No charges filed yet for Makah Whalers who Killed Gray Whale

[Annces]

Statement by the Makah Tribal Council

The Makah Tribal Council denounces the actions of those who took it upon themselves to hunt a whale without the authority from the Makah Tribal Council or the Makah Whaling Commission. Their action was a blatant violation of our law and they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We are cooperating with the National Marine Fisheries Service in their investigation of this incident and will continue to do so.

The individuals who took part in this act were arrested by Makah enforcement officers and booked in our detention facility. They were released only after meeting the bail requirements set by the court. They will stand trial in our court at a future date.

We had a meeting of the general council of the Makah Tribe to discuss this incident and the membership of the tribe supports our action. The tribe has demonstrated extraordinary patience in waiting for the legal process to be completed in order to receive our permit to conduct a whale hunt. We are a law-abiding people and we will not tolerate lawless conduct by any of our members. We hope the public does not permit the actions of five irresponsible persons to be used to harm the image of the entire Makah tribe.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003876780_webtribalstatement09.html



The Makah tribe is responsible for the selection and training of their whaling crew. Two of the five men involved with this crime were none other than Wayne Johnson, the captain of the whaling crew and Theron Parker, the man who first harpooned the young Gray whale in Makah Bay in 1999. Another one of the five, Andy Noel is a Makah whaling commissioner. The other two were Billy Secor and Frank Gonzales.

Wayne Johnson has said that he does not feel that the Makah need to use traditional boats and harpoons. "It's about killing the whale," he said in 1999 and added, "if nothing else we pissed off the white man."

At the IWC meeting in Anchorage in May of this year, Wayne Johnson told Captain Paul Watson that he was looking for a Humpback to kill. When Captain Watson informed Johnson that the Humpback was endangered and protected, Johnson replied that such things meant nothing to him. "We are Makah and we can do what we want with the whales. We have the right to kill them all if we so choose."

With men of this character heading their whaling crews, the Makah have demonstrated that they are not responsible enough to manage a whaling operation that could see five whales killed each year.


On Monday, Tribal Council member Micah McCarty told federal officials that the five men will face charges in Makah Tribal Court and will face penalties for violating the tribe's whaling management plan governing how the tribe hunts a whale. He also said he hoped that the five men would not face federal charges if the tribe prosecutes them.

So far, neither the U.S. Federal government nor the Makah Tribal Courts have laid any charges against the five. If charges are filed the opinion on the reservation is that the Makah Courts would never convict the five for killing the whale because the defendants will use their treaty rights as a defense forcing the Makah to make a judgment on their own treaty rights.

http://www.seashepherd.org/news/media_070914_1.html



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[uppityperson]

1. Makah tribal member in illegal whale hunt issues statement

While I appreciate uppity people, I don't see how this will help.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003884700_webwhalestatement.html

Wayne Johnson, one of the Makah tribal members who illegally hunted a gray whale Sept. 8, issued a statement this morning:

"When the U.S. Coast Guard ordered us to drop our whaling weapons last Saturday, we were just moments away from killing a gray whale that would have fed our Makah people. The wounded whale was left to drift with our harpoons in it and a second whaling team that would have ended its misery was turned away at gunpoint. I probably shouldn't say anything about all this since it looks like I will be prosecuted in tribal court. But I'm proud of what we did. I'm only mad that we weren't allowed to finish the job and bring this whale to shore for our people.

"We've been waiting eight years since our last whale hunt for the United States to hold up its end of our treaty that guarantees our right to hunt whales. They have yet to carry out the legal procedures they claim to need. I don't know if I had any faith in the process to begin with, but I certainly don't have any now. The Makah Tribe never conceded that our treaty rights were subject to all these conditions. We agreed to participate in the process only as a courtesy, not a legality. But years are going by. So many of our elders have passed on. And some of us need this whale meat in our freezers to get through the winter.

"The whales we see out there all the time are robust and they are everywhere. Our tribe manages its natural resources very well. Our seafood is still healthy, our fish, our clams. We have an abundance of wildlife and we have good management in place. Our whale hunting is and will continue to be sustainable. We've had an International Whaling Commission quota of five whales a year in place every year since I helped bring home the whale in 1999. That's 40 whales we've been denied while the government drags its feet and makes excuses. Just like the 60 billion dollars courts say the government owes Indians today, the U.S. still does not keep its promises to Native people. If they don't want to uphold their part of the treaty, then give me back my land.

"Some people are calling what I did an act of civil disobedience. I don't know much about that, but if civil is what the government is, then call my part savage disobedience. Eskimos did it when their whaling rights were challenged. Aleuts did it when their sealing rights were challenged. Tulalip, Puyallup, Nisqually, Muckleshoot and many other Indians did it when their fishing rights were challenged. Many of us whalers have been talking about this privately for a while. Even though our community didn't know until it happened, many share our frustrations and showed support. From the inside of the jail we could hear them honking for us as they drove by. I was willing to go to jail. I did it for my mom, who is approaching 80, and for my nephew who is 5. Instead of commodity surplus cheese and canned goods this winter, I want them to eat our healthy Native foods. I want them to eat whale."

[uppityperson]

2. Makah leaders, whaler offer insight

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003885559_whale15m.html

A week after five Makah whalers illegally hunted a gray whale off Neah Bay, some of the tribe's leaders have begun to say that while they disapprove of the hunt, they understand why the whalers did it.

Friday, with the help and permission of the head of the tribe's whaling commission, whaler Wayne Johnson sent out a lengthy written statement defending his actions and expressing frustration with the system that has held up a legal whale hunt for the tribe.And though Makah tribal leaders have uniformly denounced the hunt, many now are also saying they appreciate the frustration that drove the whalers to their motorboats.

"You could see this as an act of civil disobedience," said Micah McCarty, a member of the Makah tribal council who trained in the whaling canoe alongside some of the same men who legally hunted the tribe's first whale in more than 70 years in 1999. "It's not like they were rebels without a cause." Still, McCarty remains resolute that the men should be punished.

(clip)Keith Johnson, the president of the Makah tribe's whaling commission who helped Wayne Johnson with his statement, said Friday he also understands the whalers' feelings. "There are two ways you can look at it," Keith Johnson said. "Yes, it was absolutely wrong; they didn't have a permit. But it doesn't say in the treaty you have to have a permit. I see it both ways. These guys certainly wanted to exercise their treaty right, and they want to bring traditional foods home; we want subsistence; the freezers are low, and they want whale meat for the wintertime, and I am sympathetic to them when they say that....(more@link)

[Annces]

3. We need to protect the whales

No one should be hunting them. They broke a law. I hope the voice of Seattle and animal rights groups keep them from every whaling.