===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE UPCOMING EVENTS ------------------------------- REMINDER: TWO UPCOMING RALLIES! A rally, set for Saturday, June 5 in downtown Seattle, will protest the Makah's killing of a gray whale. Organizers hope to halt further gray whale slaughter and to raise awareness concerning the hunt. The rally is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at Westlake Park, on the corner of Fourth and Pine. For more information call (206) 226-4328. Also... A HUGE show of support for the gray whales will be held in downtown Port Angeles. Those of you that couldn't make it out to the highway protests should plan on attending this rally! Grab the family, round up your friends and let's ALL show our support for the gray whales! The Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales (PCPW) will hold a rally at the Clallam County Courthouse in downtown Port Angeles, WA at 10:00 am on June 8, 1999- right before the County Commission meeting. The PCPW recently demanded that the Clallam County Commission issue a resolution condemning the Makah whale killing. This rally will demonstrate to the Commission that such a resolution would have overwhelming support from the public, and would go far to mitigate the economic damage done to the citizens of Clallam County by the Makah whale killers. If there is only ONE rally you are able to attend- THIS ONE IS IT! Spread the word about this event far and wide..... Contact Chuck Owens (360) 928-3048, or Dan Spomer (360) 317-6345 DIRECTIONS: Take Highway 101 to downtown Port Angeles, take a left on Lincoln St. The location is at 4th and Lincoln, across from Safeway ***** PAUL WATSON SPEAKING AT WWU -------------------------------------------------------- Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will speak at Western Washington University on June 3, 1999, in the Viking Union Lounge. This event will run from approximately 7:00 to 9:00 pm. A Makah attorney will also be speaking. This is an exceptional opportunity for all of you to hear both sides of the issue. For more details, here is the contact information: (360) 650-3350 or pio@cc.wwu.edu ***** STATEMENT ON THE MAKAH WHALE HUNT ------------------------------------------------------------------- By Captain Paul Watson Founder & President Sea Shepherd Conservation Society June 3, 1999 The debate over Makah whaling seems to have degenerated into emotional rants over political correctness and unfounded accusations of racism. To the media, it has become a cowboys and Indians drama, with one columnist after another mounting the high horse of morality to wag fingers at those "eco-terrorist, animal rights fanatics" who they suggest are really motivated by "racism and white supremacist attitudes." One politically correct stalwart supporter of the Makah, recently told me that if I was anti-whaling then I was anti-Makah, and if I was anti-Makah, I was anti-Indian, and thus the very position of opposing whaling is a racist attitude. The fact is that I am anti-whaling AND I am not anti-Makah. The fact is that there are Makah tribal members and Elders who are supporters of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. The fact is that I have a long personal history of defending Native American rights. The fact is that I have Native American crewmembers that oppose Makah whaling. The opposition of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and myself is really very simple to understand. We really have only one simple request. Since October 1, 1998, I have told the Makah Whaling Commission that we will stop all opposition to this whale hunt if they could produce for us - a letter or a document that states that the Makah whale hunt has been approved as a legitimate aboriginal hunt under the rules of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). To date, I have not seen such a letter. On the contrary, I have a letter from the IWC that states, "the IWC has specifically not passed a judgement on recognizing or otherwise the claim by the Makah tribe." At the May 1999 meeting of the IWC held in Grenada, the Makah again did not win the approval to kill whales. The IWC is the only international regulatory body with the authority to regulate international whaling as defined by International Conservation Law. This is the law accepted by the United States as a signatory member. As of May 17, 1999, the day the first whale was killed, the United States joined Japan and Norway in the fraternity of pirate whaling nations. With the hypocrisy of the United States exposed, Japan immediately announced they would go ahead with a "traditional" whale hunt on the Japanese coast. Norway announced an increase in their already illegal coastal quota and the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Vancouver Island announced that they want to begin a "cultural hunt". The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society predicted that this expansion of whaling for "cultural necessity" would be the consequence of a Makah kill, and this prediction became