Whale shot off Washington Coast

Associated Press ^ | 9/8/2007 | AP

[TheBattman]

Although the tribe has subsistence fishing rights to kill whales, Oswell said preliminary information indicates the whale may have been shot illegally.

AWwww... come one now. You don't think that using a 50 cal machine gun is part of their "cultural reason" for taking whales? Didn't they use the same weapon pre-white man??? (/sarcams)

[bobbyd]

Save the whales...abort our children

[Calvin Locke]

Not a black powder musket?

[TheBattman]

The whale was hit with both the harpoon and the 50 cal. Notice all the holes in the whale’s back... it is shark bait.

[Paperdoll]

>machine gun<

They no longer are spirit brothers with their kill for food? Nothing spiritual about a machine gun. Nothing sporting either! And aren’t whales off limits?

These men should be severely punished, but they will probably get off with a warning. If they were not indians this would be big news and PETA would be out to get them.

And bad is good and good is bad......

[VR-21]

They do actually shoot them with the Barrets, whether before or after I can't say for sure.

The first one they shot, after the court okayed it, was an unbelieveable circus. The Makah went out in the long boat, (with their rifle) and there were protesters on personal watercraft trying to stop them. The Coast Guard, under orders chased the protesters looking very much like water borne Keystone Cops.

When they drug the whale ashore (covered live by a squadron of "News Choppers") they immediately started cutting it up and cooking it. You could see all who tasted it almost wretch and very little was actually consumed.

[Nik Naym]

I only read the headline.

Now let me get this straight: Washington no longer has a coast because it was shot off by some whale?

???????

[Stoat]

"We allow native hunts for cultural purposes. However, this does not appear to be of that nature so far," he said.

Translation:  "Some of them got into the firewater and decided it would be fun to go out and shoot something."

I remember years ago when there was this big court battle (against a Lefty enviro group)  and the Makahs won the right to do this.  It was national news at the time.

The news choppers whirled above as the brave Makahs went out in their giant canoes and finally shot a whale with their Barrett .50 cal.

They dragged it up onto the beach, did the whole nine yards of the traditional preparations and when it came down to eating it, a few people took a bite but threw the rest away BECAUSE IT TASTES AWFUL.

When you have a KFC or a McDonald's right down the street, why would you want to eat this?

Anyway, for people unfamiliar with the Barrett (including the idiot at the Associated Press who wrote this hysterical "machine gun" article) you can learn about them here.....it's NOT a "machine gun".   LMAO!

Barrett Rifles

[InABunkerUnderSF]

When I was 10 I shot a blue jay, “for the fun of it”. My father made me clean it and eat it. I haven’t shot anything “for the fun of it” since.

The penalty for these mighty native hunters ought to be that they should have to eat the whole whale.

[cmsgop]

I live in Washington and I am very familiar with that incident. They even sold some to the Tulalip Tribe (Big Casino off I-5) with big signs “Have a Whale Dinner” Saw it myself.

[Maynerd]

Hey, when they used to catch salmon in the rivers, they used baskets, not 100 yard long monofilament nets.

Excellent point. If the justification for special rights and priveledges is to preserve their superior culture. They should embrace the culture on all levels and not be corrupted by western civilization's technology.

I'd love to see those jerks paddling around the northen Pacific in a canoe with a woulden spear and stone knife. Gaia would kick their asses.

[LoneRangerMassachusetts]

This is a web page describing the Makah’s modern practice of hunting. It’s not traditional. They acknowledge that. They describe the traditional practice on another webpage. They shoot the whale dead right after they harpoon it. It’s more humane. I always love the use of humane to justify wanton killing. By they way, they went 70 years in the Twentieth Century without hunting. Now they are reborn again Spiritualists. Sure must make the whales happy.

http://www.makah.com/whalingrecent.html

[docbnj]

It is ridiculous to allow this. If whales are threatened, it makes no difference who shoots one, whether for “cultural reasons” or any other excuse. One less whale is one less whale.

This reminds me of some of the stupid environmental and energy rules the Federal government has instituted.

We should watch how far we are going in coddling some of these Indian groups. Study what has happened in Canada to see the outcome.

[crazyshrink]

Thar she blows!!!

View at your own adult risk!!!

http://www.jokeemail.com/pictures/savewhale.jpg

[Shooter 2.5]

Coulda been worse. They could have tried to blow it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_t44siFyb4

[RichInOC]

If you hunt whales with a fifty...you might be a redneck.

[fish hawk]

I think you are mistaken. They were Makah Indians, not Injuns. Or did you just make a spelling error. Indians or engines are the correct spelling.

[lndrvr1972]

LOL!! Good one..

[lndrvr1972]

A machine gun would make whale hunting alot easier.

[cherry]

machine gun?.....and that is what the Indians are all about these days....claiming their native “rights” and the ways of their elders and all that rot and then using MACHINE guns to kill whales.....