Makah money for whale hunts dries up Tribal leaders want families to bankroll traditional hunts

Associated Press

NEAH BAY, Wash. _ Local protesters have already held rallies near here to affirm their opposition to gray-whale hunts by the Makah Tribe, but it seems other priorities may keep the whaling canoes beached this spring.

The gray whales are now passing the reservation at the tip of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, headed for summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea after wintering off Mexico.

For the Makah, who harpooned their first whale in 70 years in May 1999, the migration renews thoughts of a hunt.

But there may not be one. No whaling permits have been issued by the tribe this year.

Makah council leaders have slashed funding for the hunts, citing more pressing needs. And the federal government has no plans to help finance another hunt.

The 1999 hunt was bankrolled by the government and the council. The meat was shared with tribal members, and offered at a celebration potlatch.

But that communal hunt, with members of multiple families in one whaling canoe, was a ceremonial first. From now on, individual families will conduct -- and finance -- the hunts, following centuries-old tradition.

The dwindling council support is a concern to some Makah.

"We are fighting our own people," said senior tribal member Helma Ward, 83.

The current council wants to ensure protection of Makah whaling rights, guaranteed in the tribe's 1855 treaty. But whaling itself is not a priority.

"That is the big difference," said David Lawrence, the council member handling the issue.

The change is a return to tradition, he said.

"This is the way it was. Families put themselves in the position to do this. They paid for it, they equipped themselves, that was the tradition."

Council members don't even like to talk about whaling, which caused a furor in 1998-99, with protesters and media descending on the tribe's remote reservation.

The tribe moved to resume the hunts in 1994, after the gray whale was taken off the endangered species list. The population now is believed to exceed historic levels.

In 1998, as the tribe prepared for the hunt, the council shelled out about $50,000 for a potlatch to celebrate the restored treaty right. Thousands were spent on high-caliber weapons and other whaling equipment, boat fuel, maintenance and repairs.

The federal government has contributed $360,000 since 1996, though nothing was spent on the actual hunt, said spokesman Brian Gorman with the National Marine Fisheries Service. The money was used to send Makah delegations to International Whaling Commission meetings in Monaco, Dublin, and London, to determine a humane killing method, to monitor the '99 hunt and to hire a tribal biologist.

The federal government gave the tribe $25,000 in March to help send a delegation to the upcoming IWC meeting in Japan, but no other aid is contemplated, Gorman said.

The withdrawal of financial support, especially by the council, has stung whalers.

"This is a treaty right, and it should be supported with tribal dollars," said Keith Johnson, president of the whaling commission and a former council member.

After years of court battles with anti-whaling activists, federal restrictions on when and where whalers can hunt have been largely lifted. But a federal lawsuit is still pending and the plaintiffs -- the Fund for Animals, Humane Society of the United States and others -- filed a request Monday for a temporary restraining order to block the hunt, citing irreparable harm to the whales.

-- Anonymous, April 16, 2002

Answers

An article over at Timebomb that the gray whale population is in pretty bad shape:

http://66.191.143.250/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=27790

[snip] In recent years, the Arctic Native hunters have also noticed that gray whales have become extremely skinny. The meat of some freshly killed whales smells rancid, ``like medicine,'' said 28-year- old hunter Maxim Agnagisyak. The sled dogs won't eat it.

Scientists are beginning to analyze samples of whale blubber from the region to seek an explanation. For several years, record numbers of gray whales have washed up dead and emaciated as they migrate to their winter calving grounds in Baja California. [snip]

-- Anonymous, April 17, 2002