For the first time in 25 years, the Makah Tribe of Neah Bay will once again be allowed to hunt the Eastern Pacific Gray Whale.

The tribe, which is located in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula, has the only treaty in the US that explicitly includes the right to hunt whales for cultural and sustenance purposes.

But, in the past 90 years, they have only been allowed to exercise that right once, in 1999, when tribal members harpooned a whale. 

The ceremony was controversial: there were threats of violence, protestors on boats tried to stop the hunt. At vigils, activists held signs that said “Save the whales, kill a Makah.”

It also sparked decades of court battles, scientific reviews, and bureaucracy.

Now, following the 2021 recommendation of a judge to grant the Makah a waiver, the  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as NOAA, has authorized a return of whaling.

Guest:

• Makah Tribal Council Chairman Timothy J. Greene Sr

Relevant Links:

• KNKX: https://www.knkx.org/makah-tribe-waiver-noaa-whale-hunt-marine-mammal-act-washington
• The New York Times: 

  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/13/us/makah-whales-hunting-noaa.html 

• NOAA: https://www.noaa.gov/news-release/noaa-fisheries-authorizes-makah-tribe-to-resume-gray-whale-hunt