Friday, January 22, 2010

How do you feel about Native people hunting whales?

Please keep comments from all sides respectful of others.How do you feel about Native people hunting whales?
Considering that its typically one whale every 8-10 years, and just about every single part of the whale gets used (and the left overs ar used as crab bait) then I honestly think thats perfectly fine. Its not like we are killing one a week like they do in Norway or Japan. If people really want to have a fit about that, then have them ram their boats into those hunting ships, not canoes full of children just going to visit their cousins. I rarely tell this story, because we are taught that when something like this happens to people or a person, the more the story is told the less power it contains, but oddly enough I was thinking about it right before I signed on, and then this question popped up. So, take whatever meaning you get out of it...Does anybody remember the big stink Whale Activists made about ten years ago when the Makkah tribe decided to start whale hunting again? The summer after that first whale hunt, the makkah invited all Canoe Families (its a tribal term, hard to explain) to join them in Neah Bay for a Potlatch (tribal gathering). Anyways, for these types of gatherings, most people travel by canoe for spiritual/cultural reasons. I was 12 years old and finally passed the cold water training/endurance tests to be allowed to paddle on the open water with other members of my tribe. My brother, and two of my other cousins my age were in the canoe with three adults. Six other canoes of adult/children were traveling with us. Once we got near Neah bay, protesters or racists (im not sure which) suddenly blocked our way into the inlet where the Makkah tribe lives, and actually began forcing us to pull near the kelp beds where we could get tangled, and if swamped, most likely would drown. They were screaming really aweful stuff, one guy even peed on one of the other canoes. We just kept on singing our paddle songs and ignoring them, but then one of them started ramming their boat into the one I was in. Our captain started shouting ';You idiot! We have CHILDREN in here! We arent here to hunt!'; but it didn't stop. My cousin in another canoe started to sing a power song, which we all caught on and sang after our captians sang along. Less than five minutes later, three whales swam in from the open ocean and forced a gap between us and the protestors. Another two, icluding a baby, slowly urged us away from the kelp beds. I admit that I was terrified, if you have ever been that close up to any whale in such a small vessle, you'd understand. Anyways, they stayed with us all the way to makkah, and waited at the entrance to the harbor until all the canoes were safely in. The people on the beach waiting for us sang a prayer song of thanks and two came in and waited until the song was over then swam back out. The protestors didn't show up the next day when the rest of the canoes arrived.How do you feel about Native people hunting whales?
Do you know that there were flocks of passenger pigeons so huge their flight would darken the sky for several minutes when the country was ours? They are now extinct from over hunting and sport killing by white Americans. Do you know that the buffalo herd in America was estimated at 100 million strong when we owned the country? By 1890. white Americans had killed all but 300 animals. Tule elk were abundant in Calif. The Calif. Grizzly bear was still existing, and there were many thousands of whales of all species feeding those people way up north. Native people have not been the problem with the disappearance of other species. Let those people eat in peace. EDIT:


Salish Lady, that was among the best stories I ever heard!. I hope you are still sharing that with people when you have come to 100 yrs of life.
salishlady tells a powerful story and Roman's facts are evident enough. Our government has a distorted sense of balance. We ';protect'; the mustang population to the point where they have gotten so large they have over grazed the range lands, are staving to death, and the US taxpayer is paying millions of dollars to buy feed for all the unwanted, unadoptable mustangs. . The state of Utah issues over 10 thousand deer permits and idiot hunters still shoot cows and horses. Commercial fishing companies are depleting the natural ocean resources at alarming rates but they continue. But people protest a native tribe their cultural traditions and sacred customs? A gross distortion of misguided priorities.





In case you missed my point, yes, I believe native peoples should be allowed to hunt in their traditional ways.
That is the native Alaskans food, so it's okay.





What's not okay is the killing of seals, whales, rhinos, elephants, etc ...for asian medicines and aphrodisiacs.





As Roman has said...............I despise hunters for sport.
i want to echo what Roman has said. and to Salish lady..n'yo. the words are still powerful. maybe some will understand the creatures of this land are OUR relatives. niew:wen for sharing.
As long as they don't over do it and do it in the name if tradition or survival then I am OK with it.
Save the whales! %26gt;:D





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Although, they would need food...
I couldn't have put it any better Roman.





thumbs up

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