Bad Eagle: Ethnic arrogance in media coverage

Opinion
Bad Eagle: Ethnic arrogance in media coverage
Thursday, March 23, 2006

"The issue of beliefs has seen an interesting twist recently. A small killer whale wandered off the watery path, and was living alone in the harbor of the small town of Gold River, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Instead of �hunting� the whale, the local Indians there protected it�from scientists. They even prevented a rescue effort to return the whale to its own kind, some 300 kilometers south on the coast.

In typical ethnic arrogance, the BBC fails to name the Indian tribe, calling them an �aboriginal group,� and �a local Indian tribe.� (They happen to be Mowachaht-Muchalaht Indians.) The report cites the beliefs of the Indians, however, in a simple, straightforward manner. The Indians saw their chief die just three years ago, and the chief promised to return to the people�as a whale. Three days after he died, the young whale, named Luna, appeared in the harbor of Gold River and has remained there since.

The initial BBC report does not speak of eco-terrorists attacking the Indians, as they did in the case of the Makah.

Just this month, however, March 11, 2006, the BBC reports that the young whale was killed. Young Luna seemed fond of playing around boats. Apparently, it was killed by the propeller of a tugboat. That is the report. The whale was seven years old and weighed 1.8 tons. �Killed instantly� by the propeller of a tugboat, the report says. Sorry, but not the right explanation, at all. Yet the question of foul play is not the issue.

Did the Indians indirectly cause the death of the whale? Did the Indians� belief in the reincarnation of their chief cost, indirectly, the life of Luna? Were the Indians� belief more important than the �safety� of the whale, or was that safety a matter of cooperation on the part of scientists and local officials�which cooperation failed to secure the safety?"

Get the Story:
David Yeagley: The Only Good Indian is a Liberal Indian, Pt. II (Front Page Magazine 3/23)

Relevant Links:
Bad Eagle - http://www.badeagle.com