Ross Good, 4-3-2000, Example Policy Outline (with editing by
Jim Hanson)
NOTE: THE SPEECH IS PRIMARILY QUOTATIONS. THAT’S THE WAY TO
DO IT. While it has five quotations, the Philips one is rather short—so I’d
like at least one more quotation.
INTRODUCTION:
Internationally, whales have been
decimated. Unfortunately, the United States has made a major mistake in
allowing the Makah Indian tribe to continue this decimation. I will argue that
the Makah tribe should not be permitted to whale.
INHERENCY:
1) Currently, the United States,
along with 39 other nations around the world, are actively bounded to the
International Whaling Commission. With the United States leading the pack, the
39-country alliance has agreed to ban all forms of whaling. However in 1997,
the US granted the OK to allow the Makah tribe to kill 4 gray whales every year
through 2002.
2) Allowing the Makah to re-engage in hunting does more harm
than good.
a) Has encouraged
other nations to re-engage in whale hunting.
• Rep. Jack Metcalf NEEDS DATE stated "The Makahs have already done the damage we feared. This will
now open the door for more quota increases. Japan has already stated the desire
to allow four villages on the Taiji Peninsula to be
granted a quota. Iceland has announced that it plans to resume commercial
whaling. Thousands of whales may be killed because of this claim of
"cultural necessity."'
(Statement Jack Metcalf: Makah Whale Hunt)
Anne Philips of the Marine Mammal
Research Program.
NEEDS DATE
• "Its taken 70 years for the
world whale population to rebound from its once critical state. The slowly
rebounding populations are nowhere near their original level and the continuous
slaughtering in most cases is eating away at the gains,"
(ttp://www.ccaej.org/graywhales/makah.htm)
b) Permits underground commercial whaling and sea lion
harvesting with Japan and Norway, which was stated off limits in the agreement
and the Makahs promised they had no intention in
doing.
• Sea Shepherd Pacific Northwest Coordinator Michael Kundu states,
"We have obtained documentation that the Makah intend
to harvest gray whales, harbor seals, California sea lions, mink whales, the
Harbor Porpoise, Dall's Porpoise, and potentially, in
the future, sea otters. The Makah are planning to operate a processing plant so
as to sell to markets outside the U.S. The Makah have started discussions with
Japan and Norway about selling their sea mammal products to both countries. The
plant could be used to process the catches of other tribes as well. The Makah
and other tribes plan to reduce local populations of harbor seals to one-half
to one-third of current population. This documentation alone, reveals the
Makah's supposed intent to hunt California gray whales for "cultural and
ceremonial" purposes, was misleading and a lie."
SOLVENCY
3) I propose revoking the whaling rights the US government
so carelessly gave to the Makahs.
a) Halting whaling
would give all species of whale time to recover from when they were almost
harvested to near extinction in the 1920's.
The Sea Shepherds NEEDS A MORE COMPLETE SOURCE CITATION
• "... .many of the whales are
not even at 40% of pre-exploitation populations and the current whale
harvesting situation doesn't aid in the slow recovery. We must stop all forms
of whale harvesting in order for a fast and full recovery of the 9 species of
whale that are under the protection of the endangered species list." -
(http ://safepassing.
org/seashepherd)
b) Stripping the whaling rights of the Makahs
will take the fighting punch out of the many countries and tribes who are now
demanding whaling quotas.
Article in Animal People NEED FULL SOURCE CITATION
• "Japan seeks permission to kill 50 whales in a
"traditional" hunt as an "short-term relief allocation" to
help the economies of it's northern fishing towns, while Russia requesting that
Siberian whalers from the Chukotska peninsula be
allowed to kill five highly endangered bowhead whales, as well as their
existing quota of 140 grey whales annually, of which they only managed to find
and kill 85 last year. Thirteen tribal bands on Vancouver Island, British
Columbia, Canada, just across the Straight of San Juan de Fuca from the Makah,
likewise declared their interest in whaling, and were expected to apply for
quotas next year. These requests are fueled by the Makah promoting their
success in it's whale hunt. The fact that the Makahs have been granted whaling rights makes any nation or
tribe eligible for their own whaling rights. The Makahs'
whaling rights must be torn from their blood soaked hands.
(ANIMAL PEOPLE, August 1996)
4) Conclusion The US government has
made a mistake in backing the Makah's request for hunting whale. In withdrawing
their decision to give the Makahs the right to whale,
it will show to the world the United States can handle environmental conflicts
and that the future of whales will be a safe one.
I ) The Makahs
have the right to Whale under a treaty.
a) Makahs didn’t even hunt whales when they were under a
previous treaty.
