Spilyay tymoo., September 13, 2007, Page Page 10, Image 10

News from Incltàn C ountry
September 13 , 2007
Page 10 Spilyay Tymoo
Makah leaders seek to distance tribe from whale killing
NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) -
The Makah Indian Tribe said
Monday it was flying some of
its members to Washington,
D.G., to assure the state's con­
gressional delegation the tribe
did not authorize the killing of
a gray whale over the weekend.
The tribe has spent years try­
ing to win back federal approval
to exercise its treaty rights tof
hunt whales.
In 1999, five years after the
gray whale was taken off the
endangered species list, mem­
bers of the northwest Washing­
ton tribe legally hunted and killed
their first whale in seven de­
cades.
The hunt was met by fierce
protests and animal welfare ac­
tivists sued, leading to a court
order that the tribe obtain a
waiver under the Marine Mam-
mal Protection Act to continue
hu n ting whales.
Brian Gorman, a spokesman
for the National Marine Fish-
eties Service, the agency review­
ing the waiver request, said he
dries not believe. Saturday's
whale killing will affect the tribe's
application.
But Tribal Chairman Ben
Johnson Jr. said he feared it has
damaged the tribe's case — both
with the fisheries service and the
public.
“We know it's going to hurt,”
Johnson said.
Five men have been accused
of harpooning and shooting a
California gray whale with a
high-powered rifle in the Strait
of Juan de Fuca on Saturday
morning. One witness reported
hearing 21 shots fired.
The Makah Tribal Council
denounced the killing, calling it
“a blatant violation of outlaw”
and promising to prosecute
those responsible.
The U.S. Coast Guard de­
tained the five men Saturday
then turned them over to tribal
authorities. The council said the
men were booked into the tribe's
detention facility, released after
posting bail and will stand trial
in tribal court.
The tribe's chairman told the
Peninsula Daily News the men
who face prrisecution are
Theron Parker, Andy Noel, Billy
Secor, Frank Gonzales Jr. and
Wayne Johnson, captain of the
1999 whaling crew. Parker and
Noel also participated in the
1999 hunt
All five could face civil pen­
alties of up to $20,000 each and
up to a year in jail, Gorman said.
Pechanga tribe ejects family
who files suit to be reinstated
TEMECULA, Calif. (AP) Madariaga family had lived for
— Pechanga Indian leaders generations on the reservation,
were so determined in 2004 the committee voted 90 adults
to. find out if the Madariaga and 50 children belonging to the
clan were real members of clan out of the tribe/The chib
the tribe that they hired an dren were ousted from the tribal
school, the monthly checks
anthropologist.
John Johnson, curator, of stopped and the family was re­
anthropology at the Santa stricted as to where they could
Barbara Museum of Natu­ go on the reservation:
ral history and an expert on ,In May, the Madariaga fam­
Luiseno Indian genealogy, ily filed a lawsuit against tribal
pored over documents and leaders, including the chairman
based on die evidence said he Mark Maearro, demanding to be
was certain the family was reinstated. The case that is now
part of the Pechanga reser­ pending in federal court in Los
vation. Still, some felt that Angeles.
members of the family were
Maearro did not respond to
| frauds unfairly receiving interview! requests/ On the
*$20,000- in monthly checks - tribe's website he denied that
casino money played a; part in
from casino profits.
The tribal enrollment com- w the family's ouster. He said tribes
mittee ignored the findings need the ability to “correct past
and even though the errors and protect the integrity
of their citizenry.”
“The responsibility of de-/
tèrmining who is and is not a
citizen of the tribe falls
squarely on Indian tribes,” he
said.
jH Over the * years, the
Pechanga tribe has thrown
otit nearly a fourth of its
membership. Other tribes
across the nation have also
used similar arguments to de­
fend expelling thousands of
members. Nearly all of the
tribes that have done this
have casinos. While tribes in
New York, Rhode Island and
Nevada have kicked out mem­
bers, the purging has been
most intense in California'^
gaming tribes. Here, nearly
3,000 people have been
ousted since 1999, according
to, those who track the issue.
Prosecutor in Peltier trial dies in crash
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) -
One of flie prosecutors in the
trial of American Indian Move- ’
ment member Leonard Peltier
for the 1975 deaths of two FBI
agents has died after he lost con­
trol of his car.
Robert Sikma was one of
two people in the car when it
crashed Friday night on Inter­
state 29. He was 66. j i V
He lost control of his vehicle
and hit a tree, police said.
A passenger, Kathryn Reicks,
52, also died from injuries she
suffered in the crash.
The investigation was con­
tinuing.
Sikma was one.of threepros-
ecutors in the trial of Peltier,
Memorial
for
who was charged with the kill­
ing of two FBI agents ori the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in ’South Dakota. Peltier was
convicted by a jury in Fargo,
in-1977. Sikftia had his
own private practice in Sioux
City and was a volunteer com­
munity panel judge for the
WoodbuTy County drug court.
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Emily Langlie, a spokes-,
woman fot the U.S. Attorney's
Office, said Monday that pros-,
ecutors were still collecting and
reviewing reports about the in­
cident before deciding whether
to pursue criminal charges. 1
The . Makah M delegation
headed to the nation's capital
hoped to meet with Sens. Patty
Murray and Maria Cantwell and
with Rep. Norm Dicks, all Wash­
ington Democrats. “They need,
to know that we didn't condone
the hunt,” Ben Johnsorf said. .
Wayne Johnson, a member
of the tribe's whaling commis­
sion, told The Seattle Times that
he and four fellow tribal mem­
bers set out in two boats, on Sat­
urday morning and plunged sev­
eral steel whaling harpoons into
the whale then shpt it with a
.460-caliber rifle. He said he
had no regrets — other than wait­
ing so many years to do it.
“I'm hot ashamed,” he said.
“I'm feeling kind °f proud. ... I
should .have done it years ago. I
come from a whaling family, on
my grandmother's side and my
grandfather's side. It's in the
bipod.” '
The 30-fobt whale was pro­
nounced dead about 10 hours
after it was harpooned. It sank
in 500-foot-deep water about a
mile east of Cape Flattery and
two miles south of theCanadian
border.
On Monday, Gov. Chris
Gregoir(e said she was “very
upset” by the killing, but encour­
aged that the tribe has de­
nounced it and vowed to pros­
ecute those responsible.
“Not only did we lose a very
important species here, but that
is now sitting at the bottom of
the water. It's not even to feed
the poor at the tribe. It does
nothing. And it flies in the face
of the law,” Gregoire said in a
weekly meeting with reporters.
The Makah abandoned whal­
ing in the 1920s after non-In­
dian whalers nearly drove the
gray whale to extinction.
Tribal police set up a check­
point just inside the reservation's
boundary on Sunday, bracing
for anti-whaling demonstrations,
but protesters never showed up.
Still, tribal officials say the tribe
has received death threats since
the whale's killing.
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