2
Smoke Signals
Community Service for Whaling Protestor Hit by Boat
For the Makah, who waited more than 70 years
to begin the hunt after commercial exploitation
worldwide decimated the gray whale population,
the ruling is not likely to have much of an
immediate effect.
SEATTLE, WA. (AP) - Erin
Abbott was sentenced to perform 120
hours of community service in Sep
tember for interfering with the
Makah whale hunt last April.
Charged with violating the 500
yard moving exclusionary zone
around the hunt, Abbott could have
faced up to six years in prison and a
$250,000 fine.
Abbott charged her boat in front
of a group of Makah hunters who
were attempting to harpoon a whale.
Abbott was subsequently run over by
a Coast Guard boat that was on the
water to protect the hunters.
Abbott had her shoulder broken in
the incident, which was broadcast on
television. Her lawyers said they
would file a civil lawsuit against the
Coast Guard. '
Last June the 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals ordered the federal govern
ment to take another look into the
environmental impact of the Makah
whale hunt.
It is now up to the National Ma
rine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to con
duct a new assessment of the Makah
hunt. The NMFS, along with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and the U.S. Depart
ment of Commerce have supported
the Makah's right to hunt whale,
secured in the 1855 Treaty of Neah
Bay, ever since the Makah expressed
their interest in renewing their most
ancient traditions.
A new review could take several
months, but for the Makah, who
waited more than 70 years to begin
the hunt after commercial exploita
tion worldwide decimated the gray
whale population, the ruling is not
likely to have much of an immediate
effect. With the current whaling sea
son ending in less than a month; no
new whaling permits had been issued
by the Makah Whaling Commission.1
For animal rights activists who
have long protested the hunt, the1
ruling was seen as a significant de
cision in their favor. 1
Tiny Tribe Can't Catch a Break, Mighty Pacific Ocean Pounds Away
TOKELAND, WA. (AP) The tiny
Shoalwater Bay Tribe, already strug
gling with a mysteriously high mis
carriage rate and tussling with the
federal government over slot ma
chines at its casino, is facing a new
crisis from the sea.
Erosion is slowly eating away at
the Tribe's square mile of land that
lies near sea level at the mouth of
Willapa Bay in southwest Washing
ton. Dunes that 20 years ago formed
a natural jetty as tall as 15 feet now
are only 1 or 2 feet high. Washing
ton Highway 105, which runs along
the beachfront, often is all that holds
the Pacific at bay.
"I call it a dike, because that's es
sentially what it is," Tribal Chairman
Herbert Whitish said of the road.
Winter's high winds and tides could
cut farther into the dunes. The ocean
could then "come over the road and
wash out the reservation or wash out
the highway," Whitish said recently.
For the remote reservation, "that
road is our lifeline," he said. "It's
something that's very much needed
for the existence of this Tribe."
The erosion also threatens tidal
mudflats that are home to fish, shell
fish and waterfowl.
"It's bad. It really is," said consult
ant Jay May, a former U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers employee hired by
the Tribe to help find a long-term fix.
May and Whitish said homes 50
feet from the shoreline could be
threatened by a bad storm.
"The one last line of defense has
been breached. It's broken through
big time," May said.
The corps is preparing to dump
145,000 cubic yards of material from
a nearby dredging project into the area
of the breached dunes next week, but
that's only a stopgap measure.
The State of Washington's congres
sional delegation is trying to get
money for a study by the Army Corps
that could produce ta long-term solu
tion, but legislation to authorize such
an undertaking is stuck in the House.
A corresponding appropriations bill,
which would provide money for such
a project is further along in the Capi
tol Hill pipeline and likely will go to
the White House without any men
tion of the $1.5 million the Corps says
it would need to conduct such a study.
Erosion is only the most recent cri
sis for the Shoalwaters.
The 247-member Tribe is the sub
ject of a Center's for Disease Control ,
and Prevention study of an alarm
ingly high miscarriage rate over the
past several years.
