“To have to take your dirty laundry outside your community to hang it out is hard,” Chamblin told the Harpoon. But they would not have got far if it had not been for their sponsors.
Harpoon has been unable to confirm who actually paid for them to bring their laundry basket here, but it has been variously reported in the media as unidentified American NGOs, and as Britain’s Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Chamblin and Thompson have not shown any documentation that they represent anyone but themselves on their mission. Just five people from their tribe have joined them in signing an advertisement opposing the Makah Council’s decision to resume the whale hunt. But did even those five people want them to visit Europe to hang out their dirty laundry? We don’t know.
What we do know is that Chamblin has run several times for a position on the Council, but with no success. Her fellow Makahs have given her a clear signal that they do not want her representing their interests.
But the Makah Council is corrupt, isn’t it? If so, wouldn’t it be best to reveal in what ways it is corrupt? But the two ladies have not substantiated their claims. “Do you know how many relatives they (the council members) have? And their friends are loyal,” is the only explanation Chamblin can offer to explain why she has not been elected.
It seems that they brought an empty laundry basket from back home that has been filled up with dirty laundry during their stay in Europe. And most of this laundry belongs to those masterminds who first dreamed up the idea of using these Makah women as figureheads to serve their purpose.
The sole concern of the whale protectionists is the whales. In an open letter to the Makah nation, sent by the Animal Protection Institute of America and signed by perhaps a hundred whale-saving organisations, they describe each whale species as “a sovereign nation unto itself”.
But it seems that they do not view the Makah tribe as a “sovereign nation” in the same way. They have no respect for the tribe’s desire to determine its own future, even though it might be more democratic, with a greater proportion of citizens involved in decision-making, than any other Western community of comparable size. They actively interfere in an internal Makah conflict, and encourage the losers in a democratic process to throw dirt at their neighbours on the international stage. The purpose of the exercise is to discredit the Makah majority’s wish to go whaling.
It is probably exciting for the two Makah women to be the centre of attention and to be celebrated by the anti-whaling community. But it will not be easy when they return home to confront their neighbours. The Makah community is small. You can’t choose your friends. Your friends are exactly the same people as your neighbours. How will Chamblin and Thompson be able to face them after actively trying to sabotage the wishes of the majority for the future of the community and the Makah culture?
The damage which this may do to the Makah society is the sole responsibility of those NGOs that raised the clothes line on which these two women now hang their dirty laundry.