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US Indian tribe kills first gray whale in 70 years

By Vanessa McGrady, Reuters, 05/17/99

NEAH BAY, Wash. - Makah Indians killed their first gray whale in more than 70 years Monday, using hand-thrown harpoons and a large-caliber rifle to successfully conclude a weeklong hunt aimed at reinvigorating cultural traditions.

Shortly after dawn, members of the Makah whaling team in a hand-carved cedar canoe paddled up to a whale in the Pacific Ocean off the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and began the kill by throwing an 11-foot harpoon.

Television pictures showed a tribal motorboat circling the wounded beast and another member of the hunting party firing at least one shot from a .50-caliber rifle.

Makah leaders were planning a traditional ceremony to celebrate the kill once they get the carcass to shore. The whaling team then will butcher the whale and distribute meat and blubber to tribal members.

"May 17 will go down in history as one of the greatest days for the Makah,'' tribal council Chairman Ben Johnson said in a statement.

Under a quota granted by the International Whaling Commission in 1997, the tribe has the right to kill up to 20 whales over five years. Johnson stressed that the tribe's right to hunt whales was guaranteed by a treaty signed with the U.S. government in 1855.

Environmental activists, who had tried hard to disrupt the hunt, were outraged by the kill.

"There is nothing traditional about what they're doing out there,'' said Paul Watson president of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. "I think their ancestors would certainly be ashamed of what they're doing.''

The society's 95-foot former Coast Guard cutter Sirenian was one of the few anti-whaling boats left on the water. Over the weekend the Coast Guard confiscated four boats operated by environmental activists and cited their operators with unsafe boating or violating the Marine Mammal Act, Petty Officer Jay Bigelow said.

The latest hunt began May 10 as the whales clustered off the coast in their spring migration north. Tribal members managed to harpoon a whale for the first time Saturday but failed to wound it seriously. Local authorities arrested two activists who attempted to get between the hunters and the whales.

Johnson, who was in Grenada for a meeting of the International Whaling Commission, said he was thankful there were no injuries in the tense atmosphere of the hunt.

"We recognize that because of differences in cultural values and knowledge many people do not understand our need to continue with the tradition of whale hunting, thus creating a conflict between them and the Makah,'' he said.

Johnson also said the Makah appreciated the support of other Northwest Indian tribes, many of whom sent contingents to help with the hunt.

The Makah tried to land a whale during last fall's migration but called off the hunt after several weeks due to deteriorating weather conditions.