From the Seattle Times:
5 whalers charged in tribal court
Five Makah tribal members who already face federal charges for killing a gray whale off Neah Bay in September have now been charged in Makah Tribal Court for participating in the unauthorized hunt.
The charges were filed in tribal court on Nov. 16 but weren’t made public until Monday, when the last of the five was officially served with court papers, said Makah tribal attorney John Arum.
Wayne Johnson, Frankie Gonzales, Andrew Noel, Theron Parker and William Secor each face five charges in tribal court, including the violation of the tribe’s Gray Whale Management Plan.
If convicted, they could face up to a year in the tribal jail, a $5,000 fine and a three-year suspension of their tribal fishing rights for participating in the Sept. 8 hunt.
The five were charged in federal court in Tacoma last month and pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor violations of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
It is unclear whether the men will first be tried in federal or tribal court, Arum said. Arraignment on the tribal-court charges is expected in the next two or three weeks, he said.
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