Colockum and Yakima Hunters Unite.

[colockumelk]

This may be somewhat long but please bear with me and read the whole thing.  We need to stand together against the slaughter of elk and deer by Indian hunters and this will be the first step in that process.  It is obvious that many of you share my beliefs that something needs to be done to stop the decimation of the Colockum bull population by the Yakama Indian Tribe.  It is obvious that the game department either doesn't care or is to afraid to do anything about it.  Either way it is time that somebody put a stop to this and did the game departments job for them. 

This is what I propose.  I'm sure many of you have written letters that have drawn little if any response from the game department.  As individuals we can not hope to get anything done.  But as a group that works as a team towards a common goal we can do anything.  As an individual we are limited by our many flaws, but as a team there isn't anything we can't accomplish.  If we get enough people to participate they'll have to do something.  The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was started by a few hunters twenty some years ago and look how much they've accomplished.

This is what we need to do.  We need to begin an activist group much like RMEF or Green Peace to begin to work towards making Indian hunters abide by the same rules and regulations that we do.  I was born in America so how am I any less of a Native American than an Indian is?  Currently we as Non-Indian hunters are second class citizens. Non of the other Western states allow their Indian tribes to hunt all year round killing as many animals as they want to outside of their reservations so why should Washington be different? 

We need to band together and start having meetings and raise money and find lawyers and collect our own evidence about how unfair and stupid this practise is so we can bring it to our state legislature.  We need to start a petition around here and maybe even state wide to show how serious we really are and that it's time to stop.  Right now they blame it on poachers or even us (we kill too many spikes) but if they are faced with overwhelming evidence that only you as outdoorsmen who are out there all the time, then they'll have to listen.  Imagine if they tried to say we're a bunch of ignorant people and then we show them a bunch of pics using game cameras of truck loads of dead elk driven by Indians coming out of the Colockum.  We also need to see if groups like RMEF and Mule Deer Forever etc will help out as well since they've done this sort of thing before.

I know I spoke mostly about the Colockum but Yakima hunters need to band with us together as well since they Yakama's do the same thing to your herds.  This message is sort of a feeler message to find out if any of you are interested in starting a group with a President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary etc.  The whole nine yards.  We can't go half way, we're either all in or not at all. 

I've started an email address for this purpose.  Its' colockumelk@yahoo.com
If you have any comments or ideas or if you would like to start a group with me that would be great.  If you know community organizers or key leaders this would also be great.  I'd like to begin having meetings no later than March.  Obviously the sooner the better.  Also if you have any pics of Indians with big bulls or elk etc, or what would be great is if we could get people to start putting their game cameras higher up in some trees just off of the roads so we can get some good pics of truck loads of dead elk and deer in the back of their vehicles.  The game department might be unwilling but we're not.  Enough is enough.  If you want to help out please email me back lets set up a group meeting to finally put an end to the insanity that it unlimited tribal hunting. 

Hunters
Against
Unlimited hunting by
Native
Tribes

 

[colockumelk]

Oh yeah feel free to comment on here as well.

[alanger]

Good job colockumelk for taking a stand and just saying what needed to be said. Me and a hunting partner were talking on here today saying someone should say something because we both hunt in the colockum and it is rediculous. theres more hunters than elk in the colockum during modern season. It's gone too far you're exactly right.

[alanger]

colockumelk start a email forward and mail it to everyone who reply's to it and have everyone forward it!! It's bound to do something.

[colockumelk]

okay.    I'll get on that.

[colockumelk]

Here is what I have so far for a basic plan and what this is all about.  I am not a racist and I am not trying to restrict any group from hunting.  I only aim to make rules and regulations fair and equal for all.  I am doing this for the elk and deer.  We can not properly or responsibly regulate and preserve a natural resource like our wildlife if a group utilizing modern weapons and tools are allowed to harvest them indiscriminately and without any restrictions.  Elk are no match against high powered rifles, scopes, ATVs and snowmobiles.

So far this is what I plan to do.  My plan is to get together with meetings a large group of people.  The more the better in order to put together a PR campaign.  We will get people to write our senators etc.  We will put together  a plan to spread the word what we're doing (Websites etc) and hopefully get the REMF and other like minded groups to help out.  If we can get the press involved this would be awesome as well.  We will obviously start a statewide petition to stop this and put the word out about what we're about.  We will be called racists by the otherside but we will not stoop to their level and will remain professional at all times.

