- The Makah Indians live on the northwestern corner of the Olympic Peninsula, including Neah Bay.
- They have hunted whales there for thousands of years.
- The Makah are the only Native American people to have whaling rights explicitly granted to them (in 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay). Whaling and fishing rights were given to them in exchange for the release of most of their ancestral lands to the federal government.
- In the 1920s, American commercial fishing had decimated the gray whale population. Hunting gray whales was banned until after 1994, when they were taken off the Endangered Species List.
- In the 1970s, an ancient Makah village was unearthed in Ozette. It had been covered by a mudslide 2000 years ago. Thousands of whaling-related artifacts were discovered, and these renewed the interest of many Makah in whaling.
- The Makah Nation asked for, and was granted, a quota of 5 whales per year from the International Whaling Commission.
- In 1999, the Makah hunted their first whale in over 70 years.
- Whales taken by the Makah Nation can only be used for the tribe’s subsistence hunting. They cannot be sold.
- Killing mother whales or calves is not allowed.
- Overall, Makah whaling is governed by tribal, federal, and international law.
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| Makah whalers circa 1930, photo by Asahel Curtis |
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Posted by: Anne Accettullo
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