture to protest the killing of a gray whale last week that was the Makahs' first kill in 70 years, according to commission secretary Ray Gambell. The hunt was supported by the United States and permitted under a commission clause allowing indigenous tribes to hunt for subsistence. "We're pretty sick about the whole business," Gambell told The Associated Press, alleging the protesters were trespassing. The group was expelled under a rule passed Monday that allows the commission to punish observers who break laws during protests. The rule originally was aimed at Greenpeace, whose activists chained themselves to a Japanese whaling ship for one day in November in the port of New Caledonia. Japan said it lost millions of dollars and presented a motion for Greenpeace to be expelled. But it was rebuffed by anti-whaling countries who noted that Tokyo filed no criminal charges against the protesters. Also Wednesday, Japan said it will work to remove some whales from the international endangered species list, a change it hopes would pave the way for the resumption of commercial whaling. The United States and other anti-whaling countries responded by passing a resolution warning the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species not to act on Japan's anticipated request. ***** BUT YOU SAID ALL ALONG IT WAS FOR SUBSISTENCE Wayne Johnson screws up- again... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- While Keith Johnson was busy spending our tax dollars in the Caribbean, trying to convince the IWC that the Makah deserved a subsistence quota, whale killer Wayne Johnson announced to the world that they NEVER needed whales to survive. In a guest commentary in the May 23 edition of the Seattle Times, Wayne (with the help of Jennifer Aradanas) wrote: "Contrary to the image anti-whaling activists have perpetuated, our ancestors did not hunt whales because they were starving. Our corner of the continent is richly abundant in food sources and our tribe was well off. To suggest that our grandfathers hunted whales only because they had to--and that we should be permitted to do so only if we are undernourished--assumes that whaling is a shameful practice that should only be engaged in under dire circumstances. But whaling is our way of life.(?) We do not do it out of desperation. We are proud of it..." (Thanks to Jim Robertson) ***** THE SAGA OF THE UPSET SENATOR ---------------------------------------------------------- A list subscriber passes on the following from Senator Murray's office: "(an aide) told me that Senator Murray was very upset with the Makah for killing the whale and that she had expressed that to the Makah tribe." Well, gee, if we had known she was UPSET..... Senator Murray, WHALES ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED HERE IN WASHINGTON STATE, JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED THAT BIT OF INFORMATION BACK IN D.C.!!! Too busy to deal with it? REMEMBER US? We are the people who put you in office! At what point did you actually think we'd ACCEPT the slaughter of these gentle whales in our state? Perhaps you would at least pass the message on to your buddy, Mr. Gore, that we're fed up with taxpayer-funded whale killing? We will REMEMBER your inattention and political cowardice come the next election. Registered Democrats, make sure to pass on the gist of your call to local and state Democratic offices. Reports coming in to us suggest that massive numbers of Democrats are defecting- not wanting to be associated with Al Gore's continuing whale slaughter. KEEP UP THE PRESSURE! Patty Murray U.S. Senate (WA) 111 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 205100001 Washington Voice: (202) 224-2621 Washington Fax: (202) 224-0238 Voice: (206) 553-5545 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.senate.gov/~murray ***** WCCA'S FIRST ANNUAL "DEER IN THE HEADLIGHTS" AWARD GOES TO: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our very own Governor Gary Locke, who, much like inattentive Senator Murray, claims that he was "saddened" by the slaughter. And, just as a cowardly bystander might ignore a mugging take place right in front of him, the Governor takes double-speak to a new level... "...Any action to modify the treaty would have to be negotiated between the tribe and the federal government. The state, including the Governor, cannot override this treaty." Excuse us? Did we say anything about the state overriding the treaty? Have we ever? YOU'RE NOT LISTENING, GOVERNOR! Before you try to wiggle out of this, Governor, maybe you'd like to tell us just how much tax money you spent on deploying the Washington National Guard to Neah Bay last year? Wasn't that to "protect" the Killers of Neah Bay from unsavory elements like us- the people who pay your salary? How much IS this costing Washington state taxpayers, Governor? Why don't you release the information about how much you've spent helping the Makah BEFORE you try and wash the blood from your hands? YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS, GOVERNOR LOCKE! You need to stand up for the people of Washington state. You CAN NOT possibly duck this issue- we are dependent on you to represent our wishes to the Clinton/Gore administration! You are duty-bound to work for the people of Washington, Governor, regardless of what your friends in the Gore camp tell you. Gary Locke WA State Governor Governor's Office PO Box 40002 Olympia, WA 985040001 Voice: (360) 902-4111 Fax: (360) 753-4110 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.wa.gov/governor ***** STATEMENT BY ALBERTA THOMPSON ---------------------------------------------------------- S'tassawood of the Cheaba family of the Makah nation, to the International Whaling Commission (Ed. note- Alberta is a true hero of the anti-whaling campaign. We the people owe her a debt of gratitude for her firm stand against Makah atrocities at great personal risk.) May 27, 1999 Commissioners: I am a 74 year old Makah elder. These are my words. I attended the 1996 and 1997 meetings of the Commission when the Makah Tribal Council attempted to gain exemption from the worldwide ban on whaling. I came to make the Commissioners aware of deliberate attempts to mislead that were contained within the "needs statement" submitted by the Council. Since that time, I have been vilified and slandered on the Internet and in newspapers. Three tribal members libeled me in an issue of the British Columbia newspaper Georgia Strait. Two others called me a "slave." Active attempts to silence me include the Makah Tribal Council's request of local newspapers that they print only news from the Makah tribe that is sent to them over the Chairman's signature. On August 21, 1996, the Tribal Council created an ordinance called Large Crowd Control directed solely against me. If anyone gathers in large crowds, they are subject to jail time for the safety of the tribe. Chief of Police Kenny McKenny delivered a copy of the ordinance to me personally. I asked if anyone else was being given the ordinance. He said "no." In the pages of the Seattle Post Intelligencer, the Tribal Council speculated that perhaps they should have me removed from the tribal rolls (banished). I have been harassed and threatened by the current chief of police. After working in tribal administration as Senior Citizens program clerk for 15 years, I was fired for supposedly making a phone call on work hours to a whale protection group. The council said I jeopardized the tribe. The two people who made the call attested that I had nothing to do with it, but the firing was upheld anyway and my appeals denied. My daughter formally appealed the firing to the Tribal Council. They responded by ordering her evicted from her home. The tires of my car were slashed with a knife while I was shopping at the grocery store. While I was away last August, my six-year-old dog was found dead one and a half miles outside of Neah Bay. She was an indoor dog, and never ventured further than across the street. Last year, the Council attempted to cut off my senior citizen's monthly stipend. The Chairman directly stated that this was done because I opposed the whale hunt. My benefits were restored after widespread public protest when the Council realized it had gone too far. Thus has the tribe dealt with any who seek to speak the truth about this whale hunt. The claims that this hunt is being carried out as a matter of tradition are false. The hunters were paid to go to the meetings of the Makah Whaling Commission and whenever they got into a canoe until the Whaling Commission ran out of funds. The hunters are supposed to spend an entire year physically and spiritually cleansing themselves, yet one was recently found guilty of driving under the influence; another is on probation for assault and has routinely sworn at me, indicating that he is far from a cleansed spirit. From the moment it was proposed, this has never been a traditional hunt. The failure of the International Whaling Commission to formally rule on the Makah's aboriginal subsistence need to hunt whales has been the cause of much strife, confusion, and ill feeling. The Commission should so rule at this meeting. Thank you. Alberta Thompson ***** SOMETHING FOR THE MAKAH TO THINK ABOUT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Any marine mammal worldwide will have PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in them," said Peter Ross, an expert in marine mammal toxicology at the Institute of Ocean Sciences. The now-banned pesticide DDT also turns up, he said. (KIRO-TV, Seattle) ***** TO OUR VICTORIA, B.C. FRIENDS --------------------------------------------------- The West Coast Anti-Whaling Society is holding a public information night at the Sticky Wicket at 919 Douglas St. from 6-8pm on Wednesday June 2. We will have the upstairs patio and all are welcome who are concerned about whaling. Additionally, a list member in Ottawa passes this info on for Canadians on the list: O.K. here they are! These are the contacts to write to express your fury and outrage over the Makah hunt and whaling in general. If enough of us express our feelings, these a-holes will be forced to listen, so please spread the word and take a few minutes to send off your feelings and speak out against the bloodbath "they" call tradition! Prime Minister Jean Cretien (alias "no backbone") House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario (no postage required for letters going here if mailed in Canada) Honourable (is this a joke or what?!) David Anderson Minister of Fisheries and Oceans House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario (no postage yet again) e-mail for Anderson (the seal slaughterer): [email protected] Premier Glen Clark Rm 156, Parliament Buildings Victoria, B.C. V8V 1X4 (He has finally done something decent by publicly opposing the slaughter and indicating that no native tribes in B.C. will have whaling priveledges...but we must remember that he is a politician after all, and lies are mandatory for political leadership, so keep the pressure on!). Ambassador Gordon Giffin U.S. Embassy 100 Wellington St. Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5T1 And, I was given one other name but have yet to locate an address. If anyone finds an address for: Ed Lochbaum, DFO Marine Mammals, please pass it on. ***** LAST ITEM ---------------- "It is not enough to understand the natural world: the point is to preserve and DEFEND it." -Edward Abbey *****