The long wait is over. A federal official has given the green light for members of the Makah tribe to resume exercising their treaty right to whaling, based on a request first made in 2005. Their last hunt took place in 1999.
With a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act in hand, the tribe will be authorized to hunt and kill up to three eastern North Pacific gray whales per year over the next decade.
Their hunt could start as soon as this summer or fall, although the tribe said a hunt this fall or later is more likely. Makah officials must first secure a permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Tribe and officials from NOAA Fisheries must enter into a cooperative agreement honoring internationally established quotas under the Whaling Convention Act. And dozens of young men in the whaling crew need to be physically and spiritually ready.
Joy and relief
Janine Ledford, executive director of the Makah Cultural and Research Center in Neah Bay, recalled the feeling she had as a young woman witnessing the whale hunt in 1999. The 25 years that have passed since then have amplified that feeling.
“It’s actually pretty hard to put to words, but it’s monumental, it’s really incredible,” Ledford said in anticipation of the decision.
“When you’re resuming something that is so central and so important – that our ancestors never let us forget about.”
She said there is also sadness and frustration about the many people who died waiting to see the revival of the whale hunt. But there are equal numbers of young people who have been waiting and have set their sights on supporting it in some way.
“Everybody here is involved in one way or another. We’ve never lost sight of the importance of whales and whale hunting,” Ledford said. “You know, we weren’t hunting for roughly 80 years, but that didn’t mean that our community – that our tribe, you know – forgot how important whales are to us.”
Since 1999, the tribe has continued to nurture the whaling culture and customs as best they can, without actually going on a hunt. Stranded and entangled whales are sometimes brought to Makah beaches for traditional processing, as recently as in 2018 and 2020.
The hunt is to be conducted using traditional methods, such as hand-carved canoes and harpoons. As in 1999, Makah hunters will also use modern equipment, including motorized chase-boats and a high-powered rifle to quickly kill the whale after it is struck.
A revival stalled by protests and bureaucracy
It has been nearly 25 years since whalers from the Makah tribe killed a gray whale and triumphantly towed it back to Neah Bay in Northwest Washington. Fists raised and facing virulent protests from animal rights activists, the successful hunt in May 1999 represented a key moment in their efforts to exercise tribal treaty rights and to revive important cultural traditions.
But the glory didn’t last long. Animal rights activists staged protests and made physical threats serious enough that the tribe put up a checkpoint on the only road into remote Neah Bay, to protect against violence. A series of lawsuits shut down the hunt and prevented any additional legal attempts to take more whales. The tribe’s leadership has abided by U.S. and international regulations, testing their patience for decades. Now, only minor bureaucratic hurdles remain till the tribe can revive the whale hunt.
Ahead of the final decision, Makah Tribal Council Chairman TJ Greene told KNKX the tribe will be ready to respond to violent protests or any other form of opposition to their hunt this time around.
“It’s terribly frustrating, it’s incredibly frustrating to be in this process and to see what a small tribe like Makah has to go through, to exercise its treaty right. Something that’s been guaranteed since 1855,” Greene said. “People are missing that part of their culture, of their teachings, of the things that they’ve put into that.”
He said it’s not yet clear to him how long the permitting process with NMFS will take. Additionally, he noted that the waiver covers a 10-year period for the whale hunt, yet the permits will have to be renewed every three to five years, placing additional bureaucratic burdens on the tribe.
“And we’ve been in this administrative process for a good 20 years,” he said.
Greene said this uncertainty about the future is unnecessary.
“Our reserved rights are in perpetuity and do not have an expiration.”
In acknowledgement of the long wait, NOAA Fisheries added a clause to their waiver that would allow the Makah Tribe to start their hunt mid-season, if they so choose. This new flexibility is meant to help the tribe to get back to their traditions as soon as possible.
A long and unique whaling tradition
For as long as anyone can remember, the Makah people have relied on the ocean for their livelihood. At the center of this was a whaling tradition so strong that, unlike any others among the federally recognized tribes in the Pacific Northwest, Makah leaders secured whaling in their treaty with the United States. Article 4 of the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay lists “the right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations.”
In the 1920s, the tribe voluntarily stopped whaling, when its hunters saw how unregulated commercial hunting had greatly reduced the eastern North Pacific gray whale population. The Makahs announced their intent to resume whaling in 1995, one year after federal officials announced the whales had recovered and removed them from the Federal List of Endangered Wildlife.
A recent die-off of gray whales that is linked to climate change is part of what delayed the current waiver for so long.
The final decision did not come through till the conclusion of the so-called Unusual Mortality Event that killed off about a third of the gray whales that migrate along the West Coast. They are rebounding now and officials say the small quota allowed for the Makahs will not pose any threat to the overall population.
To be certain of that, a new provision in the waiver approved on Thursday is the requirement for verification that the species has reached its “optimum sustainable population” level before the hunt. NOAA Fisheries spokesperson Michael Milstein told KNKX the current count of the gray whales has already met this criteria.
He said there is also a new provision to protect any western North Pacific gray whales, which are endangered. They don’t normally frequent the area where the Makah hunt is authorized, but some have strayed in the past. The tribe is to assure officials they have a plan to avoid this species before they go out on a hunt. If there is a possibility of an accidental strike, they are to apply for an incidental take permit, under the Endangered Species Act.
In an interview before their waiver received approval, Greene said the tribe keeps tabs on the state of the whales and would never take action to harm the population. Makah traditions include spiritual practices meant to keep both the whales and humans healthy.
“We have greater love and greater care than anyone in the world, we believe, because of the things that we do to honor not just that whale and that spirit, but also the environment that it lives in,” Greene said.
And he said their treaty also protects the whales, by recognizing the Makah right to the hunt.
“Because there’s a legal obligation of the federal government to honor those reserved rights, and to make sure that those stocks are healthy.”
COVID-19 also slowed the wheels of bureaucracy in the years after an administrative law judge issued his recommendation in favor of the hunt. That was in 2021, two years after a weeklong public hearing in Seattle.
Decades of opposition
At that time, the animal rights activists that so vehemently opposed the 1999 hunt testified against the proposed waiver. Sea Shepherd Legal, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales all voiced their continued opposition.
But the tribe said the atmosphere had changed; they no longer felt physically threatened by the militant protests that shut the hunt down nearly 25 years ago. And more of the general public seemed sympathetic to their desire to keep their culture alive.
It is hard to know how the Makah whale hunt will play out this time. Sea Shepherd has not responded to KNKX’s requests for comment on what shape the opposition from animal rights groups might take this time around.
Sea Shepherd Legal, which has since disbanded, issued the following statement ahead of the 2019 administrative hearing in Seattle:
“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.”
The Peninsula Citizens for the Protection of Whales also did not respond to KNKX’s interview request.
NOAA Fisheries said the legal process for granting a waiver for hunting under the Marine Mammal Protections Act is clearer now, because of past litigation. And the agency has followed it carefully, with all the important comment periods and analyses required by the law and verified by the courts.
“While that took time, it also helped the public see and understand the questions involved and the care with which we answered them,” said Milstein, the NOAA Fisheries spokesperson.
The hope is that this has improved public understanding of tribal culture and of the low risk to the whales posed by the proposed hunt – enough that the hunt might take place more peacefully this time around.
Copyright 2024 KNKX
