SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
Smoke Signals 5
Federal Judge Rules Makah Tribe Can Hunt Whales
Tacoma, WA (AP) A federal
judge has dismissed a challenge by
animal welfare groups to the
Makah Indian whale hunts, clear
ing the way for the gray whale
hunts to resume.
U.S. District Judge Franklin Bur
gess recently ruled that the whale
hunt opponents failed to prove that
federal agencies' assessment of the
hunts' impact was arbitrary or ca
pricious. "The ruling is a pretty important
victory," said John Arum, lawyer
for the Tribe. "It likely means the
litigation over Makah whaling is at
an end."
The lawsuit was brought by the
' iM J - ' -
New York-based Fund for Animals,
The Humane Society of the United
States and others.
They contend the federal agen
cies had not adequately assessed
the effect of the hunts on public
safety and so-called resident
whales, which linger to feed along
the northwest Washington coast
during the grays' annual migration
between winter breeding grounds
in Mexico and summer feeding
grounds in Alaska.
Michael Markarian, Executive
Vice President of The Fund for Ani
mals, said there would be an ap
peal. "It's important to note the fall
migration of gray whales will start
in late September. We're certainly
hoping this can be resolved before
that time," he said.
The Makah retained whaling
rights under their 1855 Treaty of
Neah Bay.
They stopped whaling in the
early 20th century, after commer
cial whaling decimated global
whale populations. The Tribe
sought to resume whaling after
gray whales were taken off the
Endangered Species List in 1994.
Modern-day Makah whaling
on-again, off-again due to court
challenges has so far resulted
in one kill, on May 17, 1999.
Weather Prevents Tribes From Paddling IntoTaholah
Taholah, WA. (AP) Bad
weather prevented the intrepid
mariners of Tribal Journeys 2002
from paddling their traditional
wooden canoes into Taholah, but
the welcome that was waiting for
them was ecstatic nonetheless.
More than 20 ocean-going dug
out canoes representing 23 Indian
Nations from the United States and
Canada were trucked down from
Queets and launched into the
Quinault River for the arrival cer
emony. Fog and heavy seas forced
the cancellation of the last leg of
their journey, which for some
Tribes began on the other side of
the Olympic Peninsula.
A Puyallup canoe capsized and a
support boat swamped in rough
surf. The 14 Puyallups aboard
including six women, two of whom
were described as Tribal Elders
all made it to shore safely.
The journey to the Quinault Res
ervation is the latest in a series of
inter-Tribal cultural exchanges in
which American Indians from
across the Pacific Northwest visit a
Tribe via canoe.
The canoes had assembled at
Neah Bay and on their way to
Taholah stopped at Ozette,
LaPush, Hoh River and Queets.
After the canoes arrived in
Taholah, they were launched into
the Quinault River as Quinault
Tribal members sang traditional
songs and made a drum circle.
The Tribes then paraded their ca
noes before a crowd of about 5,000
people. Quinault women and chil
dren, dressed in red and black robes
as well as traditional cedar-bark
headbands and belts, greeted them
with dances.
The canoes circled in the river be
fore rafting together in front of a
dais on which stood the Quinault
Tribal Council. Beginning with the
Frank Nelson family of Canada,
which had traveled farthest, to get
to Taholah, the leaders of each ca
noe delegation requested permission
to come ashore, in their Tribal lan
guage and in English.
"We request permission to come
ashore, for we are tired and hun
gry," said Nelson.
'We are honored that you have come
so far to share in our hospitality," said
Washington
Taholah
Pearl Capoeman-Baller, President of
the Quinault Nation. "We are hon
ored to have you come ashore."
Other Tribes represented were
the Ditidaht, Mowachaht, Ucluelet,
Tsokuke, Nanaimo, and Ehatteasat
Tribes of Canada, and the Tulalip,
Makah, Quileute, Hoh, Squamish,
Puyallup, Elwha, Skokomish,
Suquamish, Muckleshoot, Port
Gamble S'klallam, Swinomish,
Nisqually, Squaxin, and Huu ay
aht Tribes from the United States.
