===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE ------------------------------------------ POLTICAL CHESS GAME UNFOLDS... LATEST DEVELOPMENT: It is possible that the Makah may attempt to kill another gray whale as early as October 1. YES, you read correctly- that is less than one week away. October 1 is the first day the Makah are allowed to resume killing due to their agreement with the federal government and Clinton/Gore administration. It is also (significantly) a day that will see a large number of whale protection activists called into court by the federal government. (See below) 'NEAH BAY 7' TO APPEAR IN COURT OCTOBER 1 ----------------------------------------- A group of whale protection activists will be arraigned in District Court, Tacoma, Washington, October 1 on a variety of charges stemming from their protection and defense of gray whales in May, 1999. The seven are: Lisa Distefano, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Allison Lance, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Jonathan Paul, Sea Defense Alliance Jake Conroy, Sea Defense Alliance Josh Harper, Sea Defense Alliance Cheryl Siler, unnafiliated Scott Hopper, unaffiliated These seven will all be present in Tacoma on October 1, which (coincidentally?) is the first day the Makah are allowed to resume their whale killing. We encourage as many supporters as possible to show up and SUPPORT THE NEAH BAY 7! Details, news, maps and directions can be found at http://www.stopwhalekill.org ***** A STATEMENT REGARDING THE SEA DEFENSE ALLIANCE DISPUTE ------------------------------------------------------ The WCCA will not post any more statements from either faction of the Sea Defense Alliance. In the spirit of fairness, we were going to post a statement from the new Board of Directors in response to one by Jonathan Paul, but found the content too demeaning and libelous. However, we will continue to inform you of developments in this dispute as they occur. Our position on the matter is as follows: We hope the factions involved can come to a VERY timely settlement and would remind them that deadly important issues remain at hand. It would be a very sad and shameful day if the Makah were to resume their killing this fall while the two factions bicker and fight at home. The Sea Defense Alliance of 1998 and early 1999 earned the respect and gratitude of thousands upon thousands of people, and several gray whales owe their lives to the efforts of these heroes. Many subscribers of this list have given generous gifts to Sea Defense Alliance, and no doubt would like to continue that support. We certainly hope that these dedicated activists can find a solution and return to where they belong- ON THE WATER! Subscribers of this list are encouraged to contact either faction with comments, questions or concerns. The e-mail contacts are below. Sea Defense Alliance (*Joe Dibee, Ben White, et al) Seadefense@aol.com Sea Defense International (*Jonathan Paul, Josh Harper, Jake Conroy, et al) seadefense2000@hotmail.com AND... We would also like to remind all list subscribers that the following groups WILL be on the water this fall and are always in need of support from good people like yourselves. Make plans now to help these groups with as generous a donation as possible. NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE A STAND! Sea Shepherd Conservation Society http://www.seashepherd.org World Whale Police http://www.worldwhalepolice.org West Coast Anti-Whaling Society http://www.anti-whaling.com Peninsula Citizens for Protection of Whales http://www.safepassing.org/pcpw/ ***** FOR OUR FRIENDS UP NORTH ------------------------ WEST COAST ANTI-WHALING SOCIETY ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Society will be holding its AGM on Sept. 30 at the Canoe Club in Victoria from 6-8pm. All members please attend, anyone interested in becoming a member is also welcome. The agenda for the evening includes organization of our fall/winter events in Victoria as well as our Neah Bay marine campaign. We will also hold elections as dictated by BC law. Please attend. Note: The West Coast Anti-Whaling Society is planning on returning to Neah Bay this fall if required for whale protection. We have yet to secure any boats any boats for the fall hunt. As is every other group, we are accepting donations to help cover the costs of this expensive campaign. http://www.anti-whaling.com ***** FROM PROJECT SEAWOLF -------------------- To all Marysville-area residents.... You are cordially invited to attend an informal Evening Social & Open House To Support Michael Kundu Candidate, Marysville City Council Pos. #7 When: Tuesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. Where: 8127 - 54th Drive NE, Marysville (the Papa Residence) The Evening will feature a fun Silent Auction, along with coffee, tea, baked goods, merriment & stimulating conversation! Donations to Michael's campaign graciously accepted! Call (360) 653-4780 for details & directions. Arranged by "Families for Michael Kundu, P.O. Box 987, Marysville, WA 98270 ***** GRAY WHALE KILL VIDEO AVAILABLE --------------------------------------------------------- On May 17, 1999 a young gray whale was harpooned and shot repeatedly with a 50-caliber rifle in the Olympic Marine Sanctuary off the coast of Washington state. It took 10 minutes for the whale to die. Though local media provided extensive live coverage of the hunt on the morning that it happened, in subsequent broadcasts the footage was heavily edited. We believe it is important for people to have the opportunity to view the hunt in its entirety. To that end, we have acquired footage of the hunt and offer it to