Feds applying double standard for Guam carabao

Prior to the White man coming to America, the Native Americans had a lifestyle that incorporated living and depending on specific animals, e.g., buffalo, deer, horses. The dependence on these animals was primarily for food, warm clothing for cold winter months, tools, and spiritual reasons (these animals were revered for the spirits they brought to man). The Native Americans sought the animals when there was a specific need, i.e., food, clothes, tools. The written history and testimony of Native Americans does not mention any killing of the above-referenced animals for pleasure, or with the intent to conduct a systematic extermination of the animals in large numbers.

When the descendants of the English and Europeans who settled in America were able to systematically wipe out the prominent herds of buffalo for recreation killing, meat, and furs, the Native Americans were not able to maintain their lifestyle and the animals that used to roam in the thousands became extinct.

The situation on Guam with the carabao herd of Fena (NAVMAG) reminds me of what the White man did to the animals the Native Americans lived with and thrived on. The shooting of carabao by the military sharpshooters and/or snipers for practice is similar to the indiscriminate shooting of the buffalos by the men who took over the land that once belonged to Native Americans in America. And now with EarthJustice, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and Critical Habitat condoning the plan to kill the only remaining wild carabao herd in the Pacific Rim of just under 300, it appears to be history repeating itself.

The approval for this outrageous and systematic elimination of the only existing carabao herd in the Pacific Rim speaks volumes about the complete and utter disdain the federal agencies have for icons that reflect Chamorro culture and heritage that goes back before the White man set foot in the Marianas. To not make a gesture to place the carabao in a protected sanctuary like any “endangered species,” e.g. Bald Eagle, crocodile, shows a blatant disregard for one of the only precious remnants of Chamorro culture and heritage.

To say that the carabaos are in the way of military operations is not substantive unless the Marines are doing maneuvers where the animals graze and bathe. I find it hard to believe that 250 carabaos would be a deterrent to anything, unless the people who don’t want them around consider them to be a nuisance that warrants the systematic killing of every one of them.

Letting the carabaos exist is no different than letting an endangered species in the mainland remain in existence. If the feds kill these animals and are mindful that these are the only ones in existence in the Marianas, then the only thing that any one can say is that the U.S. federal agencies apply “a double standard” when it comes to protecting endangered species and protecting cultural icons reflecting indigenous peoples of islands in the Pacific Rim.

Jesus D. Camacho, Ed.D.
Delano, California