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?