Guest guest Posted May 18, 2000 Report Share Posted May 18, 2000 ===== A message from the 'makahwhaling' discussion list ===== FROM WASHINGTON CITIZEN'S COASTAL ALLIANCE -------------------------------- SEKIU, WA: 9:00am PDT ODI vessels are once again on patrol, but report no activity by Makah whalers. And imagine our surprise and delight to see World Whale Police vessel " Tiger " return to Sekiu last night! Battered and beaten, " Tiger " is roaring back to action! We hope to have more information from the World Whale Police shortly. Yesterday, protestors in Sekiu marked the one-year anniversary of the killing of Yabis, the juvenile gray whale harpooned and shot last May by the Makah. A memorial was set up at the 'Rock' here in Sekiu, with wreaths, flowers and hand-written notes. Please remember that this Saturday, the regularly scheduled road protest is at 1:00pm at the 'Rock'- all are invited to attend, and you are encouraged to bring your own items to place at the memorial. Contact Chuck Owens at (360) 928-3048. We look forward to seeing you! ***** MAKAH HARPOOONIST GOES PRIME-TIME -------------------------- It was inevitable. With Makah whalers getting towed around by powerboats, guarded by a taxpayer-funded hunting escort, and trying to kill anything that swims, all in the name of " culture, " it comes as no surprise that the cable network 'Comedy Central' finally noticed. In the " Daily Show with Jon Stewart, " Lewis Black, who usually has pretty hilarious commentaries, showed the video of Theron Parker's errant harpoon toss last week -- the same as images seen at www.stopwhalekill.org, and offered his advice: Don't ever attempt to fish for anything that's bigger than your boat. You can catch reruns of this particular " Daily Show with Jon Stewart " on Comedy Central at: 1:30 AM, 8:30 AM, noon, and 7:00 PM. Check your cable schedule and watch it! ***** JOSH HARPER UPDATE ---------------- As you all know, Josh Harper received a subpoena ordering him to appear before a grand jury in Portland at the end of May. Needless to say, he needs some legal assistance. Please donate anything you can to Josh Harper's legal defense fund. All donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE! Please make checks out to Animal Rights America and include a note stating that your donation is for Josh Harper's legal defense fund. Thank you! Send donations to: Animal Rights America PO Box 469 Caldwell, NJ 07006 (Also, if people could make the trip to Portland on May 24th as a show of support, I'm sure Josh would appreciate it. Conact dano for more information) ***** WE'RE WORKING ON.... ---------------- Ever wonder why the media here in the Neah Bay area never reports anything other than what the Makah want them to report? There's a reason: Documents now trickling in indicate that any media covering the whale hunt are required to sign an agreement with the Makah tribe RESTRICTING what they can report, where they can report it from, and when they can broadcast. We are following this development closely, and will update you as we can. In the meantime, feel free to contact any Seattle-area TV station and see what story they give you. If you can, pass on the results of your contact to us! ***** SPEAKING OF CONTROLLED MEDIA: PEGGY RETURNS ------------------------------- Makah's whale bones suspended in history Thursday, May 18, 2000 By PEGGY ANDERSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEAH BAY -- One year ago, a novice crew in a 32-foot cedar canoe reclaimed the Makah Indian Tribe's centuries-old whaling tradition. Hundreds of Makah waited hours in the rain as the 31-foot gray whale -- whose death they had witnessed on live television -- was towed home to welcoming prayers and cheers. It had been 70 years since the Makah killed a whale. Yesterday, on the one-year anniversary of that kill, students at Neah Bay School were about halfway through their bid to ensure the first whale a permanent place in tribal history. Teenagers in shop teacher Bill Monette's advanced carpentry class are preparing the skeleton for display at the Makah Museum here. When they're finished -- probably next spring -- the whale's bones will be suspended from the museum ceiling. " It's THE whale. It's special, " said Jessie Giovane, 17, a senior who has put in many hours on the project. Around her, students worked to arrange the ribs in proper order alongside the vertebrae, many of which have been drilled and strung on a length of one-inch pipe. The whale's huge skull -- the 50-caliber bullet hole visible at the left rear -- rests on its jawbones on the shop's cement floor. The whale " brought everyone together, " said senior Daniel Greene, 18. " This was the first whale in 70 years -- it'll be great for the grandkids to look at. " " It's a good chance for us to be involved in the history, " said Dan DePoe, 17, a senior who says the hunt not only brought the community together but " brought other tribes together with us. " Those who oppose the tribal whaling " don't understand fully, " he said. " We don't whale like other people. We're not taking big portions " of the population, like 19th century commercial whalers whose efficiency threatened the species. " Everything in that whale was used, " he said, gesturing to the work under way around him. " Even the bones. " The tribe moved to resume the hunts after grays were taken off the Endangered Species List in 1994, and -- with federal support -- were allotted 20 gray whales through 2004 by the International Whaling Commission in 1995. A brief memorial ceremony for last year's whale was conducted yesterday near Sequim by Chuck and Margaret Owens of Joyce, longtime opponents of the Makah hunt. The tribe planned no anniversary celebration, Tribal Chairman Ben Johnson said. " What's in the museum is alive today " as a result of last year's hunt, said whaling commission president Keith Johnson. The skeleton project began as soon as the whale was removed from the beach last May 18 and its meat distributed among tribal members. The huge skeleton was cut into five pieces -- skull, ribcage and three secti ons of vertebrae -- and placed inside a fence in the woods, where insects and decomposition began the cleaning process. " As it came apart, we tagged it, " ensuring the skeleton would be put back together properly, Monette said. Then the bones were placed in containers of water and ammonia, changed every 10 days. " By Christmas, we had it in here for sorting and cleaning, " he said. In February, the class made a field trip to Whidbey Naval Air Station, where a similar project -- using the carcass of a beached whale -- is under way. Now that the communal first hunt is over, whaling is up to Makah families, the traditional way. Six have expressed interest, and one group has received two 10-day whaling permits this spring from the tribal whaling commission. The last permit expired Tuesday, and there was no whaling yesterday. ***** _______________ The simple way to read all your emails at ThatWeb http://www.thatweb.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.