It was a frustrating day for the PAWS members and supporters who had worked hard over the past several years to prevent any hunt from taking place. Anderson has led the PAWS campaign against the proposed hunt since first learning of the Makah intentions five years ago. Since the hunt, everything that Anderson had predicted and feared has come true. Delegations from Norway and Japan have used the hunt to press their own claims to the International Whaling Commission to resume commercial whaling. Native tribes on Vancouver Island have begun using the hunt as fodder for their own proposed attempts to hunt gray whales.
Misinformation continues to swirl around the whale hunt.
On the following pages Anderson answers many of the most common questions. US court decisions have affirmed the treaty rights. PAWS and most other whale protection organizations acknowledge the treaty language but hold that exercising these rights is inappropriate. Though the treaties of the Quileute, Klallam, Hoh, Quinault and possibly others do not specifically mention whaling, there is broad language stating that they have the right to hunt and fish in their accustomed manner and places much as their ancestors did in pre-treaty times. This sweeping language has been liberally and consistently interpreted by the courts.