The provision accommodates isolated native communities whose culture and food supply is tied to whale hunting - the Inuit tribes of far northern Canada and Alaska, for example. The Makah's case is much less clear. The tribe hasn't undertaken a whale hunt in 70 years. The hunters would use modern whale-killing equipment, not traditional gear. Inevitably, suspicions arise that the motivation is not entirely cultural.
Whale meat fetches top dollar in Japan, where it is considered a delicacy.
Norway and Japan are already exploiting every loophole in the whaling ban. The Clinton administration says it has to back the Makah claim, because an 1855 treaty with the tribe ensured the continuance of whaling. Critics of this policy, such as the Humane Society of the United States, argue that the treaty is superceded by obligations under the current international convention on whaling. Last February President Clinton wrote Congress, criticizing Canada's licensing of tribal groups to kill Arctic bowhead whales. The US should take care not to warrant its own criticism.