Two centuries ago, gray whales migrating north past Neah Bay met with the
harpoons of Makah whalers. Some of these wounded whales escaped; many others
died in a sea of blood and agony, some dragging the boats of their killers
for more than two days. The killing was a tradition. The flesh of the gray
whale provided the Makahs sustenance; it made them a rich, prosperous
people. Over time, the gray whale's numbers dwindled. Then, for many
decades, the killing stopped.
But in 1994, the Makah Tribal Council of Cape Flattery announced their
desire to resume the killing of these whales. The tribal council,
irrespectful of the wishes of tribal elders who oppose this hunt, assert
that the Isaac Stevens Treaty of 1855 preserves the tribe's right to hunt
and sell whales. The Tribal Council, repressing the opposition of their
matralineal elders, claim that a hunt will revitalize their culture; that it
will abolish poverty and crime on their reservations; that it will bring
their people forward in self-dignity.
The Council is wrong. Killing can never bring any culture forward. Instead,
the Makah tribal Council will lead their people in setting a new precedent
that will further imperil whales and other marine mammals across the entire
globe.
The Stevens Treaty may technically preserve the right of the Makah people to
kill whales. But this treaty was written in a different time, far removed
from the reality of contemporary conservation ethics. As tribal officers
have asserted, traditional hunting will inevitably lead the Makah to begin
commercial hunting once again. Trading the flesh of the whale was a central
part of what once made the Makah prosperous. If it is poverty that the Makah
seek to dispel, then it is likely that they will sell the whale meat to the
Japanese, or other nations who will pay $500,000 to $1,000,000 for one gray
whale. Makah officers Dave Sones and Dan Green have stated that they
consider commercial harvests a protected right.
Yet ironically, the 1855 treaty that preserves this right also implicitly
prevents the Makahs from trading with foreign nations. If the Makah people
do begin a commercial trade in whale meat, they would be breaking the treaty
that they assert gives them the right to kill the gray whale.
The Stevens Treaty also bars the Makahs from infringing on "properties"
held by other citizens of the United States. Arguably, gray whales
attacked by the Makah will eventually avoid the Olympic Coast, shattering
a growing, educational and symbiotic whale watching industry in that
region. Other kinds of whales have responded in this fashion -- orcas are
almost never observed in areas from which they were netted and killed less
than two decades ago. A hunt that could imperil eco-tourism, hospitality
and whale watching industries is clearly an infringement on citizen's
rights, as prevented in the Stevens Treaty.
From a pragmatic standpoint, tradition will not be salvaged by whaling
with contemporary methods, which under International Whaling Commission
protocols, must be adopted if the Makah plan on resuming a whale hunt
under aboriginal exemptions. From a political perspective, recommencement
of Makah whaling will also undermine the United State's credibility in
front of the International Whaling Commission as a nation firmly opposed
to commercial whaling. After decades of global efforts and painstaking
progress against illegal and commercial whaling, the Makah people, who
live a modern lifestyle three hours outside of cosmopolitan Seattle, will
effectively diminish US leadership role on the world stage.
Revitalizing an archaic, unecessary whaling culture will not benefit the
Makah people; it will surround them with negative publicity and
persistent, vocal protests by the growing number of whale advocates and
environmentalists worldwide. After 70 years, whaling is no longer a part
of Makah culture. It is a regressive, unrespectful act that demeans the
value of an species that has played such a pivotal role in the evolution
of their people. The act of ritual killing can never bring any culture
forward in social, nor traditional evolution.
In the seas, whales face somber threats from technology; acoustic assaults
from oil and mineral exploration and global warming studies, food
depletion from overfishing, marine pollution and pirate whaling nations
using high-tech explosive harpoons. Sadly now, the proclaimed "people of
the whale" -- those who would be considered their guardians, are going to
be the sole North American people who are permitted to kill whales. There
is strong, sad irony here.
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and our membership throughout the
world urge the Makah and Nootka Tribal managers to hear the wisdom of their
own elders and to respect the changing world which the gray whale, the orca
and the humpback whales now face, and as the ultimate symbol of
understanding and kinship, to spare them from facing Northwest tribal
harpoons once again.
Do not let the voice of the gray whale become silent once more.
Michael Kundu, Pacific Northwest Coordinator
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
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Comments from NativeNet listowner, Gary Trujillo (gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us):
There was an article on this subject posted by Susan Clark of the Voice of
America radio service (susan_storer_clark@neb.voa.gov) on 27 June entitled
"Voice of America request for whaling story interview" in which Susan asked
for information for a story she was preparing for broadcast at that time.
I attached the following comments to Susan's article:
There was an interview aired on this subject, lasting about five minutes,
on Tuesday, 26 June, on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's nightly
"As It Happens" program. Host Michael Enwright interviewed one of two
Makah elders who were flown to the International Whaling Commission (IWC)
meeting in Aberdeen by an anti-whaling group to speak to the meeting about
their opposition to the request made by others in their own communities to
be permitted to kill the five whales annually. The name of the elder who
was interviewed is something like Dottie Shamblin (that's what it sounded
like over the air - but sometimes it's difficult for me to make things
out, since I listen via the CBC shortwave service ("Radio Canada
International"). The other elder was, I believe, Roberta Thompson.
The points made during the interview included that the killing of the
whales was not right because it was not to be done in the traditional
way, which the elder stressed is a spiritual event, with many prayers
offered and apologies for the taking of life - and every bit of the
animals were used, which is not the modern practice. Also, the old
ways employed harpoons, which is not how the people making application
to the IWC intend to take the whales. The traditional use of the whale
parts was for subsistence, whereas there is a feeling that one important
motivation of those among the Makah who want to kill the whales involves
a selling of the parts of the animals for economic gain.