Makah Hunt Deemed Illegal By Appeals Court!

The federal appeals court in San Francisco has overturned the ruling that allowed Makah Indians to resume whaling.

The decision Friday reinstates the lawsuit brought by Congressman Jack Metcalf. It goes back to federal Judge Franklin Burgess in Tacoma.

The judge had dismissed arguments from the congressman and animal rights groups that the environmental assessment for the hunt was inadequate.

Indians killed their first gray whale in more than 70 years a year ago off the northwest tip of Washington.

Indian whalers have been out this spring but have not been successful. The Coast Guard keeps anti-whaling protesters away from the whaling canoe.

Indians want the hunt to revive the culture and traditions of the Olympic Peninsula tribe.

The moved to resume whaling after gray whales were removed from the Endangered Species list six years ago. Biologist estimate 26,000 of the whales migrate each year between the waters off Alaska and Mexico.

The Makah had hunted whales for generations until the 1920s, which commercial whaling decimated the whale population. But the tribe moved to resume the hunt after gray whales were removed from the Endangered Species List in 1994.

The Makah, claiming whaling rights under an 1855 treaty, hunted and killed a gray whale in 1999.

Sour grapes John. I'm not surprised the sour ol' 'racist system' tirade is being brought out already!

John look at the bright side, 'it's not over till its over.'

You can bet that in the next level of justice it will go back to the Rights of The Makah. And this time they will come out even bigger winners in this Treaty Rights Case. In fact it might open the door to many other future cases. Here in Canada the tide is begining to turn, and it will turn for the Makah.

You're celebrating a bit early, aren't you? It ain't over until the fat lady sings, and she hasn't even entered theatre yet.

From what I've seen so far, all you've got is a temporary halt in whaling. We'll see several rounds of appeals before anything final emerges, and I'm pretty sure the result will be something you and your toady won't like. If the Makah aren't allowed to hunt whales for no other reason than ARA yammering, then maybe they should demand some more land as compensation for agreements broken by the US...

No, but maybe a busload of lawyers would do the trick.

They won nothing. What they did do is increase the fact that the Makah will not only have the right to do so as the do now, but even better protection according to new protection laws. In fact it could mean the Makah would even have the right to control the numbers of whales. Which could mean they could kill more than five.

The study would be in the favour of the Makah and I am sure they see this as not a step backwards but many steps forward for thier future.

That is true. It appears from the wording of the decision that the judges are aware of exactly what they have done, which is cause a short delay while *all* of the holes are sealed up tight.

When this is all said and one, the Makah are going to have an air tight case signed sealed and delivered.

Floyd

You got that right, and then the fat lady will sing and sing and sing to the beat of a water drum.