I wouldn't want to classify it that way... it is true that Eskimos do not set US policy, and actually have only a small influence on it at all. However, that is not what the Japanese are going after nor what they are relying on.
If for example the Makah quota had been turned down there would have been a very questionable court battle in the US pver of just exactly what the US and the Makah can each do and what the relationship between them is. That is a can of worms that nobody would be able to predict as there is little history and almost no case law to deal with what is almost an 'imaginary scenario'.
Instead, the Eskimo's bowhead quota has been held hostage, and the can of worms does not include what the status of Eskimo whale hunting is going to be. The Alaska Eskimo Whaling Commission (AWEC) is going to continue to function, Eskimo sovereignty is not going to be diminished, and Eskimos are *not* going to starve or go without whale meat.
The can of worms in this case is what is the US relationship to the IWC... but even more so what is the IWC anymore at all??? The IWC authority is going to be greatly diminished worldwide in the arena of international politics if they cannot straighten out the mess they have before the AEWC proceeds to totally ignore them and hunt for whales in April of 2003.
And of course that is exactly what the Japanese want to happen, though simply put it will be to their benefit either way. Way number one is the IWC begins to act logically and follows the advice of their Science Committee to cease these political games over membership and quotas (and of course if the IWC begins to act in that manner the Japanese proposals will almost all be adopted within the next 3-4 years), or 'way number two' is the IWC's authority will begin to dwindle away and the ability of the IWC to regulate anything, much less prevent expansion of whaling, will be _past_ history.
I feel greatly for my friends at the AWEC, because they are going to be put to the test. However, they are strong and they have history behind them; hence, I have no doubt they will succeed. At the end of this test *all* Native sovereignty is going to be stronger than it was before, including that of both the Eskimos and the Makah people.
I think you've been reading too many *US* reports on what the significance is.
The Japanese are betting that in the 25 some years since the middle 1970's when the IWC took on Alaska's Eskimos and lost on every single point, that the Eskimos have not become less 'innocent' than they were then. These are some pretty savy folks who can harpoon more than a bowhead whale...
The anti-whaling and anti-Indian groups are both total idiots.
