Makah Whale Hunting

I was listening to Seattle (Univerity of Washington) KUOW radio show Morning Edition and the discussion (10-11:00 am) talked about the recent plea bargain with 3 of the 5 Makah Tribal members who hunted a Gray Whale without a permit. The other two have decided, at this point, to go to trial, where if found guilty they could be sentenced to 1 year in jail and $100,000. I won't give away my view just yet.

Anyway, Danny Westneat, a regular on the radio show, talked about his column defending their right under the 1855 Treaty between the Makah Tribe and the US Government. I didn't have time to write or call into the show to respond, but I did by e-mail with Mr. Westneat.

I wrote him because Mr. Westneat appeared to put all his evidence for his view on the 1855 Treaty, which he confirmed with additional information. And while I agree the Makahs do have a right to hunt whales, it's clear those who believe this right supercedes all other rights or laws, have it wrong. Ok, why?

First, the 1855 Treaty clarifies their right as such:

"ARTICLE 4
The right of taking fish and of whaling or sealing at usual and accustomed grounds and stations is further secured to said Indians in common with all citizens of the United States, and of erecting temporary houses for the purpose of curing, together with the privilege of hunting and gathering roots and berries on open and unclaimed lands: Provided, however, That they shall not take shell-fish from any beds staked or cultivated by citizens."

Note it says, "...in common with all citizens...", meaning their right is the same as all of us except for the provision for their native hunting waters.

Second, the Makah Tribe does not own any open ocean water. Tribes only own the land on their reservation and can only manage and operate huniting on that reservations, and everything outside the reservation is under local, state or federal government jurisdiction. They don't regulate the waters where Gray Whales are, that's the province of the National Marine Fisheries Service NMFS, and Whales are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Not the Makah Tribe.

Third, the Makah Tribe stopped hunting Gray Whales about 1920 and didn't resume hunting until 1999 when they conducted a whale hunt to reconnect the Tribe's youth with "traditional" whaling practices. Except that practice had to follow the methods prescribed by the International Whale Commission, which requires the use of a 50-caliber rifle for the actual kill of any whale.

And while it can be argued they stopped hunting because of the decline in the population of Gray Whales, they didn't even try for 52 years, before the MMPA was implemented in 1972 to protect whales in US waters, and they never applied for a permit nor an exempltion, which some Alaska Tribe currently have, in the following 27 years. That's 80 between whale hunts, and far from an on-going tradition.

And lastly, when the whale hunt was announced in 1999, some in the Tribe criticized it as unnecessary since so few member ate whale meat and the rest of it was mostly unuseable for practical needs. The permit they did get for 5 whales required they use all of the whale as they did to comply with their traditional practices. One said at the time there will be a lot of whale meat and blubber in freezers for a long time.

Ok, my view? Kinda' obvious? The three youths got off easy with the plea bargain. My advice to them is take it and run. And the other two, since they want a trial, should be prosecuted and get the full sentence. Let's see the Tribe come up with $200,000 to pay the fines for a Gray Whale that sadly died as the result of their illegal act.

On the radio show Mr. Westneat said the many believe the Makah's next permit application or the exemption application should be "buried in the biggest inbox" and forgotten, or as any federal manager would say, "...pending evaluation." The Makahs can then, as they did for the 1999 whale hunt, go to federal court to speed up the process. That's their right.

And my view? I'm against whaling at any level. We need to let the whale population get back to very high numbers where the ocean is full of whales again. And we need to ensure they have the food sources to increase their numbers. It's about the health of the planet for all animals. And it's within the right of the US government to tell the Makah Tribe, if citizens can't hunt whales in US water, neither can the Makah.

But that's only my opinion.