Online-only Letters

Bigger than a whale

The real problem is ours

Editor, The Times:

True, the Makah have a dilemma on their hands. But it's not what Jerry Large describes in "Makah face a whale of a dilemma" [Times, Large column, Sept. 13]. Let's step back and look again.

The Japanese, Norwegians and Icelanders actively hunt whales, killing many times more whales than the Makah ever dreamed of killing. These countries are all esteemed trading partners of the U.S.

Our own country's floating fish factories do far more harm to the ocean and its inhabitants than Makah have ever done. We pollute the oceans daily with plastics, drugs, poisons, carcinogens and anything else too toxic for us to handle. Our military conducts exercises using sonar that disorients whales, sometimes permanently harming their ability to navigate and find food. Our cruise ships dump raw sewage into the oceans. Our whale-watching boats follow, chase and harass whales daily. The Makah killed one whale.

One solitary whale!

The treaty our government made with the Makah grants them the right to hunt whales. Not one whale, not five whales, but whales. Period. The Makah gave up so much for this treaty, and it seems the same as the rest of our treaties with sovereign Native American nations. Worthless!

The dilemma is not about a statement, not about killing one whale, not about the opinion of dominant-culture handwringers indirectly responsible for extinction of so many species. The dilemma, for the Makah, is that leaders of their tribal government are so intimidated by our dominant culture that they have turned upon their own tribesmen, denouncing them and threatening them with penalties. A people who braved the ocean in wooden canoes, hunting whales with handheld harpoons, such a magnificent heritage, all come to kowtow before treaty-breaking politicians!

Now that is a dilemma. I haven't an answer for the Makah, but for those who would penalize them for doing what they have every right to do, I would say: Get a life! Wake up! You've done enough damage already. Leave these people alone.

-- Thomas Hubbard, Seattle

Double standard

It's fair game to castigate the Makah's who poached the gray whale, but let's avoid double standards [ "Gray whale shot, killed in rogue tribal hunt" Local News, Sept. 9].

The next time a non-Indian hunter is caught poaching some large animal, I fully expect every person who wrote a letter to the editor expressing their outrage, horror and disgust at the Makah poaching will write a similarly outraged, horrified and disgusted letter about the non-Indian poacher.

Also, it was not the Makah Nation that killed the whale; it was five individual members of the tribe. Condemning the Makahs as a people, and calling for international sanctions and treaty abrogation for the act of five individuals, makes no more sense than shutting down Pike Place Market because some Seattleite illegally caught a wild chinook salmon.

If we have no problem attributing illegal non-Indian acts to only the individuals who committed them -- and not to the entire non-Indian community -- then let's be fair and do the same when an Indian commits an illegal act.

-- Robert Hayman, Seattle

Our systematic exploitation

The Times' selection of letters in response to the Makah whale hunt reflects a racism that is clearly not dead in this country [ "Whale wake" Northwest Voices, Sept. 14]. The use of "barbaric" and "brutal" to describe the Indians and the hunt could be right out of the 18th-century American West, when U.S. cavalry hunted down the "savages" who fought in defense of their right to live where they had lived for centuries.

There are some things that need to be cleared up. Neither the U.S. nor the state of Washington have the right to dictate to native people. The so-called treaties that are referenced were the result of coercion, and were agreed upon at a point when most of the tribes had lost so much that even the -- empty, as it mostly turned out -- promises seemed the last hope for salvaging their culture and land.

The American, Russian, Japanese and Scandinavian whalers of the 18th and 19th centuries savaged the whale populations worldwide for money, to provide oil for lamps. Whaling was a hugely wasteful practice, but unlike the Europeans, the native people actually used all of the whale.

If you want to understand why we have endangered whales, to say nothing of salmon and other fish, you have only to look at the record of systematic exploitation of these resources and their habitats. Native people did not get us to this point; white people did.

-- Michael Dedrick, Seattle

Welcome to the present

It has taken me a few days to cool down after hearing about the torture death of a resident whale off our coast.

We've heard that killing whales is a tradition that the Makah Tribe wants to return to. Do they want to go back to subsistence living, hunting and gathering? Forego supermarkets?

Whale blubber from the last kill stayed in various freezers until it was thrown away. Why was it thrown away? Because whale blubber is not palatable, i.e. not good to eat!

I hope that Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell, along with the Makah Tribal Council, will appropriately punish the people who committed this crime.

-- Jan Hurst, Bellevue

Voice of a witness

I believe there is a lesson for all of us in the tragedy that occurred in Neah Bay last week. My husband and I have worked with the Native American tribes in the Northwest for a number of years. I am writing because I have learned much from that relationship, and the Makah have a compelling story that needs to be told. I was present during most of the first 36 hours, and in respect to the incident itself:

1. A number of my Makah friends were physically sick over the situation -- these are good-hearted sensitive human beings of quality and dignity with admirable family values.

2. The decision to let the whale suffer was made by the Coast Guard -- the Coast Guard did not put the whale out of its agony.

