The Makah tribe has had a lot of bad times and a lot of good times but I am going to address only some bad things and good. I will start with the laws for Makah whale hunting and how long have they hunted them. Whaling has been one of their traditions for 1,500 years and is secured by the treaty with the
The Makah tribe is the only and will always remain the only tribe to be able to hunt whales because of the treaty signed by the United Stated and natives. On
On October 1, 1999 the Clinton/Gore Administration issued the Makah's a permit which allowed the Makah Tribe to hunt up to twenty gray whales over the next four years. When they caught the first whale on May 17, 1999 it was more than seventy-years-old yet many say that the whale was a young juvenile Gray whale. The Makah have hunted several varieties of whales, but have concentrated on Gray Whales. The whales have to be within one hundred and fifty miles from their land which was written in the treaty agreement.
In the 1855 treaty with the United States and the Makah tribe, the tribe agreed to give up hundreds of thousands of acres in the Olympic peninsula, but the United States promised the Makah tribe the right to continue hunting whales. There has been an intensification of interest with the Makah people in their own history and culture since the archeological dig at the village of Ozette in 1970, which uncovered thousands of artifacts showing that they have been whaling for centuries. Thanks to the Ozette dig there were other things learned about the Makah tribe other than whaling that was not known before.
It is said that health problems happened in the tribe because of the loss of our traditional diet of seafood
and marine mammal meat. So if they were to return to their customs by putting the meat of the whale
back into their diet, their health will improve. Another problem is with the young people that stems from
lack of discipline and pride. The restoration of whaling will help to restore that discipline and pride
in the young people. Which brings us to the second question: What happened when the Makah tribe
hunted the whale in Friday, May 17,1999?
The whale hunt that was committed was in violation of federal and state laws. Everyone, including the Makah?s, wanted to arrest, charge, and prosecute all involved in the killing of the California gray whale. The Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) and the National Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) both want to terminate ?its efforts to help the Tribe to whale and instead to permanently protect the gray whales?(awionline) because of the illegal whale hunt that occurred. I?m sure that the right to hunt whales won?t change because of the treaty that was signed on January 31, 1855.
On May 17, 1999 the Makah tribe had successfully hunted and caught a gray whale and the attention of the world brought many news crews with their helicopters and cameras, but there were no protest boats. A thirty-five-foot canoe called the “Hummingbird” approached the thirty-foot whale (as shown in the picture to the top right). As the whale surfaced, Theron Parker thrusted the harpoon in the whale, then a support boat harpooned the gray whale as well. A trained marksman shot and killed the gray whale humanely with just one shot. As soon as the gun was shot, a protest boat named the Sea Shepherd slipped past the Coast Guard perimeter and blasted his horn to protest. When the whale was pulled onto land, the Makah people and visitors waited to celebrate. A Makah man stood on the whale to
bless it, sprinkling eagle feathers on the body of the gray whale. The gray whale was eventually carved on the beach to prepare for potlatch feast for the Makah’s of all ages to get the chance to eat fresh whale blubber.
One boy who was thirteen-years-old said, “I’ve heard of so many stories about this from my grandpa. Now I really know what he meant” (historylink). Later a potlatch was held that weekend to celebrate the successful hunt. This hunt was the first in over 70 years and the rebirth of Makah culture. For the Makah people this was a victory for treaty rights of all indigenous people. For the Makah’s, whale hunting is a tradition that has been happening for them for centuries. If that is taken away tribal traditions will mean nothing.
On September 14, 2007 five tribal Makah members went out on a boat with a harpoon, three rifles and floats that were all borrowed and told people that they were going to practice with them, but instead they were planning to kill a whale. The gray whale was shot more than twenty times. It took ten hours for the gray whale to die. “They were charged in the tribal court system with conducting an unauthorized whale hunt” (news.muckety) and “the federal government has charged them with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act” (news.muckety). Whale hunting already puts the Makah tribe up against powerful forces in American society, but for this case the tribe was up against the environment, environmentalists and the media.
On January 31, 1855 the Native peoples of Neah Bay signed a treaty with the United States. I am going to talk about what the Makah had to do to continue whaling. The Makah?s had to give 300,000 acres to the United States and ?in return Federal government promised in article four? (humboldt) of the treaty ?to forever secure the right of the Makah Nation to engage in whaling.? (humboldt) In the article it states, ?The right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the United States, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing, together with the privilege of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands: Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens.? (historylink) The treaty was signed also by Isaac Stevens who was the governor of Washington State at the time. Without this treaty the Makah tribe would never had made history in world and would never have had the chance to catch and kill a whale and feed it to the people of the tribe.
In this narrative I decided to address questions that stood out to me about the history of my tribe. I was interested in learning more about the tradition of whaling. As I gathered information for this project, I learned about the treaty and more about our rights. Because of this project I know more about the history of my tribe, and feel better about being a member of the Makah Tribe. This has opened my mind to have more respect for our history and my people.
sources located on the sources page
