The Makah Tribe has made an application to harvest a grey whale in accordance with their treaty rights. If successful, they could be carrying out a traditional hunt in just a few weeks.
According to the Makah Tribe website, they have explicitly reserved their right to hunt whales in the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay. The Treaty, between the Makah Tribe and the United States, expressly provides the tribe the right to hunt whales.
In 1920 the Makah voluntarily paused their right to hunt whales when the commercial whaling industry overharvested some species to the point of near extinction. The situation prompted a national moratorium on whaling that remains in place to this day.
In the past century, conservations efforts have seen the Eastern Pacific grey whale population rebound to a healthier number. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Eastern Pacific grey whale population is between 17,400 and 21,300. It was removed from the US endangered species list in 1994.
According to the NOAA website, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals specified the process the tribe must follow in order to exercise their whale harvest right, including seeking a waiver of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and obtaining the necessary permits from NOAA Fisheries. Both NOAA Fisheries and the tribe are following this process, which is expected to be completed this spring.
Whaling and whales are central to Makah (and Nuu-chah-nulth) culture. According to information found on the Makah Tribe website, the event of a whale hunt requires rituals and ceremonies which are deeply spiritual. The Makah’s whale hunting culture is older than the United States of America by more than 1,000 years.
“For the Makah Tribe, whale hunting provides a purpose and a discipline which benefits their entire community,” reads the website. “It is so important to the Makah, that in 1855 when the Makah ceded thousands of acres of land to the government of the United States, they explicitly reserved their right to whale within the Treaty of Neah Bay.”
The Makah Tribe resumed whale hunting under international and domestic law, and on May 17, 1999 harvested their first gray whale in nearly 80 years. At that time the Tribe had the support of the US government and the International Whaling Commission.
While the hunt drew protests and threats from outside the Makah’s main village, their Nuu-chah-nulth neighbors to the north took part in the jubilation at a Makah Tribe celebration feast.
Five days after the hunt the Makah hosted more than 3,000 guests at their Back to Tradition feast. Their guests included their Nuu-chah-nulth brothers and sisters from Vancouver Island and other guests from places as far away as Alaska and Fiji.
At that time, Wayne Johnson, who was part of the Makah whaling crew, described how difficult protestors and hovering news crews made the hunt. Following the death of the whale, he said there were helicopters and watercrafts hovering around as the crew attempted important cultural work that, in effect, thanked the whale for giving its life.
Their work wasn’t complete until they towed the whale back to the beach and when they reached shore, the people let out a cheer.
“Some people have criticized us for this celebration, saying that it should have been a somber event and that we should have mourned the whale the way they imagine proper. I am so tired of Paul Watson’s crew and the long line of missionaries and government agents that preceded them – pushing their cultural values on Makah. People telling us how and how not be Makah,” Johnson wrote in Ha-Shilth-Sa Newspaper back in 1999, referencing the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society that Paul Watson founded.
“My grandfather was proud to be a whaler and so am I,” Johnson declared.
For most people at the feast, it was their first taste of whale meat. For many, it will likely be their last.
In 2002 a federal court ruled that the Makah Tribe now requires a waiver under the existing moratorium to resume their traditional whale hunt.
In September 2007, a crew of five Makah people took part in a whale hunt that was illegal under US law. They were caught and the whale they attempted to harvest was confiscated by the Unites States Coast Guard. It died from its injuries hours later while being brought back to sea. It sank beneath the ocean’s surface, the resources it could have provided going to waste.
According to an April 2019 report in the Ha-Shilth-Sa, the Makah Tribal Council denounced this hunt, announcing its intention to try the individuals in tribal court. Two served jail time.
The International Whaling Commission (IWC) is charged with the conservation of whales and the management of whaling under the 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW).
From 1998 to the present, the IWC has approved five separate multi-year Aboriginal Subsistence Whaling catch limits for hunting gray whales based on joint requests from the United States (Makah Tribe) and the Russian Federation (Chukotka Natives).
According to International Whaling Commission rules, the harvest quota of grey whales is shared between the Makah Tribe and Russia. The unused portion of the Makah tribe’s quota, which is an average of four whales up to a maximum of five per year, could go to Russia.
“Either country may yield their share of the quota to the other if it is unused,” states the NOAA. “Consequently, regardless of whether the Makah hunt goes forward, the overall number of ENP whales taken under the IWC catch allowance is unlikely to be significantly affected.”
Acting on a February 2005 request from the Makah Indian Tribe for a limited grey whale harvest under the Marine Mammal Protection Act moratorium, NOAA Fisheries proposed a waiver and regulations, as well as a hearing and how interested parties can participate.
On June 13, 2024 NOAA Fisheries announced its final decision granting a waiver to the Makah Tribe to allow a limited subsistence and ceremonial hunt of Eastern North Pacific gray whales. NOAA Fisheries also set out regulations to govern the issuance of hunt permits and the hunt itself.
A detailed description of how the hunt will proceed requires that the initial approach to the whale be made in a traditional dugout canoe carrying a harpoon person. Support boats will be available to carry a Makah member bearing a high-power rifle to humanely dispatch the whale.
“The use of modern technologies (e.g., support vessel, rifle) will help ensure that the hunt is humane by reducing the time to death over using traditional measures,” reads a statement from a NOAA report.
Further, the hunt is to take place outside the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Effective June 18, 2024, NOAA has stated that they, along with the National Marine Fisheries Service, would waive the Marine Mammal Protection Act moratorium for the Makah Tribe. This would enable the tribe to conduct a limited ceremonial and subsistence hunt of up to 25 Eastern North Pacific gray whales over a 10-year period in accordance with the Treaty of Neah Bay of 1855.
If a permit is approved, Makah intends to begin the hunt by the end of July 2025.
