Whaling

[Kevin Robert Dean <qualiall@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm not sure if this was posted before, and from my last message you can get
the link to this Editorial--but I'm posting anyway...sorry for the bad
format....

 > ³My name is Mauk-sis-a-noop which means gray whale hunter. My family
comes  >from Cha-cha-tsi-us which is part of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation,
which is  >part of the Nuu-chah-nulth tribal group. My family has been a
whaling family  >within our tribe for thousands of years. So it is important
to note, right  >up front, that one thousand, three thousand, or five
thousand years from now  >there will always be a Happynook whaling family.
It will never end²  > With these words, WCW Chairman Tom Mexsis Happynook
formally introduced  >himself to the assembled group of delegates attending
a conference on  >Environmental Law and Canada¹s First Nations held Nov.
18-19, 1999 at  >Vancouver¹s Pan Pacific Hotel. Chief Happynook attended by
special  >invitation of the conference organizers, highlighting the
eagerness of  >Canada¹s legal and legislative community to hear the World
Council¹s  >message.
 
 > The conference brought together experts from a diverse number of
 >backgrounds and professions: Lawyers, lawmakers, resource managers, First
 >Nations representatives, as well as other knowledgeable people. Captain
Paul  >Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society attended as well,
 >specifically to provide a counter-point to the traditional, sustainable
use  >point of view expressed by Chief Happynook as it applied to whaling.
 > This was highlighted early in the course of Watson¹s speech: at one
point,  >radically diverging from the topic at hand, a clearly agitated 
Watson,  >red-faced and angry, told the startled assembly: ³I am an
earthling and I  >represent the non-human inhabitants of this planet ...
they are sick and tired of being driven to extinction!²  > In response,
Chief Happynook pointed out that a great number of cetacean  >species are in
fact abundant, and made particular reference to the Eastern  >Pacific Gray
Whale stock. Scientists with the Canadian Department of  >Fisheries and
Oceans have recently determined that this population has  >exceeded the
carrying capacity of its food source; as a result, large  >numbers of
migrating grays have been washing ashore along the migration  >path, dead of
starvation.   > Chief Happynook opened the discussion by addressing a
fundamental question  >posed by conference organizers: ³Are all aboriginal
practices aboriginal  >rights?² explaining that ³when we talk about
aboriginal practices we are in  >fact talking about responsibilities that
have evolved into unwritten tribal  >laws over millennia. These
responsibilities and laws are directly tied to  >the environment, and are a
product of the slow integration of cultures
 >Within their environment and the ecosystems ... the environment is not a
 >place of divisions, but rather a place of relations. A place where
cultural  >and biodiversity are not separate, but in fact need each other to
maintain  >the balance required for survival ... One of the protest
industry¹s most  >successful strategies to date has been the crusade towards
bio-diversity.
 >Regrettably, they have convinced the general public to overvalue certain
 >parts of the environment: whales, seals, as an example, and removed the
 >cultural aspect, human relationships, from biodiversity. The result is an
 >unbalanced environment and ecosystem.²
 
 > A central argument forwarded by those who oppose whaling is that whale
oil  >and meat, contaminated by industrial pollution, represents a threat to
the  >health of coastal peoples. According to Chief Happynook, however, the
 >situation needs to be placed in context; although ³the protest industry
will  >tell you that whale meat is contaminated², people must realize that
 >²clinical studies ... have [shown] the food indigenous peoples are eating
 >now will kill us faster².   > As Watson looked on, Chief Happynook
conveyed his disappointment with the  >environmental movement. ³Over the
past 30 years, I have witnessed the  >environmental movement evolve from
individuals who were truly concerned  >about the environment to a protest
industry which is now a multitude of  >multi-million dollar corporations².
The protest industry has abandoned fact,
 >And has instead, through ³media manipulation ... lobbying initiatives, and
 >misinformation dissemination² used the media to portray sea-mammal hunters
 >as ³unethical barbarians without conscience². Chief Happynook supported
this  >contention with a direct quote from Watson¹s book ³Earthforce: An
Earth  >Warrior¹s Guide to Strategy². To an intrigued audience, Chief
Happynook  >quoted from page 42 of the book, wherein Watson states: ³a
headline comment  >in Monday¹s newspaper far outweighs the revelation of
inaccuracy revealed in  >a small box inside the paper on Tuesday or
Wednesday².
 
