Ancient traditions?
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
Posted on 09/08/2007 6:37:00 PM PDT by djf
NEAH BAY, Wash. (AP) — An injured California gray whale was swimming out to sea Saturday after being shot with a machine gun off the western tip of Washington state, officials said.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Kelly Parker said five people believed to be members of the Makah Tribe shot and harpooned the whale Saturday morning. The extent of the whale's injuries were not immediately known.
Tribe members were being held by the Coast Guard but had not been charged, said Mark Oswell, a spokesman for the law enforcement arm of the National Marine Fisheries Service.
A preliminary report said the whale was shot with a .50-caliber machine gun, Oswell said.
Coast Guard officials created a 1,000-yard safety zone around the injured whale, which was shot about a mile east of Neah Bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The whale had begun heading to sea Saturday afternoon, Oswell said.
Although the tribe has subsistence fishing rights to kill whales, Oswell said preliminary information indicates the whale may have been shot illegally.
"We allow native hunts for cultural purposes. However, this does not appear to be of that nature so far," he said.
A call to tribal officials was not immediately returned on Saturday.
The Makah Tribe has more than 1,000 members and is based in Neah Bay.
And I tend to think when they used to catch whales they didn't use 50 cal machine guns. (which, in fact was probably not a frequent event, a PO'd whale isn't something I'd wanna wake up next to!)
But they're Injuns, so whatever they slaughter or trash, it's OK.
Machine gun????
Perhaps Hillary should stay clear of Washington State.
I don’t think it was an automatic weapon. The Makah Tribe won a court battle a few years ago for the right to hunt whales, which they claimed to be their tradition, with their traditional Barret rifles.
I was aiming for the one off Oahu. I’ve got to adjust more for windage.
Yeah!! Fifty cal!! Where the eff is ATF when the locals have that?
Probably at the airport strip searching some grandma from Iowa.
Probably a .50 cal BMG round, fired from one of many non-machine gun weapons.
In the interest of clarity, I must explain to you that what makes their traditional Barret rifles “traditional” is the eagle feather tied to the muzzle brake.
Ancient traditions?
Say WA? Evergreen State ping
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this ping list.
Ping sionnsar if you see a Washington state related thread.
Well, first we are asked to allow dog fighting, and now the killing (in rather haphazard and amateurish ways) of whales.
All a culture thing, right?
#1, How many whales are they allowed to “hunt” and what kind of “traditional weapon” did their ancestors use, were they allowed to use the same kind of weapon or a modern device? Give me a break, there’s no reason for a North West Coast Indian to kill a whale. Do they eat the meat, what do they do with the fat, skin and bones? HUH? In the “olden days” the ancients used every bit of the kill, not just the “notion” of “trying” to be an Indian. Shame!!!!
Ernest Hemmingway had machine guns on his fishing boat for use against sharks trying to eat his catch, and any Nazi spies or saboteurs he happened to run into.
Right you are.
If you're in the area I'd exercise a little caution for a while when ordering from the menu at their casino. The last one they killed, most of them refused to eat any of it because it was so revolting, so they'll probably put in the fettucine alfredo they serve us honkies, and stick to their traditional Big Macs and Wolf Brand Chili.
Yeah, my first thought too.
As I understand it from the media, that 50 Caliber custom thing predates Columbus landing on the Americas.
Good thing they’re indians. A guy with Limey customs would be sitting in prison already.
LMAO
We have a similar situation with walleye spearing on Red Lake here in MN. The local Indian tribe uses bass boats with 225 hp outboards and million candlepower spotlights instead of canoes and torches like their ancestors used, and the DNR had the bag limit for walleye at zero for several years in an attempt to bring them back.
No doubt an ancient tribal ritual filled with spiritual significance. Once we get done with the MidEast savages maybe we should take a second look at our own.
Do you realize how totally absurd that sounds? Barrett rifles are .50 cal, and have a grand ancient tradition of use since they were introduced in (ahem) 1982.
I tried to clarify that in post 8.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.