And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Sat, 4 Sep 1999 12:40:38 EDT Subject: Re: [DE] Whaling and the Makah Culture To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Allow me to suggest as reading the article "I Dont Like Green Eggs and Ham!" by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., in the April 26, 1999 issue of Newsweek. It is available through the Newsweek web page, archives. Here are some quotes: "In North Carolina, the festering effluent that escapes from industrial swine pens has given birth to Pfiesteria piscicida, a toxic microbe that thrives in the fecal marinade of North Carolina rivers. This tiny predator, which can morph into 24 forms depending on its prey species, inflicts pustulating lesions on fish whose flesh it dissolves with excreted toxins. The `cell from hell' has killed so many fish - a billion in one 1991 incident - that North Carolina used bulldozers to bury them beneath the rancid shores of the Neuse River and Pamlico Sound. Scientists strongly suspect that Pfiesteria causes brain damage and respiratory illness in humans who touch infected fish or water. Two years ago Pfiesteria sickened dozens of people, including fishermen, swimmers, and state workers. .. Some corporate poultry farms crowd a million beakless chickens in crampeddark cages,soaking up antibiotics and laying their guts out for the duration of their miserable lives. . . " Now go read the rest of it. Then let us address the question what is sutainable meat. An animal's life has to be sacrificed to bring me a meal of meat. But industrial meat production raises the karmic, moral, ethical, and biotic costs beyond any acceptable accounting. Now what? The Makah have a tradition. It is of hunting a whale. Too bad the traditions of the native people can't feed the rest of Americans. But we can make a new tradition, with the rest of the thinking people. And it doesn't include racist and ignorant criticism of the Makah for killing a sacred cow. Er, whale. There is a fathoms-deep malice, ignorance, and envy inbedded in much of the mob outcry against the Makah. There are not only too many people, but the least number of us, Americans, consume the greatest quantity of resources, in the worst way. Not only must we stop the damned breeding, we must stop the damned torture of animals to feed us. What to do? Don't buy that industrially-produced meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, veggiesand fruits - it's all garbage. Eat organic. Don't whine about how hard it is to afford, find, do, unless you think it's easy to kill a whale. And by the way, many Indian people lack the enzymatic equipment necessary to properly digest the Amurrican diet of carbohydrates, and so blow up like balloons, get diabetes, hypertension, high blood pressure, and a myriad of other ailments. It would not surprise me to learn that the diet of glut death is killing anglos also, but differently. Martha E. Ture > > The Makah Nation is just following their culture with the whale hunts. > > > >Using motorboats and high-powered harpoons is part of your culture? > > You would rather they took the traditional approach with sharpened sticks, > prolonging the death of the animal? There was much argument against using > harpoons or high powered rifles, because it was untraditional, but it was > deemed that a humane kill was of greater weight than the use of traditional > tools. I highly admire the Makah for that choice, indeed most all > indigenous cultures who are wise enough not to mistake the symbol for the > act. The death of the whale was far more humane using the modern tools. I wish I knew more about this; I suppose I'd have to be there and see it to really get the feel for what the attitudes and intents of the Makah are. If, as Tully said, the Makah only kill one or two whales a year, and they use it for food, I have do not problem with it. If they also have a feeling of gratitude and respect for the whales, then I applaud them. How different things would be if would could do as much. Tully makes a good point comparing what we eat and how we kill them. Whales are no more important than chickens, shrimp and wheat. If the whales are at risk of extinction, then it's another story. Again I wish I had more information. On the other hand, if they are killing whales for money (selling meat, oil, bone, etc.), then I have a problem with it. There are many ways to make money. I am also assuming here that the whales in question are somewhat at risk, or that the number killed is significantly high enough to put the species at risk. One of the reasons I feel I'm not getting good information is that the wording shows great bias and huge generalizations on all sides. "Whites" is a poor choice of words and very charged with meaning in the context of Native Americans. "Native Americans", and its many synonyms, are equally over-generalized, too many various cultures to lump into one category, especially when discussing culture and hunting traditions. I see the "Nobel Savage" ideas surfacing. I also see the god-like "knowledge" of what is right and who should live surfacing. There is also the dichotomy of wildlife verses domestic animals, as well as animals versus plants. Eric Storm >> Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ UPDATES: CAMP JUSTICE http://shell.webbernet.net/~ishgooda/oglala/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
