by Stella Sun, KOMO News ReporterTue, March 18th 2025 at 6:09 PM
Updated Wed, March 19th 2025 at 9:35 AM
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FILE – Two Makah Indian whalers stand atop the carcass of a dead gray whale moments after helping tow it close to shore in the harbor at Neah Bay, Wash., May 17, 1999. Earlier in the day, Makah Indians hunted and killed the whale in their first successful hunt since voluntarily quitting whaling over 70 years earlier. The United States on Thursday, June 13, 2024 granted the Makah Indian Tribe in Washington state a long-sought waiver that helps clear the way for its first sanctioned whale hunts since 1999. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
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WASHINGTON STATE — After more than a quarter century, the Makah Tribe in Neah Bay is looking to hunt gray whales in the coming months. The Tribe submitted an application on Tuesday to hunt the marine mammals from July to October.
For the Makah Tribe, hunting whales is tradition. The tribal council submitted an application for a hunt under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries. The federal regulator is seeking public comment on the Makah Tribe’s permit application for a limited hunt for eastern North Pacific gray whales for ceremonial and subsistence purposes.
“The Makah tribe, through the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, reserved rights of whaling and sealing. That’s been a practice that has gone on for millennia,” Timothy Greene, the Makah Tribal Council Chairman, said.
The Makah are the only tribe with a treaty with the U.S. that specifically mentioned the right to hunt whales.
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1999 was the last time the Makah people practiced what they call a cultural ceremony.
“It was just a wonderful time for our community, revitalized a lot of our cultural and spiritual practices and changed lives for people, Greene said.
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The hunting permit submission comes after more than two decades of legal challenges. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act forbids harming marine mammals. In June 2024, the tribe cleared a major hurdle, the feds approving the tribe’s request for a waiver to hunt gray whales.
“There’s a whole generation that hasn’t been able to undertake this activity and participate in those ceremonies and celebrate their culture around our whaling tradition,” Greene said.
NOAA Fisheries is reviewing the submission. If approved, members can hunt two or three Eastern North Pacific Gray Whales a year, or 25 total over a decade.
“We understand that [some] people are opposed to those types of activities. We’re not a threat to this whale population. We want to make sure that it’s healthy and thriving just as they do,” Greene said.
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Animal rights advocates, who have long opposed whaling, could also challenge NOAA’s decision in court. DJ Schubert, a senior wildlife biologist with the Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute, has previously told KOMO News his organization would object to the issuance of the hunting permit but likely wait until final approvals are given before deciding whether to sue.
Exposing the Big Game 
The Makah Tribe needs to get over themselves.