That quest is supported by the U.S. government and by the Treaty of Neah Bay, signed in 1855, which promises the tribe the right to go whaling in exchange for moving onto a reservation. The treaty with the Makah is the only one among all the U.S. tribes containing a whaling provision. Tribal leaders have remained steadfast in their goal of restoring whale-hunting traditions, despite a flood of opposition from around the world. The opposition, which will be the subject of Monday's stories, is diverse. It includes people who simply can't understand the desire to go whaling as well as those who believe it is morally wrong to kill any animal.
Some opponents say too few whales exist to allow more to be killed.
Others claim the Makah whale hunt slipped through a legal loophole at the International Whaling Commission, and they worry it might open the floodgates to commercial whaling worldwide. Some opponents, with their own spiritual beliefs about whales, are deeply distressed by the idea of killing an animal that seems so gentle and intelligent. Even a few tribal members have complained that the Makah Tribe no longer needs whale meat and that the spiritual path to whaling was lost years ago. If anything, the harsh opposition seems to have made the tribal leaders more determined to kill a whale. But one thing is certain.