reality within days of the slaughter. We now predict that this politically correct maneuver, instigated by the Japanese whaling lobby will escalate into "cultural" hunts in Peru, the Caribbean, Korea, Vietnam, Russia, Iceland, Greenland, and other nations, all eager to sell whale meat to the Japanese. I have fought whaling aggressively since 1974. I have watched since 1992 as the Japanese approached indigenous communities with offers to support a revival of cultural whaling. I have documents obtained from the Federal government that demonstrate a commercial interest by the Makah in a Japanese market. It appears that the Japanese have now turned the tables on us and amazingly they have manipulated the United States into becoming a whaling nation. Furthermore, utilizing the realpolitik of political correctness, the Japanese have managed to divide the conservation movement by making whaling a cultural right rather than an economic venture. I have another prediction: Watch the money. Look for the Makah to add Minke whale, dolphins, and porpoise to their list of prey. A Minke whale is worth a half a million dollars or more in Japan. Look for a weakening of CITES restrictions on trading whale meat, and look for evidence of smuggling activities to Vancouver Island or directly to Japanese vessels at sea. The sale of whale meat to Japan from Norway is illegal, but contraband shipments have been intercepted. DNA analysis of whale meat purchased randomly in Japanese supermarkets has revealed obviously smuggled North Atlantic Minke, and protected species like Humpback, Fin, Blue, Belugas, and even Orca. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is an international marine wildlife conservation organization. We would not invest our time and resources on actively opposing Makah whaling unless we had reason to believe that this hunt has international consequences and will have a profound impact on whale species and numbers worldwide. Accusations of racism and "cultural insensitivity" cannot detract from the simple fact that this hunt is illegal under international conservation law and as such we must oppose it. To ignore it would not only be irresponsible to our commitment to conservation under the United Nations World Charter for Nature; it would in fact be racist. It would be racist for us to oppose Japanese and Norwegian violations of the IWC regulations and at the same time ignore the same violations by the Makah tribe and the United States. Consistency means enjoying support for doing what is right by doing the right thing when it is popular to do so, and suffering opposition for doing what is right when it is unpopular to do so. We will withdraw from opposing the Makah whale hunt when, and only when, the Makah whalers comply with international conservation law, or if the International Whaling Commission approves this hunt by the required three-quarters vote of the member nations of the IWC. We are not demanding anything very radical here. We are simply requesting that the Makah stop whaling, or produce a letter of approval of their aboriginal subsistence need to go whaling, as required under U.S. law, from the only international organization empowered to give that approval - the IWC. Permission is hereby given to publish or reproduce this statement in any public or privately owned media. Captain Paul Watson serves in a volunteer capacity as President of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. He is employed as a University Lecturer and Instructor at UCLA, the Pasadena College of Design and for Jodi Solomon's Lecture Bureau in Boston, Ma. Captain Watson is the author of the books Sea Shepherd, Ocean Warrior, Earthforce, and Cry Wolf! Captain Paul Watson E-Mail: Paulwatson@earthlink.net Tel: 310-301-7325 or (Canada) 604-688-7325. ***** ANOTHER EVENT WITH PAUL WATSON ------------------------------------------------------------- >From Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Whale Hunting ...Tradition or Abuse? Friday, June 4th 12-2 pm PDT TalkSpot's News OnLine http://www.talkspot.com/newsroom.html Let your voice be heard!! Do you oppose the recent killing of a gray whale in Neah Bay Washington? TalkSpot's News OnLine takes an in-depth look at Whale Hunting and the Makah Indian treaty that allows additional hunts to take place. Participate in our LIVE chat room, and listen to guests in Real Audio. Express how you feel about this controversial issue! Special guest: Paul Watson, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society will join the two hour broadcast. Makah tribal members will also join the program. Check out our WebSite for a complete list of guests at http://www.talkspot.com/newsroom.html. Show airs, Friday, June 4th, from 12-2 pm PDT...only on TalkSpot!!!! ***** THEY SAID IT --------------------- Our sources report that the National Marine Fisheries Service asked the Makah for a sample of the whale they killed, to see if the DNA of that poor whale matched the DNA of JJ. The Makah response? They refused because "it would mess up their tradition." *****