Makah Whaling Case
February 22, 2008
NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) -- A new chief judge has taken over the Makah Tribe's case against five whalers who killed a gray whale without a permit last year.
Stanley Meyers, a former Neah Bay resident who is not an American Indian, was hired after the tribe declined to renew the contract of the previous chief judge, Jean Vitalis, whose objectivity had been questioned after she publicly criticized the whale hunt.
The tribe's associate judge, Emma Doulik, recused herself, citing her strong emotions over the hunt.
The five tribal members harpooned and shot the gray whale Sept. 8, later saying they were tired of waiting for federal permission. The Makah had last killed a whale‚ legally‚ in 1999.
A federal grand jury indicted the men in October, charging them with violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Whaling Convention Act. The next month they were charged under tribal law.
The five defendants‚ Frankie Gonzales, Wayne Johnson, Andrew Noel, Theron Parker and William Secor Sr., all of Neah Bay, pleaded not guilty in both venues.
Meyers attended school in Neah Bay before leaving to study law.
In interviews with the Makah Tribal Council, he emerged as the best candidate, Tribal Chairman Micah McCarty told the Peninsula Daily News for an article published Wednesday.
McCarty said Meyers also has done legal work for the Quileute tribe in LaPush.
Attorney Jack Fiander, who will defend Johnson and Noel in the tribal proceedings, said Makah law requires a trial within 30 days of an arraignment, which in this case took place in December.
He plans to ask the judge to dismiss the charges for failure to meet that speedy trial deadline.
McCarty said a pretrial conference and trial date will be scheduled as soon as Meyers settles into his new job.
If convicted on all tribal charges, the defendants could be sentenced to a year in the Neah Bay jail, $5,000 fines and suspension of their treaty rights.
On Tuesday, a U.S. magistrate judge in Tacoma dismissed charges brought against the men under the Whaling Convention Act, saying the law's language on criminal violations is too vague to apply. The whalers are still charged with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and trial is scheduled for April. If found guilty, they could face up to a year in prison.
Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com
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Comments?
With or without?
Polar bears are almost extinct too but if we could make Michael Jackson white I guess we can make a few grizzlyes white too. With whales it's a bit harder due to the huge amount of paint wasted so if u ever take a canal boat holiday, dont hit any whale.
Let them HUNT
Less than 10 years ago I live near the Makah on the Quileute reservation when my husband was in the Coast Guard, and was there to witness the wonderful tradition of the first whale hunt permitted in 75 years to the Makah people. Of coarse the Coast Guard was there to protect the hunters that day because Green Peace was there and took it upon them selves to get in the way.
The Makah men, who wanted to do everything traditionally, were in a very small canoe, in freezing cold water with nothing but a spear and there wits going up against this mighty massive creature. It was a sight to behold. What most people don’t understand was something that was not practiced but spoke about within the tribe everyday in the schools of the Makah children, in there living rooms from there elders who passed down stories, it was going to be seen for the first time by a new generation. This was a historical time. It was a great and marvelous time to behold. It was all about Traditions.
That day the people were divided. There were the onlookers, the supporters, and the tribal members. On the other side were the Animal rights people protesting the so-called violent act. It was infuriating to me as they yelled and cursed and spit all over the thought of Indians killing a whale. “Save the whale” they screamed. What about save an Indian, I thought. What about our rights? What about us? They didn’t understand the big picture.
I am Osage and live in Texas. I know what its like to have laws and people interfere with tradition and our ways. That would be like someone telling my Plains People to not hunt a buffalo. I support the Makah tribe and all they stand for. I don’t condone breaking the law but sometimes you just do what you have to do to get the work done. They don’t just go out and kill a whale and leave it to rot on the beach. They use every part of that whale just like there forefathers did.
My prayer is that those men have all charges dropped and the law is passed once again for the Makah to Whale.
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