===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BREAKING NEWS! CONGRESSIONAL MOVE UNDERWAY TO STOP MAKAH WHALE KILLERS! We have been informed by a high-ranking source within the Republican Party that a move is currently underway to permanently halt the Makah whale killing atrocities! The power to amend or change Indian treaties has always been given to the U.S. Congress. We are told that just such an effort is currently underway. Here is your chance, folks- you now have the opportunity to make the change that will FOREVER stop the atrocities of the Makah whale killers. For the next day, we are asking you to spread the word- tell your friends, family and associates to CALL the following two officials. Spread the news far and wide- we need to show the Congress that WE WANT THESE KILLINGS STOPPED! THANK the two officials listed below and: 1) Share with them how you feel about the Makah atrocity. Let them know you are outraged at this taxpayer-funded killing! 2) Ask them to take AGGRESSIVE, PROMPT measures to ensure this killing stops, and demand that NO MORE OF YOUR TAX DOLLARS go to the Makah killers! 3) Express your support for their efforts- be sure and remind them you're a voter! 4) Ask what you can to do help them end this slaughter...forever! Jack Metcalf House of Representatives, WA Congressional District 2 1510 Longworth House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 205150001 Washington Voice: (202) 225-2605 Washington Fax: (202) 225-4420 Voice: (425) 252-3188 Slade Gorton U.S. Senate (WA) 730 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 205100001 Washington Voice: (202) 224-3441 Washington Fax: (202) 224-9393 Voice: (425) 451-0103 Be sure and share with us the responses you get from their staff. Spread the word far and wide- NOW! ***** LAW ENFORCEMENT- MAKAH STYLE ---------------------------------------------------------- Many of you have asked about the Makah police chief, Lionel Ahdunko. This article from the Reno Gazette-Journal will fill you in on the chief law-enforcement officer of the Makah nation... We should tell you that this gentleman draws his salary courtesy of the American taxpayers. OFFICER'S CAREER ONE LONG VIOLATION OF TRUST ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reno Gazette-Journal May 19th, 1999 Probation? Waiver of fines in lieu of alternatives such as community service? Are federal officials kidding or what? Better yet, how can I get a job like former Washoe tribal police chief Lionel Ahdunko, where it's all right to commit a list of felonies like falsifying an accident report, being a co-conspirator to commit murder, ripping off an M-14 rifle and then receive probation, have $250,000 worth of fines waived and continue to get hired as an officer of the law? Talk about inconsistencies within the criminal justice system. That's putting it mildly when it comes to Ahdunko, who recently pleaded guilty to making false statements in a police report. It sure must have been some kind of sweetheart deal he made with the U.S. attorney's office because prosecutors dropped the second count of the indictment accusing him of trying to cover up his involvement in the March 1997 incident. Then they only charged him with a misdemeanor in connection with his illegal possession of a fully-automatic M-14 rifle that belonged to the Washoe Tribal Police Department. Keep in mind that in the early 1990s Ahdunko was fired from the Cleveland County, Okla., Sheriff's Department. He then migrated out here and was hired as a Carson City deputy sheriff. But he lost that job when a grand jury in Oklahoma indicted him for conspiracy to commit murder. He was arrested on a warrant in connection with that allegation in Carson City. Even though he was still under indictment on the Oklahoma charges, he was hired as captain of the Washoe Tribal Police, issued a Bureau of Indian Affairs federally owned 9 mm handgun and a federal BIA commission card, giving him full powers of a federal officer. Then after he pleaded no contest to perjury in connection with the Oklahoma case, he continued working as an armed police captain with the Washoe Tribe. Never mind the fact that federal law states it's a federal felony for anyone under felony indictment or convicted of a felony in any jurisdiction to possess any firearm or ammunition. That job soon came to an end after allegations appeared in 1997 that he falsified a federal accident report and lied about it. In that same year Ahdunko also was served with a restraining order for domestic violence after his pregnant girlfriend stated in an affidavit that he beat her with his issued 9 mm weapon. After all this criminal activity he was once again hired as a police chief but this time with the Makah tribe in Washington. And just last month federal officials released the 42-year-old Ahdunko on his own recognizance until his July 29 sentencing. Prosecutors say they plan to recommend the lower end of the sentencing guidelines, which means allowing waiver of fines as high as $250,000 in lieu of alternatives and probation as an alternative to prison time. The plea agreement also stated that the court could increase any possible penalties if it finds that he abused a position of trust. Well, I have news for federal officials. Ahdunko's entire law enforcement career has been nothing but one long violation of the public trust. That guy belongs in federal prison, not released on his own recognizance. ***** PAUL WATSON SAID THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALLS GROW FOR RENEWED WHALE HUNT >From the Vancouver Sun, B.C. May 24, 1999 "An international association of whalers led by a B.C. aboriginal leader will call for the resumption of the commercial whale hunt at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission, which begins today on the Caribbean island of Grenada. The widely publicized hunt of a grey whale by Makah natives in Washington State last week has led some countries to argue that the commercial hunt should resume because some species, such as the grey whale, have returned to healthy numbers. Whaling countries, led by Japan, are pushing to resume commercial whaling under a 1994 plan that establishes strict catch limits and provides observers on ships. "The animals are beginning to thrive, that's why it's starting up again," said Kathy Happynook of the World Council of Whalers. Kathy is the wife of Tom Happynook, chairman of the WCW and hereditary chief of the Huu-ay-aht of Vancouver Island, which -- along with the Nuu-chah-nulth -- are pushing for native whaling rights in B.C. Both bands are related to the Makah tribe. Last week, Premier Glen Clark said he would not support any aboriginal treaty that included whaling rights. However, B.C. has no jurisdiction over the issue because whaling is a federal responsibility. The WCW, which represents both aboriginal and non-aboriginal whalers, was established in 1997 to "support sustainable whaling world-wide..." ***** PAUL WATSON TOLD US, PART TWO --------------------------------------------------------- "The High North Alliance wishes to take this opportunity to congratulate the USA on the successful gray whale hunt by the Makah Tribe last week. The High North Alliance is an umbrella organisation representing whalers, sealers and fishermen from Canada, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway as well as a number of coastal communities." ***** THEY SAID IT -------------------- "We have to waste a little time on those people to educate them" Billy Frank, chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, speaking to a crowd about anti-whaling protestors. (Peninsula Daily News, May 23, 1999) *****