3. The tribe has waited eight years to get a permit -- they use the whales for food -- is this any different then the Eskimos in Alaska who hunt whales for food?

4. The baby-boomer generation should remember that they marched for their rights and were not afraid to go to jail for something you truly believed.

5. This action was not sanctioned by the tribe (it may have been by some leaders) -- it was the action of a small number of frustrated men.

6. This is a tribe that has not chosen to build a casino, rather they want to protect the environment and their culture -- they are a very poor tribe.

7. The hunters used a .50-caliber rifle, not a machine gun.

8. The Makah are a sovereign nation -- fully capable of handling their own incidents within the tribal jurisdiction -- this crime was against their own community and their values.

9. The whale had been given to the tribe earlier in the day -- it could have been put to good use for ceremonial and sustenance purposes.

10. The Makah have a treaty that gives them permission to hunt whales -- that treaty is still in place, and our laws do not supersede the treaty.

11. The Makah feel humiliated and know that they will be treated badly in nearby towns -- often to the point of not being served in restaurants or Wal-Mart -- this has happened in the past and the entire tribe will bear the consequences.

12. Greenpeace has used terrorist tactics using e-mails and the phone to threaten "blowing up Front Street" in Neah Bay.

13. Must we assimilate every culture into our own? The Makah use the whale to educate their children -- thereby preserving centuries of old traditions and practices -- isn't that what family values should be about?

14. A spiritual leader of the Makah went to the whale and sang and prayed over it -- they are deeply spiritual and highly respectful of human life, creatures and nature.

15. Christianity has been a major factor in their efforts to heal their drug and alcohol additions as well as their emotional issues.

Let's work on cleaning up Puget Sound rather than punishing a nation that has tried to help us elevate our environment.

-- Angelynn Lynn, Bainbridge Island

Whole tribe takes the fall

The Makah are guaranteed by treaty the right to cultural practices including whaling.

Hunting has traditionally been a culturally sustaining and sacred practice. The Makah people face the enduring problem of trying to maintain and strengthen tradition in a culture that, by and large, neither respects nor attempts to understand anything but a westernized world view.

The Makah do not maintain their culture because they live in prehistoric housing, wear prehistoric clothing and hunt and fish using prehistoric tools. We don't insist that they avoid modern hospitals or travel using only feet, canoe and horse. Why then do we suddenly insist on what is and what is not a Makah way of life?

Can we not grant them the respect and affirm their right to define for themselves what is "Makah"? The fact that some individuals engaged in an unsanctioned hunt is deplorable and regrettable.

The Makah nation followed every rule of tribal and U.S. governmental law in the process of being granted and regranted their right to hunt.

The thoughtless few need to be punished, not the Makah Nation as a whole, and not by the revocation of legally recognized treaty rights.

-- Joy LaSalle, Santa Fe, N.M.

Salmon support

No mine, keep the rivers

Nature's astounding abundance, before pollution, development, damming and bulldozing takes their inevitable tolls, is demonstrated in Bristol Bay's phenomenal salmon runs. More than 43 million sockeye returned to the region's rivers this summer.

" Gigantic mine proposal tests values of Alaskans" [Local News, Sept. 12] touches on the dismissive attitude of those pursuing a get-rich-quick scheme at the expense of the environment and fishing economy. Planned usage of cyanide to extract gold and massive earthen dams in an earthquake zone show disregard for the region's residents and for consumers who value one of nature's most nearly perfect foods.

The destruction of common food resources often precedes large-scale development. Massive herds of buffalo were hunted to near extinction, and coastal alteration and pollution have endangered wild salmon populations.

Heavily subsidized farmed fish have replaced wild salmon in many markets, but savvy consumers realize the essential role of wild fish in sustaining family businesses and coastal communities, as well as in the web of life of our entire region.

Stopping dirty industries is all of our responsibility, since we have an obligation to protect our planet and nature's abundance for generations that come after us.

-- Anne Mosness, Bellingham

Keep the rivers, get rid of the dams

My two girls grew up in Spokane. They never saw salmon jumping up Spokane Falls downtown. I don't want the same fate for communities along the Snake River.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, seems to think Eastern Washington families care more about holding onto a few dams than protecting our rivers for future generations "Salmon and dams can coexist on the Snake River" [guest commentary, Sept. 12].

The four high-cost, low-value dams on the Snake River block thousands of miles of excellent habitat in Eastern Washington, Oregon and Idaho. We spend much of our time figuring out how to adapt nature to fit our needs. Maybe it's time for us to adapt. As humans, we sometimes forget that we ourselves can adapt to fit into our environment.

Change can be uncomfortable at first, but also exciting. Imagine what a revitalized river could do for the Inland Northwest -- it would rejuvenate recreation, secure our cultural identity and return native salmon to their home.

We have alternatives. We can remove the four lower Snake River dams and replace the services they provide to keep our communities moving forward together. I call to our Washington representatives to take the lead and create real, positive change in our state and the nation.

-- Laura Nuchols, Spokane