Protecting Mato from trophy hunters
By Ari Amehae
GOAL Tribal Coalition
Special to the Native Sun News
nsweekly.com CODY, Wyo. –– U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Director Dan Ashe and Wyoming’s Governor Matt Mead have so far resisted calls to publicly denounce comments extolling Manifest Destiny made to the media by a financier of an organization that promotes the feds and states grizzly delisting and trophy-hunting message that is opposed by tribes. Native Sun News obtained a copy of the email sent July 5 by GOAL Tribal Coalition to USFWS Director Ashe that is titled “Stop the Racism” and catalogs a litany of verified incidents that GOAL categorizes as “a shameful display of racism.” The latest was sparked when the tribal alliance recently raised a billboard in Cody, Wyoming, that questions delisting the grizzly from the Endangered Species Act, condemns proposed trophy hunts, and urges all to “protect the sacred.” It is the first billboard in the region to feature Native languages. However, a billboard advocating USFWS’s delisting agenda and Wyoming’s plan to trophy hunt grizzlies has been displayed in the Yellowstone National Park gateway town since April. Emblazoned with a dead grizzly bear at the feet of a hunter, the slogan reads, “Wolf. Griz. Delist. Hunt,” and is attributed to Wyoming Sportsmen for Fish & Wildlife, a group that actively supports Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD).
The GOAL Tribal Coalition billboard in Wyoming asks "Why?" in Native languages. A rival billboard advocates delisting of the grizzly bear and hunting of the sacred animal. Photo from Facebook
Responding to the tribes’ billboard, Scott Weber, who funded the pro-trophy hunting sign, submitted comments that were published by the Cody Enterprise in which he denounced tribal leaders as “delusional” and denigrated tribal ceremonies as “ramblings” before concluding: “For Manifest Destiny to reach its goals, four entities had to be taken off the very land where your home sits: 1. Indians 2. Grizzly 3. Buffalo 4. Wolves. Never can any regain their ground. Never, ever.” In GOAL’s email to Ashe, the coalitions’ co-founder, R. Bear Stands Last, writes, “If you do not denounce this statement, I wonder what it will take for you to denounce anything?” In online forums Weber, a gun storeowner who vehemently opposes gun control, has previously called reservations “cesspools,” vilified the LGBT community, and disparaged African-Americans. He is presently a school board trustee in Cody.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Protecting Mato from trophy hunters (Contact Ari Amehae at goaltribalcoalition@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
Join the Conversation