Colville Tribes Reach Agreement With State
Spokane, WA. (AP) The
Colville Confederated Tribes, which
for years have operated hundreds
of slot machines that the state con
siders illegal, have reached a gam
bling agreement with Washington
regulators.
The Colvilles will be allowed to
operate up to 4,800 similar slot ma
chines, which dispense vouchers for
money instead of coins and do not
have a pull-down arm. The Nevada-style
slots must be removed.
The State Gambling Commission
has been quietly negotiating with
the Tribes for two years and is ex
pected to approve the compact this
week.
If the Colville Confederated
Tribes' compact and a similar one
with the Shoalwater Bay Indian
Tribe are signed, Washington's sole
remaining big-reservation Tribe
without a gambling compact will be
the Spokane Tribe, which also runs
hundreds of allegedly illegal slot
machines.
Under the deal, the Colvilles can
have three main casinos and three
smaller satellite casinos. All must
be on their 1.4 million-acre reser
vation. Tribal officials have told state of
ficials they intend to maintain their
existing casino sites near Lake
Chelan, Grand Coulee Dam and
Okanogan.
There are no plans for the mini
casinos. Without a state compact, it's
much harder for Tribes to get fi
nancing for casino projects, said Ed
Fleisher, a Special Assistant for
Tribal Affairs at the Gambling
Commission.
This is actually the second time
the Colvilles have negotiated a com
pact with the state. The first was
rejected in 1992 by then-Governor
Booth Gardner.
This time, representatives for
Governor Gary Locke and the U.S.
Department for the Interior, both
of whom must approve the agree
ment, have been in on the nego
tiation process.
Only three Washington Tribes,
the Tulalips, the Muckleshoots and
Puyallups, all in the Puget Sound
area, are allowed two casinos by
the state. Most Tribes only have
one.
The Colvilles are the only ones
in the state allowed to have three.
They also are the only Tribes al
lowed to have the small satellite
casinos.
The reason for that is that the
Colville Reservation is absolutely
huge and there's no big urban cen
ter," said State Representative
Alex Wood, D-Spokane, a member
of the commission.
Federal law requires Tribes to
spend their gaming profits the
same way states spend their lottery
money supporting government
services.
Many Tribes have used the
money to buy back reservation
land, to pay for scholarships, to
run Tribal government and to in
vest in other Tribal businesses like
hotels or conference centers.
Yakama Indian Nation Sue Over
Dam Repairs For Fish-Passage
Yakama, WA. (AP) The
Yakama Indian Nation has sued
the federal government in an ef
fort to force it to install fish-passage
facilities at a major reservoir
that serves irrigators from the
Yakima Valley to Kennewick.
But the Federal Bureau of Rec
lamation says it intends to keep
rebuilding Keechelus Dam until
a court orders it to stop. Heavy
equipment already has begun re
moving logs and reshaping the
land near Interstate 90 at
Snoqualmie Pass in an effort to
finish the $32 million project by
the fall of 2003.
"This is a public safety issue,"
said Eric Glover, the Bureau's
Area Manager in Yakima.
Tribal leaders said they are not
trying to stop construction, but to
force the government to address
fish-habitat problems.
Keechelus reservoir's capacity
was reduced by about 17,000
acre-feet after crews in 1998 de
tected substantial holes in the
dam that were left by rotted tim
bers that were buried during the
dam's construction early in the
20th century.
Fish passage long has been
contentious at Keechelus. How
ever, the issue appeared settled
in January, when the National
Marine Fisheries Service agreed
with the bureau's building plans,
which are being pursued as a
dam-safety project. The agencies
recognized the potential for fish
protection improvements, but
they agreed to keep that issue
separate from the safety rebuild.