Meanwhile, the weather is turning stormy. The 23-member tribal whaling commission has yet to determine whether there is a need for more whale meat in Neah Bay, home to about 1,500 Makah tribal members. And no request for a tribal whaling permit has been made. Johnson has yet to find support boats for a hunt. One of the boats used in the last hunt needs repair and the other is in use in the winter whiting fishery, probably for weeks.
Money is another factor.
The tribe paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal fees and two huge parties connected with the last hunt, attended by tribes nationwide. The canoes, high-powered rifles, floats, lines, radios and other equipment paid for by the tribe are community property. But families will have to shoulder all other costs of a hunt, including any potlatch to celebrate the killing of a whale. Indeed, the switch from a tribal hunt to private hunts is expected to give the next hunt a very different texture. Some tribal members said family hunts will be easier than a community hunt because tribal members with their own family songs, dances, and traditions won't have differences to work out.