We are very disappointed that the younger tribal members feel its ok to kill our Sacred Wolves!! Duane Hall, you have forgotten the Teachings of Our Creator!!
NESPELEM—After three hunting seasons without harvesting a wolf, a Colville Tribal member has taken the first.
Duane Hall, 37 of Omak, brought a gray wolf into the Colville Tribal Fish & Wildlife office for sealing on Friday, CTFW confirmed Monday.
Just three of the estimated 18 to 20 wolves—spread out among at least three packs—are allowed to be taken, per CTFW’s predator hunting regulations.
“I didn’t really have a reaction,” CTFW director Randall Friedlander said.
Hunting group Rez Bucks, Bulls & Predators, operated by tribal member Sean Gorr, published the news on Nov. 17 at 12:45 p.m.
A share to Tribal Tribune’s Facebook was met with mixed reviews.
“Terrible,” tribal member Lorin Hutton said.
“Nice kill,” tribal member Ted Piccolo added.
“Wildlife management is a must,” Gorr stated in the conversation. “Predator control is a must. Regulated hunting seasons is a must. All that needs to happen to sustain enough big game to feed our families for generations.”
Wolf hunting season started Aug. 1 and ends Feb. 28. Three known packs exist on the Colville Reservation: The Strawberry, the Whitestone and the Nc’icn. A collared wolf was accidentally slain on the Colville Reservation during a recapturing effort by CTFW in January 2015.
Friedlander said the amount of wolves harvested—by way of rifle or trap hunting—are determined by the number of wolves.
“We try to manage for the total population,” he said, “and that’s why we allow three per year. That’s based on a percentage of the overall population (of wolves).”
He reiterated the right to hunt is an ancestral right.
“We try to create opportunities for tribal members to practice their traditional, cultural way of life,” Friedlander said. “That includes the harvesting of some predators for some tribal members. Not all tribal members harvest predators, but some do.”
In May, CTWF reduced the number of wolves that could be taken from 12 to three each season, but allowed traps to be used for the first time.
Last month, a Washington wolf from the Huckleberry Pack, which was thought to range from the Spokane Reservation north, was killed after a 700-mile trek from Washington to Idaho, Canada and then central Montana.
The Tribune has reached out to Hall for an interview.
Source: First ‘official’ wolf kill confirmed on Colville Reservation – Tribal Tribune: News
Comments
Early humanity needed hunting at one time for survival and sustenance. Like it or not, predator hunting today is entirely for recreational purposes and to make “recreational” hunting a noble “tradition” is reprehensible. Seems though, that some humans were born with a gene that allows them to take pleasure in the killing of something for fun….How noble and “traditional” is it to publish a picture taken of a once living creature that you just snuffed the life out of?
With all the support and good will being created by events like “Standing Rock”, the Colville Tribe just took a step backward in the public’s view.
Sadly I have to agree Jerry…. calling it ancestral Hunting rights…. that statement is beyond ridiculous
The fact that this wolf was taken, does not say that the Colville Tribes is taking a step backward. The hypocrisy of your statements, as if what one state does affects another state, but let one Indian Tribe do something, then it affects all the other Indian Tribes. ENOUGH!! We killed a wolf, one wolf! You non-indians have skimmed this land pretty clean of everything else, your imigrant ancestors have taken for themselves and left nothing for anyone else, all this land in the United States was Indian Land, all the animals here in this country lived on, were hunted for survival, for the protection of people, and the concern of their locations to our domiciles. It is not for you to judge the Colville Tribes, not at all. Do not try to pretend you have any depth of understanding of Native People, you are not a native, and you couldn’t even begin to tell me or any tribal member what our life is like, what our values are, where our hearts are. You have no right to call out this tribal member for committing a LEGAL ACT!! We admire these animals and their roles far more and for much longer than any of you non-indians ever have. Everything dies, Salmon gave it’s life so we may survive, the wolf is our relative, you go back to starbucks, and your city lives and leave who you put on the reservation to live out theirs, my brothers and sisters!!!
The Owner of this site is a Tribal Elder… That is saddened by this type of disrespect of our sacred animals. The Deer and Elk have disappeared at the hands of all races…. Had nothing to do with wolves, grizzlies…
You need to stop killing off all our wolves!
That they do