Indians Hope to Harpoon New Whale-HuntingRightsPACIFICCOAST CONTROVERSY; [ALL 07/25/95 Edition]

By Mark Trumbull, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor.Christian Science Monitor (pre-1997 Fulltext).Boston, Mass.:Jul 25, 1995. pg. 3

ALONG the craggy, rain-pelted coast of the Olympic Peninsula, the Makah people survived for centuries by harvesting the ocean's bounty.In part, they subsisted on whales, hunted in dugout canoes. A harpooner would dive into the water to make the kill with a final lance thrust.

Now, almost 70 years since they last hunted the massive marine mammals, the Makah tribe wants to return to the tradition…

With unemployment as high as 50 percent and alcohol and drug abuse rampant among the 1,000 residents of the Makah Indian Reservation, Mr. Lucas says he hopes whaling can help revive community spirit and fight these problems.

"Everybody has to work together" to bring in a whale and make use of its meat, blubber, bones, and baleen for food and for traditional crafts and ceremonies," Lucas says…

From SeattleTimes Article: …Makah tribal members have argued…that the whale hunt is most important as a way to resurrect a sense of community and provide hope on the isolated reservation.
…John Ahrens, a lawyer with the tribe and part of the 15-member Makah delegation in Monaco. "We have taken a lot of abuse, people saying we don't really need to hunt whales, that it's not that important anymore. That's hard to hear when you consider it central to who you are."
From Blog: I was there the day the whale was brought to the shores of the Makah. I saw honoring of the whale, I was given a free home, free medical care, and food for nine days. They honored all who came and the whale… Each time I go to NeahBay, the Makah show respect, honoring of culture, humbleness, and hospitality.
…We have programs to preserve the traditions and cultural heritage of immigrants, we should give all our Native Americans the same consideration.

The Makah have [even] pledged to modernize their hunting methods - such as using exploding-head harpoons, in order to be more humane and safe…

From SeattleTimes Article: A veterinarian who specializes in the humane killing of huge animals…” will make “a .50-caliber rifle” for the Makah to use, so the whale will be killed swiftly.

…Many scientists and environmentalists [also support the Makah]. Greenpeace, while… [criticizing] commercial whaling, has no quarrel with the subsistence request. And while some say hunting could drive the friendly 45-foot creatures away from whale-watching boats, biologist John Calambokidis says, "I can't imagine hunting efforts aimed at five animals ... would affect the behavior" of the whole migrating group.

[The gray whale was even removed from the endangered species list in 1994, when its numbers topped 23,000.]

From National Marine Fisheries Service:
Year: Number
1968: 12,921 1970: 12,567 1972: 9,760 1974: 14,696 1976: 11,620 1978: 16,879 1980: 16,364 1986: 20,113 1988: 20,869 1994: 23,109
*No surveys taken in 1982, 1984, 1990 and 1992

[The IWC will also make sure the gray-whale population is protected in any agreement it makes.]

From Seattle Times Article: The commission, established to monitor world whale populations and regulate the small whaling industry, [will agree] to a deal by the United States and Russia to allow 124 gray whales a year to be killed by native groups in the North Pacific. The understanding [is] that the Makah tribe would be allotted five per year… In recent years, Russian natives have been allowed to kill up to 140 gray whales per year, so the new quota will mean an increase in the number of groups whaling but a decrease in the number of whales killed.
…The U.S. government already has ruled that the Makah hunt will not harm the gray-whale population.
…The Makah tribe [would] be permitted to hunt in either spring or fall, as the whales pass near Cape Flattery in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary. They [would not be allowed] to kill calves or any whale accompanied by a calf, and they [would not be allowed] to sell whale meat, according to agreements between the tribe and the U.S. government.

The Makah are in a strong position [to maintain their whaling rights]… because of an 1855 treaty that specifically reserves "the right of ... whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds."… the tribe says the treaty gives it the right to hunt whales, period - regardless of [an] IWC ruling.

From Blog …The treaty rights have been upheld in recent amendments. In fact, the 1994 amendment included this statement
“Nothing in this Act including any amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 made by this Act alters or is intended to alter any treaty between the United States and one or more Indian Tribes.”

"If anyone has the right to hunt these animals, it's these people," Mr. Calambokidis adds.

Sources

Christian Science Monitor Jul 25, 1995: Indians Hope to Harpoon New Whale-Hunting Rights

Blog:

SeattleTimes Article: “Makah Whaling OK’d”