I’d like to make an ecological argument for the Makah Nation. I know I'm not a part of the tribe, I'm not Native American in any way, but I still want to see some justice for these indigenous peoples. Digging deep into government files and documents sometimes leads you down rabbit holes that you can't believe exist.

By the 1920s, the Makah people voluntarily gave up whaling as an attempt to slow the rate of extinction the grey whales were headed for. They understood the importance and significance of saving the species enough to give up a tradition and custom that had been done for thousands of years.

We only started to see a decrease in whale populations after commercial whaling took hold on the west coast.

The Makah people were aware of the environmental impact that significant whaling had on the environment and even though they had signed the Treaty of Neah Bay which allowed them to continue to take whales, they gave it up to save the gray whale population.

Only after the numbers had risen to stable levels did they request to resume their cultural tradition.

In an essay from Dr. Ann Renhker (Ph.D. in anthropology from The American University in Washington, D.C in 1987), she says,

“Many people believe that the Makah whale hunt will cause other native people in the United States to hunt whales, too. In fact, the Makah Tribe is the only tribe in the country with a treaty right to hunt whales; the United States will not support any other tribe's request for support for this reason.”

On June 8, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that federal permission given to the Makah tribe to resume hunting whales did not properly address the environmental concerns surrounding the hunt. The initial environmental impact study concerning the whale hunt concluded that the Makah quota of 20 whales over five years would not risk the gray whale population, currently estimated at over 26,000.

Seeing through their whaling efforts would not have a significant ecological impact, so why shouldn’t we let them hunt once again?

They’ve also proven to be responsible and compliant when disciplining those who don’t follow the law.

In September of 2007, five members of the Makah tribe shot a gray whale using a .460 caliber rifle, similar to that used in hunting elephants, despite court-imposed regulations governing the Makah hunt. The whale died within 12 hours, sinking while heading out to sea after being confiscated and cut loose by the United States Coast Guard. The tribal council denounced the killing and announced their intention to try the individuals in tribal court.

Biologist Bruce Mate of the Hatfield Marine Science Center has documented 65 gray whales found dead along the shorelines of Mexico, California, and Oregon the past winter of 1998. Whatever has been killing these whales should be of far greater concern to us than the single whale taken by the Makah. If we are worried about the gray whales, we should support Mate and others in discovering the causes of these deaths. We can rest assured that the Makah will use the products of their whale responsibly, to nurture their bodies and souls, to honor the memory of their ancestors, and to educate the rest of us about their unique culture.

I like to consider myself an advocate for sea life and I don’t want to see the depletion of the beautiful life living under the waves but the rate at which the Makah people take whales is never going to be enough to move gray whales to extinction. They whaled for thousands of years before this and never had problems with lowering the population because of it.

We have stripped these people of customs and practices that have been in place for thousands of years. Long before white men forced them from their lands and took over their whaling practices. They hinted them to the brink of extinction while the Makah people could only watch. This may be only one side of a multi-faceted argument, but it's enough to get people thinking about why we’ve oppressed these people and prevented them from practicing their customs.