Makah Indians and Whaling
The Makah Indian Whaling: Indigenous Right orFor hundreds of centuries, the Makah Indians haverevolved their culture and traditions around whaling. Ithas been part of their tradition as long as the tribe hasever existed. In the early part of this century the Makahvoluntarily abandoned the whale hunt in recognition of theprecarious situation of the gray whale. When the whalewas listed as an endangered species in 1969 the hunt wasofficially banned. The Makah were formally forced to giveup whaling. After seventy years, however, the Makah areonce again in a position to whale. They wish to do so onthe basis of the importance of whaling to their traditional culture. This wish, however, is highly controversial. It is has stirred up much dissent among numerous groups including the International Whaling Commission, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and numerous animal rights groups. Even the Makah themselves are not fully united on this issue of whaling. This paper examines the importance of the whale hunt to Makah culture and discusses the changing nature of tradition. The question is presented as to whether the Makah are reestablishing
The High North Alliance is also another vociferousopponent to restored Makah whaling (High North). htmlMakah Whaling Rightshttp:\www. Anthropologists contend that these ceremonial preparationshave been carried on for at least 1,500 years by the Makah and their ancestors (Russell,1999). Thompson has adamantly defended the whales and spoken outagainst hunting (Russell, 1999). To the environmentalist the whale hunt is where itbelongs, in the memory. And we hope that resuming whaling will helprestore that" (Russell, 1999). The Economist, p31(1) Makah Whaling Commission. It was a distance which environmentalist justified on thebasis of the endangered status of the whale. Makah tradition included, as one of its corecomponents, many of the same hunting and gatheringpractices employed by other indigenous peoples. Because the Makah had not developed a writtenmethod for recording information, they depended heavily onoral history both to remember information which wascritical to their survival and to remember their complexsocial and cultural moral practice.
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