Whale Hunt Sparks Controversy

A battle between cultures is being fought in Washington state.

Correspondent Chris Legeros of CBS Affiliate KIRO-TV in Seattle reports that an anti-whaling group headed for Neah Bay, Wash., is trying to stop a controversial whale hunt by Makah Indians.

But tribal members plan to exercise their treaty right to hunt, despite an onslaught of protests by groups that want to save the whales, and they are trying to convey to the rest of the world the cultural importance of their hunt.

Beginning Thursday, the Makah Indian Nation plans to resume its age-old custom of whale hunting after a hiatus of 70 years. The Makah is the only tribe whose 19th century treaty with the U.S. government specifically preserved the right to hunt whales.

The planned tribal hunt has sparked an international outcry from animal rights groups and anti-whaling activists. On Wednesday, a fleet of protest ships headed for the waters off the Makah Indian Reservation.

The Makah won permission from the International Whaling Commission to harpoon up to five migrating gray whales per year. Their hunting season begins Oct. 1.

The Makah tribe stopped whaling in the 1920s after Caucasian hunters drove the Gray whales almost to extinction. Under federal protection, the species has rebounded so well, it was removed from the endangered species list in 1994.

Still, a number of anti-whaling groups have vowed to do whatever necessary to stop the harpoons. The militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is approaching Neah Bay with a fleet including its 173-foot flagship, a smaller surplus Coast Guard cutter, and a Norwegian-built, two-person submarine painted black and white to resemble a killer whale.

Anti-whaling groups oppose the precedent the Makah may set with a successful whale hunt. They fear aboriginal tribes around the world will seize on the "cultural" justification to resume whaling, greatly increasing pressure on the whale population.

Documentary crews from Canada, China, Germany, and Norway already have arrived in Seattle to film the controversial hunt.

"This is what we are as a people. It's so dear to our hearts. The whale hunt is passed on through songs, dances, legends. It's our culture, who we are," explains Keith Johnson of the Makah Whaling Commission.

"This is our heritage, our way of life," says tribal member Dewey Johnson. "It has been dormant for a few years. To see it coming alive again is exciting to me.

"I wish I was young. I'm too old to go out [on the whale hunt]. If I could, I would."