As one of the poorest Tribes in the
state, the Shoalwaters had high
hopes for employment from the
Tribal casino, but that venture has
struggled since federal marshals last
year seized its 108 slot machines
illegal under state law.
Whitish said he does not believe
waterfront erosion was a problem in
the past. He believes manmade
changes structures in the harbor
and a jetty on the Columbia River to
the south have changed the way
sediments are moved around the
area, washing out to sea some mate
rials that used to come ashore and
maintain the existing geography.
; The corps is aware of those con-;
cerns, said Larry Scudder in the,
agency's Seattle office.
- Solutions have not yet been deter
mined, but Scudder said possibilities
include annual building up of the
dunes to deflect storm surges, or con
struction of a jetty or rock face.
"I don't think there's any question
that this is a serious problem," he said.
The measure would authorize the
corps to proceed with a two-year
study, following appropriation of
funds, Scudder said.
At this point, "there are no funds;
identified at all for this project" in;
the energy-and-water appropria-j
tions bill, Scudder said. j
The corps has spent about $100,000;
gathering preliminary data about'
tides in Willapa Bay. It will need an'
estimated $1.5 million over the next:
two years to complete its analysis of;
erosion at the reservation. j
But without authorizing language,
lawmakers will have a tough time;
getting the money appropriated fori
the fiscal year that started Oct. 1. I
Activist Calls for Boycott of Big Squaw Mountain Ski Resort
PORTLAND, ME. (AP) - An
American Indian activist recently
called for a boycott of Big Squaw
Mountain because the ski resort's
owner declined to change the name
despite protests that the word
"squaw" is offensive.
David "Spirit Bear" Walton, a driv
ing force behind a state law enacted
last year that requires new names
for places like Big Squaw Township,
accused the owner of the Greenville
resort of arrogance in his refusal to
change the name.
Resort owner Jim Confalone "must
be made to realize that he has to for
feit the name or he will forfeit the
dollars," Walton said.
Confalone, who maintains that
squaw is a term of endearment, not
an insult, said he has no plans to
change the resort's name because he
has received support from Mainers
for keeping it the way it is.
"I'm quite fond of Indians. The last
Resort Owner Jim Confalone, who maintains that
squaw is a term of endearment, not an insult,
said he has no plans to change the resort's name
because he has received support from Mainers
for keeping it the way it is.
thing I'd ever want to do is something
that would hurt the Indians," said
Confalone, whose resort is exempted
from the state law because it is a pri
vate entity.
Two Tribal representatives to the
Maine Legislature said the word
squaw translates roughly to "whore."
In all, about two dozen Maine
Mountains, waterways and other
features bearing the name are af
fected by the law, which bars the
word from the names of public places
across the state.
Confalone said state lawmakers
rejected the views of a majority of
residents. "A small band of Indians
went up there and literally am
bushed the Legislature without
anyone's input," he said.
In a telephone interview from Mi
ami, he said that he has studied the
history of Indians, and that he and
others interpret the word squaw to
be a term of endearment applied to
the female head of household.
Nonetheless, he said he would be
willing to meet face-to-face with
Walton, whose group is called Ameri
can Indian Movement, Northeast
Woodlands. Only then, after hear
ing for himself why the word is of
fensive, would Confalone begin to
consider changing the resort's name.
"Squaw Mountain is part of our
history, and before I change the his
tory of Squaw Mountain and the rest
of the area, I've got to hear froni
David "Spirit Bear" Walton and meet
him," he said. j
Confalone said that based on his
observations, he believes 75 percent,
or more of Mainers support keeping
the name. j
But he suggested that Confalone:
was making things harder on him-1
self by his attitude. "Confalone's ar
rogant stance is contrary to the spirit
of the Maine Legislature," he said in
a statement,
i , Big Squaw Mountain Resort con
sists of about 1,200 acres! The state
also owns about 2,000 acres on the
southern half of the mountain. Ad
ditional land is owned by Plum Creek
Timber Co.