 > Accusing Watson and the protest industry he represents of ³collecting
 >millions of dollars by preying on people who are unaware of the dynamics
of  >indigenous cultures and coastal communities, and our relationship to
our  >environment and ecosystems². Chief Happynook posed a pointed question
to  >them: ³what puzzles me is, if they are truly environmentalists,
 >conservationists, then why are they not spending the millions of dollars
 >they raise on stopping the pollution that is negatively affecting the
oceans  >(and) our traditional food sources?²  Watson, apparently prepared
only to  >discuss whaling, made no reply.   > The true environmentalists in
the whaling issue, according to Chief  >Happynook, are the ³large and
diverse number of countries, indigenous  >peoples, and coastal communities
who depend on the cultural, nutritional,  >and economic benefits that
whaling provides². In most cases, he explained,  >their traditions ³have
existed for millennia². In all cases, ³concern for the  >continued health of
the community is integrally linked to the whalers¹  >concern for the
continued health of whale stocks ... this is  >cultural/bio-diversity, a
practice that has been developed and nurtured  >through millennia².
 
 > In stark contrast to the ecological framework described by Chief
Happynook,  >Watson¹s speech took a divergent, divisive approach, which
covered a number  >of points; some related to the topic of environment and
law, others  >presenting more of a personal narrative. Stating that as an
organization,  >the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is ³not
concerned with the  >domestic legislation and especially between bi-lateral
agreements which are  >treaties between two nations², Watson went on to
declare that his  >organization believes that the Makah should ³have the
right to sue the  >United States for not representing their responsibilities
before the IWC².   >These apparently contradictory sentiments were further
complicated by  >Watson¹s further assertion that the Sea Shepherd Society
hoped to utilize  >it¹s particular interpretations of the Convention on
International Trade in  >Endangered Species (CITES) to ³constructively
abrogate the Makah¹s treaty  >right² to hunt whales; the fact that
³abrogate² is merely a synonym for  >²revoke² was not lost on the First
Nations delegates present, one of whom  >accused Watson of ³environmental
colonialism².   > ³We just go over this whole colonialistic attitude, we¹re
moving forward,  >and now we get boxed in with environmental colonialism
...You guys  >[protectionist groups] are doing it². To which a clearly
upset, defensive  >Watson retorted: ³I resent being called a colonialist, an
environmental  >colonialist. I live on planet earth, I am an earthling and I
do represent  >the non-human inhabitants of this planet, specifically marine
wildlife ... >that is my constituency, that is who I represent.   > As the
law-makers and lawyers in the audience no doubt contemplated the  >inherent
difficulties in speaking on behalf of a whale-client, Watson drew  >upon a
favorite argument of those opposed to whaling: a global conspiracy  >headed
by Japan and Norway existed, which sought to open the door to  >cultural
whaling through the ³recruitment of ... the Maori, the Tongans ... >the
Makah, native communities in Siberia, and ... Greenland².   > ³I do not
presume to sit in judgment of what the traditions of the Makah or
 >Nuu-chah-nulth are; that¹s not my domain at all. We have in fact I think
 >been very respectful in our dealings with the Makah², said Watson, who
left  >more than one audience member perplexed.   > Shifting his attention
closer to home, Watson declared that Canada is a  >pirate nation, that ³all
whaling in Canada is pirate whaling². As evidence  >of this, he highlighted
the fact that the United States ³has issued  >certification against Canada
for illegal whaling and has threatened Canada  >with trade sanctions².
 
 > Following Watson¹s speech, Chief Happynook took the opportunity to
clarify  >these remarks to the assembled delegates, explaining that the
right of  >Canadian whaling peoples to hunt whales is ³protected under the
Constitution  >of Canada, the highest law within the Canadian legal system²,
and that  >threats of sanctions from the United States need to be placed in
context;  >the ³Alaskan Eskimos also hunt bowhead, and have always had a
quota².   > According to Chief Happynook, ³Canada¹s refusal to re-instate
its  >membership in the International Whaling Commission clearly shows their
 >increasing awareness of the central importance of First Nations rights,
and  >the effectiveness of local management regimes based on science, and
 >traditional resource management knowledge².   > Watson replied that his
organization, and other conservation groups, had  >²no opposition to the
Bowhead hunt in Alaska. There never has been, there is  >not, and there will
not be ... [because] it falls within the guidelines of  >the IWC².   >
However, as Chief Happynook pointed out to the assembled delegates, the IWC
 >regulations are an inadequate guideline for the actions of groups such as
 >the Sea Shepherd Society, who¹s stated purpose is to oppose all whaling. 
 >²I¹d just like to point out ... that the IWC only has jurisdiction over 5%
 >of the whaling that goes on in the world ... There are over 80 species of
 >cetaceans that are hunted worldwide, so when Watson talks about
 >international laws and those kinds of things, the IWC has no teeth. It is
a  >good old boys club who travels around to exotic places in the world and
 >holds wonderful little meetings that are very racist based ... So when we
 >talk about the IWC, you need to realize that it doesn¹t have very much
 >jurisdiction at all².
 