you and/or your organization for educational viewing purposes only. Though the footage is disturbing, it is a scene that is likely to be reenacted many times over the next four years. (The US Government has permitted the Makah Nation to kill five whales each year, and to wound approximately two for each one that they kill.) Please contact us via email at fcwp@yahoo.com or see our web site at http://www.pacoasis.com/graywhale1.html if you would like to obtain the video. Remember, it is to be used for educational purposes only, and may not be resold or rebroadcast commercially under any conditions. Please forward this email to other individuals or organizations who might also be interested in the footage, or send their contact information to us. Sincerely, Pam Simpson The Fourth Corner Whale Project fcwp@yahoo.com http://www.pacoasis.com ***** LEST WE FORGET -------------------------- WCCA note: We are pleased to be able to share this letter with you, edited to save space. (apologies to Russell!) To: Makah Museum Bayview Avenue, Highway 112 P.O. Box 160 Neah Bay, WA 98357 (360) 645 2711 (360) 645 2656 fax From: Russell D. Hoffman Re: Makah whale hunt -- please document the public's reaction (such as this) in your museum's historic record Date: June 1st, 1999 To the Curator: I think the Makah tribe deserves much shame as a group for what they have done... ..We all should know the crucifixion of our fellow higher mammal from the deep had an ulterior motive, which local (and wonderful!) environmental writer Robert Nanninga of Encinitas, California described in an article in the North County Times. The hunt was allowed to go through because powerful outside forces helped the Makahs wade through the various laws, rules, and regulations. They did this so that they can be next. Next either to hunt whales, or to exercise some other tribal option that reasonable people find abhorrent, and which is thus illegal under Federal guidelines. Foreign countries like Japan and Norway are painting their ships and loading ammo in order to put out to sea again, thanks to this "loophole" the Makahs have slipped through, with encouragement from many others with fiscal interests in the outcome, directly or indirectly. That's why the whales were sacrificed. Not to feed a starving tradition of murder and brutal torture of God's fellow creatures. That hellish joy-ride in ye-olde open wooden vessel was just an excuse... ..Yes, the Makah's were hoodwinked by outside forces, encouraged, supported, funded. But they are still fully to blame and those Makah Tribespeople who did it, those who encouraged them, and those who let them (even amongst all of us) with feeble or no protest, have all shamed their tribe, all tribes, our species. Note that I am absolutely certain that far more whales die each year from things all Americans have put their name to, than will die in a hundred years from Makah hunting, if it continues. Namely, we are responsible for the deaths of countless numbers of whales from United States Navy high-speed boat strikes, from "silent running" submarine strikes, from going too close to Government-approved radioactive and chemical sludge which was dumped in hundreds of places on the high seas (often supposedly past the continental shelf, but often even closer!) and from depletion of their food sources by removal of key links in the food chain. Whales are suffering all over the globe, day in and day out, and it is our fault. To me, however, that doesn't excuse the Makah in the least. Sincerely, Russell D. Hoffman Peace Activist Environmentalist Writer, speaker, animator, photographer http://www.animatedsoftware.com/whoisrdh.htm ***** FOR THOSE WHO STILL DON'T GET IT (KIRO, KOMO, KING, AP, UPI, CNN AND OTHERS WHO NEED HELP WITH THE BIG WORDS) ------------------------------------------------------ ..Though the web of international law is indeed a tangled thicket, this particular issue is not complicated, not is it a "word game" (The Makah Tribal Council's preferred spin). The outraged words of the Australian delegation over the U.S. interpretation of the motion that amended the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) regarding the qualifications for a native subsistence hunt, and the admission of Ray Gambell, Secretary to the IWC, that there was no agreement at that IWC meeting on the validity of the Makah's claim, are sufficient to dismiss the Makah's asserted legal right to whale. But there's more. Without the consent of a three-fourths majority of the IWC member nations, under U.S. law - the Whaling Convention Act (WCA), passed in 1949 to codify the ICRW into the body of U.S. federal regulations - the Makah cannot whale. The WCA is unambiguous on this point: Only a Native American whaling organization that has "been recognized by the Commission as having a cultural and/or subsistence need for whaling" shall be permitted to hunt whales." The passage from the Makah's 1855 treaty on whaling constitutes a domestic agreement between the Makah tribe and the U.S. As such, it is superceded by subsequent international agreements on the same subject, which are binding upon either party to the origianal domestic treaty if one party is also signatory to the subsequent international agreement. Because the U.S. is a signatory to the ICRW, the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation offered the opinion in 1996 that "IWC policy that does not explicitly allow the Makah a Gray whale quota could... abrogate the Makah's treaty right to take Gray Whales." To date, IWC policy has yet to make that explicit allowance. (From Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd Log #51, Winter 1998-99) *****