NEED SOURCE CITATION
"Despite their treaty right, the Makah voluntarily
abandoned whale hunting for most of the next thirty years. Makah hunters were
busy plying the lucrative commercial fur seal trade. By the end of the 19"
century, the fur seal population had been almost completely decimated, and the
U.S. government moved to stop the trade. Many Makah hunters returned to hunting
whales on a limited basis. Large scale commercial whaling operations through
much of the first half of this decade had so severely depleted the North Pacific
whale populations that it certainly contributed to the Makah's dwindling
whaling efforts in the early 1900s. Makah sporadically hunted and traded whale
until 1915, and then held a few final hunts in the mid-1920s.'"
b) The fact that the Makahs are
finding whaling such an important part of their people, they would have never
voluntarily abandoned it for the seal trade in the first place. Now, seventy
years later, they decide it's a necessity again? I don't think so.
PROBABLY NEED A QUOTATION THAT SAYS THEY DON’T HAVE A RIGHT
OR THAT THE RIGHT SHOULD NOT BE GRANTED.
2) But the Makahs state they are
following the ways of their elders. Isn't that enough?
a) Their ancestors
believe that whaling is WRONG! In a letter paid by PAWS, the elders of the Makahs speak against the whaling:
SOURCE CITATION NEEDED
"We are elders of the Makah Indian Nation (Ko-Ditch-ee-ot) which means People of the Cape. We oppose
this Whale hunt our tribe is going to do. The Makah Indian Nation has been
functioning without a quorum; two Councilmen are off on sick leave for very
serious reasons, cancer. How can any decision be legal when our by-laws state
the Treasures shall be present at every meeting? The Vice Chairman is the other
man out. The Whale hunt issue has never been brought to the people to inform
them and there is no spiritual training going on. We believe they,
the Council, will just shoot the Whale, and we think the word
"subsistence" is the wrong thing to say when our people haven't used
or had Whale meat/blubber since the early 1900's. For these reasons we believe
the hunt is only for the money. They can't say "Traditional, Spiritual and
for Subsistence" in the same breath when no training is going on, just
talk. "
b) If it was really for traditional and spiritual meaning of
they used power boats, walkie-talkies, cell phones, a .50 caliber rifle, an ice
truck, and a $335,000 federal grant. Doesn't sound like a spiritual quest to me.
3) The deaths of 20 whales in the next 5 years will not
impact the whale population at all.
a) It will not.
b) But it will show to all the nations around the world that
since the United States can go whaling, so can
everyone else. Iceland has already announced it will start commercial whaling. 20 years, 4 whales... no. But 20 years, 40 nations, each
taking their fair share... ..devastating.
c) Also,
Makah History From an PAWS news
release—NEED A FULLER SOURCE CITATION
"It might mean the end of the gray whale-watching
business on the Pacific Coast," said Jamie Bray, owner ofJamie's
Whaling Station in Tofino, British Columbia, about 70
miles north ofNeah Bay. He said the business in his
area generates $8 million to $10 million a year. He said the gray whale, once
known as the "devil fish" for its aggressiveness, might again become
dangerous as the animals, on their spring and fall migrations along the West
Coast, face Makah harpoons and rifles. The whales are intelligent and have
become accustomed to whale-watching boats, occasionally bumping their 40-ton,
45-foot-long bodies into them. Bray takes 20,000 people a year to watch.'
4) The United States did get consent from the IWC, so there
should be no problem because they didn't break any laws.
a) The United States
BARELY got the majority vote on the decision. A good number of nations were
absent because they hadn't paid their dues. Only 12 out of the 38... .does that sound like a majority?
b) The United States DID break many laws in giving the Makahs to right to whale. In making the decision, the
United States failed to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act, the
Marine Sanctuaries Act and the Whaling Convention Act in part by not adequately
assessing the environmental impact of the proposed whaling.
---------NEEDS A QUOTATION
5) The Makahs need whaling for
their livelihood.
STATE YOUR COUNTERARGUMENT
The Oregonian, written by Courtenay Thompson—STATE HER
QUALIFICATIONS
"Makah tribal leaders say they want to start hunting
the gray whale again as a way of reviving their culture. They insist that the
whales would be used for ceremonial and subsistence purposes—but they have also
reserved the right to commercial whaling in the future. The proposed hunt is
allied with efforts by the commercial interests in Japan and Norway that hope
to turn the tide against anti-whaling sentiment by promoting what they call
"community based whaling among indigenous people for cultural, dietary or
economic reasons."
Equally contradictory, I see no ceremonial or spiritual
connection with using a support boat, a .50-caliber rifle or cell phones in the
hunt.
*http://www.safepassing.org/other/metcali7congress_19960627.html
THIS HAS THE KEY RESPONSES BUT A FEW MORE WOULD BE GOOD.