We will work with the WDFW to begin to get the laws already in place enforced such as shooting from vehicles an driving closed roads etc.  With a large amount of people I want to get together some "Eyes in the Woods" kind of thing just like PETA and take video and pictures of the atrocities that they commit.  Unlike PETA however we will not harass them or talk to them at all.  WE will just silently film them.  Also I would like to get people to use their trail cams on the roads out that will do two things.  Document all of the elk that the Yakama's are killing and also will catch all other poachers as well.  We will work with them to actually close the closed roads with gates and dips etc.  With a large amount of people we can volunteer time and maybe resources to work with this.  I agree with more road closures but first we need to enforce the current road closures and make those actually work before we impose any more restrictions on ourselves.

We will work with the legislature and the WDFW to force the Yakama's to be accountable for how many elk they kill.  Such as a punch card like we need for salmon.  The ultimate goal would be to to force them to abide by the same rules and restrictions that we do.  If this means that they should get free hunting licenses then so be it.

[KNOPHISH]

There was a group a few years ago with this in mind & had lawyers but I haven't heard anything lately. did they fade away? They made the bumper stickers "End Treaty Abuse" I just can't recall the name of the group.

[bigmv]

Can some one please help with the back story on this subject are the tribes able to do this kind of hunting because of a treaty?

[colockumelk]

In 1855 Governor Stevens signed a treaty with like 9 tribes including the Yakama's giving them hunting privelages/rights throughout their native hunting grounds.  This is to coincide with the common people of the treaty.  This is not exact wording obviously but you get the point.  We are sick of the Yakama's taking advantage of this and hunting all year round and killing as many bull elk as they want to.  They also over fish and decimate salmon and steelhead runs.  It is a 153 year old treaty without any ammendments.  Our goal is through public relations to create some laws forcing the Native that we s to follow the same hunting regulations that we follow.  Or maybe even have an ammendment to that treaty since even our constitution has ammendments to it.  We almost have a website up and from there we will hopefully get on the 2010 ballot.

[colockumelk]

Heres what the treaty says.

ARTICLE 3.
And provided, That, if necessary for the public convenience, roads may be run through the said reservation; and on the other hand, the right of way, with free access from the same to the nearest public highway, is secured to them; as also the right, in common with citizens of the United States, to travel upon all public highways.
The exclusive right of taking fish in all the streams, where running through or bordering said reservation, is further secured to said confederated tribes and bands of Indians, as also the right of taking fish at all usual and accustomed places, in common with the citizens of the Territory, and of erecting temporary buildings for curing them; together with the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries, and pasturing their horses and cattle upon open and unclaimed land.
 

What we are trying to do is not change the treaty.  This is what everyone has tried in the past.  Our goals are to launch a Public Relations campaign against the tribes.  We will use their unwillingness and inability to police their own members unethical hunting practises.  Utilizing volunteers with video cameras we will video their hunting camps and get pictures of their poaching and their kills.  Game camera's will help out alot as well.  In any case we will launch a PR campaign against them and also get a petition so that we can get on the 2010 state wide ballot in order to enact new laws that prohibit the unrestricted havesting of big game animals by the tribe.  With all the bad PR they will get this bill is bound to pass.  We already have a website we just don't know what to call it.  We need everyones help in getting some pics of poached animals or video anything we can put on our website.  We plan on having meetings within two months. 

We are not talking about taking away the right to hunt from the Native Tribes.  OUr new law would require them while hunting off their reservation to abide by the same rules and regulations that we must abide by. They would be given free licenses and could have their own special permits drawings.  This would be just like their program that allows them to hunt sheep.  They still get to hunt but they just wont be allowed to continue to decimate our big game herds. 

We are also looking at helping to close off the roads that are already closed.  I am not interested at this time about closing more roads just putting physical barriers in front of the ones that are already closed.  This would go along ways in preventing poaching. 

[Tony 270WSM]

If there are any pilots here, bring a video camera when flying. Might catch some action and can't beat the view from up above. I need to finish up my license and log some more time.

[Elkrunner]

I have been flooding the legislators and WDFW over the past 2 months.  I finally had an email response.  The director of the WDFW ask this guy to contact me regarding all of my emails.  I am not getting anywhere with him but he did say feel free to contact him with any questions.  He is going to love me for this.  Here is his contact information.  We need to start flooding them with phone calls and emails.  He is a policy coordinator for the WDFW.

Nate Pamplin

Wildlife Policy Coordinator

WDFW
 (360) 902-2693
Nathan.Pamplin@dfw.wa.gov

[colockumelk]

Thankyou we will put that information on our website.  I'm sure he'll love it.  The more pressure the better. 

[forest]

colockum and others,

you guys are so concerned about indian hunters out there, but have you been staying in touch with what's going on in your world?
go to  ''snopes.co". check out the new proposal.

forest

[Yak-NDN]

Forest most all on this site seem to have come to see that it has to be a joint effort on some of the issues and there has not been any inappropriate or unreasonable responses for a week or two. This was not the correct spot to bring up the H.R. 45 I will start a new post.