Makah Tribe's Fight to Reclaim Their Whaling Tradition
Bianca Crainiceanu
Makah Tribe's Fight to Reclaim Their Whaling Tradition
Junior Individual Website
Word Count: 1144
Multimedia: 0:00
("Makah Whalers in Canoe with Sail Towing a Whale," 1915, Curtis)
"Makah whaling is not a form of resource extraction like Japanese commercial whaling. It is a part of the cycle of life for the Makah and their relatives, the gray whales. The Makah believe the spirits of the whales they hunt enter them and through them enter the human world."
~ (Makah one step closer to hunting whales: Animal rights extremists continue to oppose it)
Thesis:
The Makah tribe regained the right to whale from the International Whaling Committee(IWC) in 1998 through diplomatic exchange and debate between the Makah Tribe, conservation groups, Congress members, and the countries part of the IWC. As the Makah fought to reclaim their culture, they set a precedent for diplomacy between Native American groups and the US government.
"The gory drama in Moby Dick cannot be repeated in the 20th century.”
~ Jack Metcalf (House of Representatives - March 27, 1998)
("Gentle and Strong – the Pacific Gray Whale," 2019, Wynns)
Background image:("Cutting up a whale on the beach at Neah Bay.," 1910-1932, Makah Cultural and Research Center)