 > In closing, Watson chose to abandon the issue of indigenous rights and
 >whaling, and instead addressed an issue of fundamental concern to him and
 >his organization: a perceived lack of respect towards them and their work.
 > ³If people wish to be disrespectful ... and say that we are other than
what  >we present ourselves to be, I would suggest they produce some real
evidence  >to back up their arguments instead of just resorting to rhetoric
which is  >supplied by the Japanese and Norwegian whaling industries².   >
The root of this apparent lack of respect was highlighted in the question
 >And answer period which followed Watson¹s presentation: one delegate
 >accused him of ³changing the story² with regards to the role of the Sea
 >Shepherd Society in past environmental protests, and cited evidence to
this  >effect.
 > Watson responded with a different interpretation of the evidence
presented,  >and denied the accusation. However, the exchange highlighted
the dangers of  >opposing alleged rhetoric with rhetoric of one¹s own;
often, the underlying  >reality is forgotten in the play of words, with
negative consequences for  >the people who live it.  > Using the example of
international law so often cited by opponents of  >whaling, Chief Happynook
explained this to the assembled delegates: ³If you  >look hard enough you
will find wonderful words, enshrined in many  >international conventions and
declarations, but as usual that is all they  >are, ?words², and indicated
that indigenous and coastal people had more  >fundamental concerns regarding
adequate representation in the foray where  >such words are spoken.
 
 > Chief Happynook closed the whaling discussion by highlighting the role of
 >the World Council of Whalers: noting that the WCW was not solely a
whalers¹  >organization, as per Watson¹s remarks. He pointed out the recent
addition of  >the Australian Aboriginal Dugong hunters to the growing list
of WCW members,  >and shared with the assembled delegates the WCW¹s
long-term vision: ³the WCW  >was formed to present a unified voice for
indigenous peoples around the  >world, and to fight for their rights and not
have environmentalists try and  >impose their ideals upon cultures from
around the world ... I know we¹re  >here to try and find solutions to these
issues, and I just want to re-state  >the WCW¹s solution to the problem ...
and it¹s taking place in many parts of  >the world as we speak: Traditional
Resource Management Knowledge must be  >incorporated with science and
well-founded modern resource management  >techniques and administered
through regional regimes which include  >indigenous peoples and coastal
communities in the decision making process.   >That is the solution to the
predicament we¹re in. Indigenous whalers from  >around the world are sick
and tired of everyone thinking that they know what¹s best for us, and we
have a very important role to play and a lot of  >knowledge that needs to be
incorporated. So I ask the lawmakers here to give  >serious consideration to
the words that I have spoken today. Think about  >them, and how they make
sense².
 
 > As the conference concluded, a number of delegates paused to thank Chief
 >Happynook, and express support for his words, and the work of the WCW. In
 >stark contrast, at the other end of the room, far away from the media
 >spotlight and the familiar realm of direct action and sound-bite conflict,
a  >tired looking Paul Watson clutched his law books to his chest, as he
endured  >the criticism of a native delegate. >
 
 >Reprinted with permission from the World Council of Whalers Newsletter
 >To subscribe, contact the World Council of Whalers
 >PO Box 291
 >Brentwood Bay, B.C.
 >V8M 1R3
 >Or e-mail: wcw@xxxxxxxxxx >
 >
 >
 
Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
Kevin | Buffalo, NY
ICQ# 8616001
AIM screen name: KDean75206
David McReynolds for President!
http://www.votesocialist.org
Socialist Party of Western New York
http://sp-usa.org/ny/buffalo
EMail: wnysp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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