And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 23:39:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Barbarash <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: good Makah whale hunt commentary
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Precedence: bulk
June 2, 1999
Commentary: Makah whaling
also a political issue
By PETER WALKER
assistant professor, University of Oregon
IN THE DEBATE over the recent killing of a gray
whale by the Makah Tribe of Washington state, both
animal rights advocates and defenders of Native
American culture present strong moral arguments.
But the debate has largely ignored the important
political implications of the hunt. Specifically, will
the Makah hunt be used as a wedge to break
international protections against whaling? And what
does the Makah hunt say about the role of "tradition"
and culture in our social choices?
No reasonable person denies that the Makah have
suffered deep cultural losses, nor that the whale is an
important part of their culture. The question is
whether killing whales is indispensable for
revitalizing Makah culture and whether this goal
outweighs the moral and political costs.
There is much more at stake than the five whales per
year that the Makah have permission to kill. Makah
whaling provides a powerful tool for Japanese,
Norwegian, Icelandic and Russian whalers who
want to expand whaling globally. At the annual
meeting of the International Whaling Commission
that opened last week, Japan accused the U.S.
government of hypocrisy for endorsing the Makah
hunt and even subsidizing it with a $310,000 grant
while rejecting Japan's petition to allow
"traditional" Japanese whaling.
The two are not the same: The Makah have a
responsible management plan based on cultural
needs, whereas Japan barely disguises its
commercial motives. But these distinctions are lost
in the global politics of whaling. The Makah hunt
plays perfectly into the hands of the Japanese and
other whaling countries who use loopholes such as
"scientific research" to continue commercial hunting.
The whaling nations believe the Makah case will
add "cultural need" to the list of loopholes they can
exploit. That's why the Japanese offered financial
support for the Makah hunt (which the Makah,
mindful of being perceived as pawns of the
Japanese, declined).
Moreover, the Makah hunt is being used by the
Japanese and others as evidence that whale
populations globally are strong enough to end the
ban on commercial whaling (scientists disagree).
Japan and others have lobbied hard for "managed"
commercial whaling. These management plans send
shivers down the spines of those who have seen the
same kind of "management" contribute to the
decimation of Atlantic cod and Pacific salmon
populations.
In addition to this political fallout, another question
raised by the Makah case is how "tradition" should
shape our public choices. Proponents suggest that the
cultural needs and traditions of the Makah outweigh
political and moral objections.
But traditions and political rights have always had
an uneasy relationship, and for good reasons.
Europeans had a long tradition of slavery until
society declared it unacceptable. The Chinese bound
and crippled women's feet. Some African societies
practice female genital mutilation. These are
practices that our society condemns, regardless of
their being traditional. Many people believe that
whales are such intelligent, social beings that their
killing cannot be justified by tradition. The time for
whaling, like these other traditions, has passed.
Defenders of Makah whaling will reject the
comparisons, but they should not dismiss the fact that
killing whales is profoundly offensive to many
people. Those who take a stand against native
whaling are easy targets for charges of racism and
neocolonialism. We must respect Makah culture, but
we also should not devalue, in the name of cultural
correctness, the deeply held views of millions of
Americans.
Moreover, the passionate defense of Makah
"tradition" by some non-Makah is naive and even
demeaning to the Makah themselves. All cultures
change. The Makah have not actively whaled since
the turn of the century. Pre-European Makah culture
cannot be re-created, nor is that necessarily
desirable. The Makah take offense at those who want
to make them "museum pieces" to fit a romanticized
vision of the Native American.
Recognizing that cultural change is inevitable calls
into question the idea of an unbreakable, unchanging
cosmological circle between whaling and Makah
culture. Some Makah, including many of the tribe's
elders, believe that times have changed and that
there are better ways to revitalize Makah culture.
Non-Makah cannot tell the Makah what to do. The
disrespectful behavior of some anti-whaling
activists has only deepened feelings of hostility. But
we can hope the Makah will recognize that today
they are key players in the global politics of
whaling. Gray whale populations are strong, but
others are not. A voluntary suspension of Makah
whaling would be a powerful blow against those
who will surely exploit Makah tradition for their
own profit and would bolster the precarious
international sanctions that stand between whales
and extinction. The Makah should have faith that they
can be a proud culture without killing whales. The
whales, on the other hand, may not survive without
help from the Makah.
Peter Walker is an assistant professor of
geography and environmental studies at the
University of Oregon.
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/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
