Makah Tribe awaits decision to resume hunting gray whales
NEAH BAY, Wash. - The Makah, a tribal nation on the Olympic Peninsula, have been waiting nearly two decades to learn whether they’ll get the go-ahead from the federal government to resume their practice of whaling.
Whaling has been a central part of Makah culture. Whale hunts, and the ceremonies surrounding them, were spiritual.
Beyond that, whaling was a traditional food source, and it created a massive economy of trade long before Europeans arrived on the shores of what is now northwestern Washington state.
It’s been nearly 25 years since Makah tribal fishermen have harvested a whale.
On May 17, 1999, a group of Makah hunters successfully hunted a gray whale under international and domestic law. It was the first hunt since the 1920s when, out of fear of dwindling whale numbers, the Makah voluntarily stopped hunting whales.
It was a decision they say was not easy.
While the 1999 hunt marked an important milestone for the Makah people, it was met with anger and protest from many within the animal activist community.
In the aftermath, the Makah were flooded with threatening phone calls.
Under the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, the Makah ceded hundreds of thousands of acres of land, while reserving the "right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds."
That hasn’t stopped legal challenges, which ultimately delayed the Makah's attempt to return to whaling for roughly 20 years. In the early 2000s, a court ruled that the Makah needed a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act; however, the waiver didn’t technically exist.
As a result, the Makah Indian Tribe wasn’t participating in nation-to-nation conversations over its treaty rights. They instead had to request authorization to hunt Eastern Northern Pacific gray whales through NOAA Fisheries.
"It says a lot about the U.S. government, its bureaucracy and the institution it's operating under that it can’t even honor a treaty with a small U.S. Tribe," said Makah Tribal Chairman Timothy J. Greene. "That’s the frustrating thing. Dealing with that bureaucracy of moving through an administrative process."
In July 2022, NOAA issued a supplemental environmental impact statement which outlined a preferred outline for the tribe’s hunt of Pacific gray whales.
Earlier this year, they notified interested parties that a final decision will be made by NOAA this summer. A decision has not yet been announced.
WATER PROVIDES
The Makah like to say that they’ve been here forever—that their creator placed them here.
Archaeological digs have found artifacts in Ozette, one of five permanent villages, that date back nearly 4,000 years.
The five permanent villages of Waatch, Sooes, Deah, Ozette and Bahaada were located near the coast, though in the summer, people traveled to camps that were closer to traditional fishing, whaling and gathering areas.
Fish and marine mammals have remained staples of the Makah diet—fish were caught, dried and smoked for year-round consumption. Porpoise, harbor seals and whale blubber were also mainstays. Blubber was used for food, while everything from oil to bone were used for various tools or everyday use.
What wasn’t used for the tribe, was used in trade. To this day, the Makah economy is based on fishing.
"The ocean is our lifeblood," said Greene. "It defines who we are as people, and our connection to the water, our lands of our coast is like no other. We have a reverence for everything contained in that area, we want to care for it and make sure it’s there for the future."
CONTROVERSY
While the Makah eye a return to its whaling tradition, hundreds of people have argued that it's a tradition that should remain in the past.
Sea Shepherd, one of the entities that has long opposed the Makah Tribe’s request to hunt whales, has laid out three reasons to deny a hunt:
- The Marine Mammal Protection Act
- Smaller populations of gray whales that could intermingle with the rebounding population of Eastern North Pacific gray whales
- Recent deaths of gray whales, deemed an "unusual mortality event" by NOAA
Sea Shepherd released a statement that read:
"Sea Shepherd opposes the intentional killing of cetaceans, no matter the circumstances. From the Faroe Islands to Iceland, from Japan to Norway, Sea Shepherd’s opposition to whaling is categorical and uncompromising."
During the last comment period, hundreds of people sounded off both for and against the idea of the Makah tribe resuming its whaling practices.
"They are magnificent creatures, they are not hurting anybody or anything," wrote one commenter.
Another, "The slaughter of whales should be illegal!"
Interestingly, a number of groups that have traditionally opposed whaling reversed course.
While Greenpeace stopped short of writing a letter of support, they didn’t oppose the hunt. Other groups such as The Nature Conservancy and Sierra Club backed the tribe.
Jesse Piedfort, the Sierra Club Washington State Chapter director, co-wrote a two-page letter during the latest NOAA comment period stating: "This is a treaty right, and the Sierra Club Firmly supports treaty rights."
GRAY WHALE POPULATION
The proposed Makah hunt would remove two to three whales per year of an estimated population of 14,526 whales, per the latest NOAA estimates in the winter of 2022-2023.
According to NOAA Fisheries, a recent assessment indicated that 600–800 individual whales could be removed annually while keeping a sustainable population size.
Gray whales have been in the news after a several-year long event with dozens of dead gray whales stranding up and down the West Coast.
RELATED: Five more gray whales found dead along Washington's coast
The population of gray whales peaked in 2016, and in more recent years have fallen, during the most recent survey conducted.
Groups like Sea Shepherd have argued that a separate population of gray whales could be mistaken for the Makah's intended target for their traditional hunts. The western stock of gray whales is estimated to include fewer than 300 whales, and are considered an endangered species.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
It’s too soon to say whether the Makah Tribe will be able to resume whale hunts.
NOAA has outlined the process online, stating that a waiver and final regulations doesn’t green-light a whale hunt. Once a final environmental impact statement is published, there is a wait period before any proposed action.
Beyond that, the Makah tribe would need to train and prepare the next generation of whalers.
As Greene told FOX 13 News, it's a grueling process that not everyone who starts the training will complete. He says it takes physical, mental and psychological toughness out on the water.
"Every person on that whaling crew has a job and responsibility," said Greene. "They need to do that job at a level that protects their safety, the safety of their crew and also honors that life that will be presented to the crew."
Chairman Greene said that he doesn’t like to use the word ‘kill’ when referring to the hunt, noting that the Makah believe that the whale presents itself to the crew during the hunt.
For details on the hunt itself, and the steps it takes to harvest a whale, the Makah Tribe has laid out the order of events during past hunts on their official website.
In the meantime, the Makah await for the next step.
Unsure of what happens next, Greene said he believes they will find a way to return to the Makah tradition of whaling within his lifetime.
"If it's approved, our next step is preparing to get out on the water to carry out our traditions, our culture, our spiritual beliefs as Makah people," said Greene. "If it's disapproval, then that means we're going to a different approach, so we can get to a place to carry out our whaling activities. That's not going away in my lifetime. Our future generations will carry this on. I’m confident that at some point we’ll be whaling again, it’ll happen at some point."