And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: From: "Craven, Jim" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> PILGRIM'S PROGRESS Paul Watson allies with a far-right Republican in his fight against aboriginal whaling by: M-J Milloy HOUR Magazine Montreal, Quebec 10.9.98/page 12 www.afterhour.com It took the early white missionaries and explorers weeks to navigate the rugged coastline of northern Washington State to reach the Makah nation, perched on the very northwestern tip of the U.S. It won't take that long for Paul Watson. Sometime next month the veteran anti-whaling activist will make that trip with a three-ship flotilla from his Sea Shepherd Society. Their goal is to disrupt, by almost any means necessary, the first traditional whale hunt by the Makah in over a half-century. Watson--who promises to "talk to the whales" with Orca-like sonar signals and may try to physically block the Makah vessels--is no stranger to uncompromising, and very media-savvy, direct action. Like a modern-day Hemingway hero, this not-so-old man wears his adventures on the sea like a badge of pride. Jailed in Holland. Rammed by the Norwegian navy. Co-founder of Greenpeace. World-wide defender of the international ban on commercial whaling. It's an image that sells--and his exploits and opinions are rabidly eaten up by many in the media and trendy liberals in Hollywood including Daniel Baldwin and "Dr. Quinn" Seymour. But when Watson's three-ship flotilla and the Makah whaling boats weigh anchor in early October, their conflict in the Juan de Fuca Strait will be about more than just the fate of some unlucky grey whales. Their clash will recall earlier battles over culture and sovereignty between the Makah and white outsiders like missionaries and government agents. And there will be more than just the spirits of the past along on Watson's armada: supporting Watson's actions are Jack Metcalf, the local Republican congressman, who has links to the American far right. With missionary zeal, Paul Watson has made an unholy alliance--and chosen a no-longer endangered species over an endangered nation. For the Makah that support the hunt--most of the tribal elders and about 85 percent in a 1995 referendum, according to the tribal administration--the hunt means a chance to revive Makah traditions lost through forced assimilation and the end of the commercial hunt in the 1920s. "Many of us believe that the problems besetting our young people stem from a lack of discipline and pride. We believe the restoration of whaling will help us to restore that", wrote the Makah Whaling Commission in a public release. No one at the Commission would speak to Hour. The Commission also notes that they are guaranteed the right to whale in their 1885 treaty with the U.S. government, and that the Makah would take at most 20 whales by the year 2000--out of a total population of over 20,000. Watson is dismissive of the Maka's claim of cultural revival. All they're reviving is "pulling the trigger on a 50-calibre gun", according to Watson. In addition, the Sea Shepherd Society has condemned the hunt as an "archaic and inhuman ritual" and claimed that traditional Makah hunting culture would include disinterring and mutilating the corpse of a Makah child. "Progress affects everyone living in this new era of the Global Village. No legitimate argument can be made that the Makah, or any other ethnic group, can move their culture forward through ritual killing", according to a public release from the society. Although these words echo early Christian missionaries--who condemned aboriginal culture as savage and obsolete during colonization--Watson isn't comfortable acting as the arbiter of Makah culture or progress. "If you want to revive culture and traditions, how do you do that by killing something", he said. Watson's arrogance is almost more than one local observer, a professor in Vancouver, Washington, and a Blackfoot, can take. "I'm watching daily, the destruction of Indian people--and culture is a central aspect of that. I see our culture ridiculed, mocked, defiled...and all this emotion about whales and nothing said about people far closer to extinction", said Jim Craven of Clark College. For Watson, the Makah motivations are neither social good nor cultural revival--but strictly economic gain. "This is a community that is very well off. I've not seen any poverty in their community. They've wiped out their fishery and now they want to take the whales", he said. The hunt will only enrich part of their community, and is being supported by whaling nations--like Japan and Norway--who want to use "cultural exemptions" to restart their own whaling fleets, according to Watson. But while Watson uses the alleged Makah connection to the Japanese whaling industry to oppose the hunt, he has entered into his own marriage of unholy convenience. Congressman Jack Metcalf represents the extreme northwestern chunk of Washington State that includes the Makah territory. Watson and Metcalf are longtime opponents of the Makah hunt, and Metcalf has filed lawsuits and lobbied in Congress--eventhough he is a Republican. How do you explain a Republican supporting an environmentalist, let alone the most militant of the lot? Metcalf's involvement in the wise-use movement tells most of the tale. Sometimes called "property rights" advocates, wise-users' main concern is the defense of individuals' property rights including the rights of individuals to own, develop and enjoy--primarily through hunting and fishing--their private property. Aboriginal treaties and groups stand in the way of that unfettered enjoyment. Metcalf has been at the centre of the movement. Before being elected to Congress in the "Contract with America" Republican wave, Metcalf helped start the United Property Owners of Washington, a property-rights lobby group. The UPOW is affiliated with the national Citizens Equal Rights Alliance, which has a history of opposing aboriginal treaty rights. "I don't believe for a minute that Jack Metcalf cares about whales", said Bill Watson of the Northwest Coalition, a Seattle NGO. "It's a way to go after the tribe. It's a way to extend his anti-Indian campaign. Believe me, if it was someone else doing the whaling, he wouldn't mind at all." Case in point, Metcalf had one of the lowest scores on environmental legislation during the last session in Congress, voting against bills for clean air and water, and for bills to weaken the Environmental Protection Agency and logging restrictions, according to the Sierra Club. But there is also evidence that Metcalf is much more than simply an anti-environment and anti-Indian, since the wise-use movement, and Jack Metcalf, are gaining increasing support from the furthest fringe of the far right. Metcalf's supporters include the Spotlight, a far-right newsletter published by Willis Carto. Carto--called "the most influencial professional anti-Semite[in the U.S.]" by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre--has a long history of Holocaust-denial work and links to Republican politicians. And according to the files of the Anti-Racist Action Network, there is also growing evidence that the wise-use movement is being infiltrated by white-power activists, including people affiliated with groups like the Aryan Nation. Bill Watson hasn't heard of Metcalf's connection to Carto et al, but he's not surprised. "Metcalf is floating on the edge of the extreme patriot right." Paul Watson claims ignorance of any of the links between his anti-whaling ally and the lunatic fringe of the American right. "I haven't seen any evidence that he's anti-Indian at all", he said. "You have to agree to disagree on certain things and take your support where you can get it." Paul Watson will speak on Concordia's de Seve Auditorium on September 16 at 18h. Free. Info: 848-7483 _______________________________ M-J Milloy News Editor, HOUR Magazine Montreal, PQ 514.848.0777 (voice) 514.848.9004 (fax) www.afterhour.com James Craven Dept. of Economics,Clark College 1800 E. McLoughlin Blvd. Vancouver, WA. 98663 [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Tel: (360) 992-2283 Fax: 992-2863 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- "The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards Indians; their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent." (Northwest Ordinance, 1787, Ratified by Congress 1789) Those who take the most from the table, teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined, demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill, speak to the hungry, of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss, call ruling difficult, for ordinary folk. 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