Makah Tribe wins right to resume gray whale hunting in WA

Makah Tribe wins whaling rights waiver

The Makah, a tribal nation on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, have cleared the biggest hurdle that has blocked their tribe’s traditional practice of whaling for nearly two decades.

SEATTLE - The Makah, a tribal nation on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, have cleared the biggest hurdle that has blocked their tribe’s traditional practice of whaling for nearly two decades.

On Thursday morning, a waiver for the Marine Mammal Protection Act from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was posted to the federal registry, bringing the Makah Tribe one step closer to a hunt. It’s a decision that will be both celebrated and protested.

NOAA announced the news saying the decision will allow limited ceremonial and subsistence hunting by the Tribe in accordance with long-standing treaty rights. The waiver allows for the tribe to hunt up to 25 whales over the course of 10 years. According to NOAA, the gray whales that will be part of these hunts are part of a quota set by the International Whaling Commission – which will now be split between a Russian tribe and the Makah.

"The measures adopted today honor the Makah Tribes' treaty rights and their cultural whaling tradition that dates back well over 1,000 years," said Janet Coit, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. "It is fundamental to their identity and heritage."

In May 1999, a group of Makah hunters successfully hunted a gray whale. It was the first whale hunt the Makah had carried out since the 1920s, when the tribe voluntarily stopped hunting whales over a concern about dwindling numbers.

Following the 1999 hunt, legal challenges began to mount, delaying the Makah’s attempt to revive traditional hunts. A court eventually ruled that the Makah needed a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act; however, the waiver didn’t exist. That created nearly two decades of court battles and administrative processes.

The latest decision opens the door for the Makah Tribe to submit an application for a hunt, which will trigger a public process. Those with knowledge of the process tell FOX 13 Seattle it’s conceivable that a hunt could take place within the year if the tribal nation were prepared to do so.

Makah Tribal Chairman Timothy J. Greene told FOX 13 it's unclear when the hunts will resume. He estimated that a more likely date would be Spring, 2025 – as they review procedures, and prepare for the hunt while navigating the final permitting process.

"We've had an absence of an important activity that defines our existence on this Earth, so there's going to be some apprehension for sure," said Greene.

"The last time we were actively whaling there were a lot of things that went a long with that, but with that apprehension is real joy and excitement that we have a pathway to enjoy our Treaty Rights."

A history of the Makah on the water

The 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay ceded hundreds of thousands of acres of land to the U.S. government. In return, it reserves the Makah the "right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds."

In other words, the Makah secured continuing rights to whale off the coast of Washington before the state even existed.

Makah Tribe eyes possible return of whale hunts

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.

The Makah, however, have archaeological proof that their ancestors were whaling thousands of years before that treaty.

"The ocean is our lifeblood," said Makah Tribal Chairman Timothy J. Green, during a sit-down interview with FOX 13 Seattle in 2023.

"It defines who we are as people, and our connection to the water … our lands off 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," he said.

Generations of Makah people lived on a diet of marine mammals. Fish were caught and dried for year-round consumption. Porpoises, harbor seals and whale blubber were mainstays. What wasn’t used for the tribe was used for trade.

Travelers who visit Neah Bay will find countless images of a thunderbird holding a whale. The image represents how the first whale came to the Makah people by a great thunderbird, ending famine while gifting knowledge to hunt.

As Greene told FOX 13 Seattle, the years-long blockage of whale hunts is akin to telling a Catholic they could no longer step foot inside a church.

Controversy surrounding whaling

As the Makah tribe eyes its future, hundreds outside the tribe have argued that hunting gray whales is a tradition best left in the past. The idea of harpooning a whale has been called outdated and cruel.

The most vocal opponent of the Makah Tribe’s request to hunt whales has long been Sea Shepherd, an environmental conservation group.

"Sea Shepherd opposes the intentional killing of cetaceans, no matter the circumstances," a statement from Sea Shepherd, read describing their opposition to the Makah hunt.

"From the Faroe Islands to Iceland, from Japan to Norway, Sea Shepherd’s opposition to whaling is categorical and uncompromising."

Hundreds of individuals within, and outside, of Washington sounded off during the process the Makah underwent to get a hunt approved.

The groups that stopped protesting the hunt, also drew attention. Groups including The Nature Conservancy and Sierra Club that once opposed a hunt, wrote letters in support of the tribe.

The controversy wasn’t limited to public hearings and written comments. When the tribe was granted approval by the International Whaling Commission to hunt in the late '90s, hundreds of protesters showed up when the hunt unfolded.

Nearly 8 years later, with hunts on hold again, a group of tribal members killed a gray whale during an illegal hunt that was later condemned by tribal leaders. Two tribal members went to prison for the crime – though, the damage was done as tempers flared surrounding the act.

Gray whale population

The proposed Makah hunt focuses on Eastern North Pacific gray whales, a stock of whales that migrate along the West Coast.

NOAA prepares an annual marine mammal stock assessment report. The latest indicated that 600-800 individual whales could be removed annually from the population without affecting the sustainability of the species.

The population peaked in 2016, with more than 20,000 whales. Those numbers declined to 14,526 whales in 2023 following a series of events dubbed an "unusual mortality event."

Over a four-year period, 690 gray whale strandings were reported. Research indicated that the deaths were tied to malnutrition, killer whale attacks, entanglements and vessel strikes.

The series of events was considered closed in March 2014. The agency declared that changes in the whale’s traditional feeding grounds triggered the events, which had since been closed.

The overall population, however, of the Eastern North Pacific gray whales remains above 1994 numbers when the species was delisted from its previous designation as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act.

What happens next for the Makah Tribe?

The Makah tribe will need to submit a hunt application which will trigger another public process, including public comments and a review of the final permit.

A flowchart published by NOAA explaining the steps in granting, or denying, Makah's waiver request to resume it's gray whale hunts.

As for the Makah tribe, they would also need to train and prepare their next generation of whalers.

As Greene told FOX 13 Seattle previously, "it’s a grueling process that requires training." He described an ideal hunter as someone with physical, mental and psychological toughness. Not everyone that begins to train, ultimately finishes the process.

"Every person on that whaling crew has a job and responsibility," said Green. "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," he added.

And while the Makah Tribe prepares for hunts, they also plan to bring up concerns about the process it took to get to today. Including, a lack of nation-to-nation negotiations.

"It is a fundamental problem of sovereignty and having respect for a nation-to-nation agreement that occurred in 1855," said Greene. "We hope both us, the federal government and NOAA have learned something from that so that when this waiver has to be re-newed in 10 years it doesn't take another 20 years to renew it."

For details on what takes place during the hunt, the Makah Tribe has laid out the order of events during past hunts.