http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR200705280
1300.html?nav=hcmodule
Whaling a 'Necessity' to Eskimos, Senator Says
By Rachel d'Oro
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 29, 2007; A03
ANCHORAGE, May 28 -- A U.S. senator urged delegates of the International
Whaling Commission to renew a five-year subsistence whaling quota for
Alaska Native communities, calling it crucial to their society.
"It is more than a right -- it is an absolute necessity which affects every
facet of their well-being," Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) said Monday at the
opening of the 76-nation commission's four-day meeting. "To deny this
history would jeopardize their way of life."
Renewal of the quota on bowhead whales for indigenous hunters, such as
Alaska Natives in 10 coastal villages, is an issue drawing close attention
from anti-whaling activists.
Harvesting whales is considered a sacred accomplishment by many of an
estimated 5,000 Eskimos who rely heavily on the meat to fill their tables.
Ceremonial dances are held to bless the hunts, and successful harvests
prompt village celebrations at which the meat is cut up and distributed.
The proposed subsistence renewal would keep the Alaska quota at 260 bowhead
whales through 2012, a number supported by the United States and other
nations, who say bowhead populations have steadily increased under the
current quota.
Alaska Natives were harmed when the commission suspended the quota in 1977,
Stevens said. Until the quota was restored the next year, canned beef had
to be flown in to remote villages to make up the loss of protein and fat,
but it was not enough, Stevens said.
"These were poor substitutes for whale blubber, which fortifies native
people against the harsh Arctic climate," he said.
Also up for discussion at the meeting is whether to continue the moratorium
on commercial whaling, first passed in 1986.
Native News North
List info{all lists}:
http://nativenewsonline.org/natnews.htm
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
