By Tedra Kirby
(First published in the Facebook group “Bagga me come from (Rich history)” on April 17, 2018)
Dear People of Barrouallie,
By now many of you have seen the iWitness News video clip earlier today, showing our people on the beach cutting up White Fish (Killer Whales/Orcas). For those of you who have not, it is visible on IWNSVG’s Facebook page, should you care to watch.
This video, in my opinion, was filmed with malicious intent, in an attempt to undermine our whaling community by painting us as barbaric and uncaring. The comments the video has accumulated have also done this and much of the people commenting are doing so from a standpoint of pure ignorance regarding whaling in Barrouallie. They are not us, nor do they understand us. They do not understand the significance of this industry. We know different! We know whaling isn’t just a hobby. We know whaling isn’t just a tradition. Whaling for this community is a matter of economics! How will so many of our families survive without whaling in Barrouallie?
Whaling doesn’t just help the whalers alone….it helps the vendors who are able to support their families and send their children to school, it helps to boost business for many small shop owners since we spend our money there, it helps to keep many people occupied, who otherwise would be sitting idly by. It even contributes to a significant amount of sales at the gas station in Bottle & Glass.
Know that those looking to end whaling or paint a negative picture of our community are not doing so with our best interest at heart.
We need to get ahead of this storm. We need to make our voices heard before it is too late. As a community we need to approach this as ONE, and SHOW people the significance of whaling to our community. You may think you don’t eat blackfish so it doesn’t affect you, or you may think your family doesn’t sell blackfish so it doesn’t affect you, but believe me, it will affect us all if they are successful in banning whaling.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND CRIME GO HAND IN HAND.
To this end, I say as a community, we should host a town hall meeting to air our side of this story. We should all come out in support of this. There is strength in numbers. We will invite the same media looking to break us, in an attempt for them to realise the economic importance of this activity to our community.
Those looking to ban whaling, you better believe many of them have secret agendas…..many of them will be able to apply for grants and funding to promote their cause….that money will NOT come to the people in Barrouallie.
We need to organise a town hall meeting. Those willing to step forward to be a voice, please do so.
We have to protect what is ours, because when all is said and done, they will work to get their way and absolutely no one will care how the removal of whaling will affect us.
The views expressed herein are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the opinions or editorial position of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].
The opinions presented in this content belong to the author and may not necessarily reflect the perspectives or editorial stance of iWitness News. Opinion pieces can be submitted to [email protected].
Don’t bother with them. Why they don’t condemn the white people who go to Africa to hunt the wildlife. And thy do it for fun not for food.
1. Although there is not enough evidence to conclude that Orcas are an endangered species more data could well show that they are.
2. Unemployment and crime certainly do not go hand in hand: decades ago when our unemployment rate was just as high, our crime rate was much lower. Also there are many countries with low unemployment but high crime rates and vice versa.
3. With so few whales caught at Barrouallie over the years, it is laughable to imply that it is a necessary part of the local economy without which many people would go hungry
The economy of humans, the claims that these people will go hungry without killings whales is totally unfounded…
Saying that critics do not understand this killing is a defence coming from callous and ignorant minds
These people do not know Orcas, all they see is free meat, they are literally making a killing, and with total disrespect and disregard for the value of cetaceans on this planet…I would prefer to see ten or more humans die than just one cetacean…
What if they don’t catch a whale for five years? Are they really depending on whales to survive or is it an option to make some fast cash ?
Seems to me they’re defending the money they make by selling Orca parts as trinkets and souvenirs, rather than the meat that they obtain through the hunt. I see greed. Not sustainability.
C, Brilliant as usual. I looked and found that, WDC (us.whales.org), Sea World and Parks (seaworld.org),the MNFS NOAA (mfs.noaa.gov ), OEW(ourendangeredworld.com) and Scientific American(ourendangeredworld.com), all expressed concern. However, not all Orcinus orca are on the list (Endangered Species Coalition list)of imperiled species. Like you said more data is needed but,I was totally disgusted by the news of the killing(of that animal).
the WWF also supported your claim. But killing those creatures still seem a little much to me.
Killing these highly intelligent socially complex self aware sentient beings is murder and there is no justification for it.
One has to be mindfull of his own customs and practices. our society of SVG has been doing these practices for our lively hood from the dawn of time and in so doing should be granted the rights to do so. This said Orca is been killed every day at sea world by having it on display for all to see an for sea world to make millions. If you are to let other dictate for you then all will be lost. seal an sea lions are killed in Alaska. other fish are caught. We all know of this fish importance to the economy of Bagga an should take such into mind.
No they have not been killing whales in SVG since the dawn of time, that is yet another dynasty lie, put out there to confuse the ignorant.
Whaling never started in SVG until the late 1800’s when it was introduced by Canadian whalers from Nova Scotia. This is not an aboriginal act at all, it is the act of nasty greedy people supported by the regime for political reasons.
When the whales disappear then what? History will remember you as monsters. No culture should be based on slaughter, you all not that hungry