A Traditional Whale Hunt Divides Indians and Conservationists
PUBLICATION: Globe & MailDATE: Thurs 01 October 1998
ClASS: News
BYLINE: Rod Mickleburgh
DATELINE: Vancouver BC
British Columbia Bureau
With a report from Sarah Schmidt in Victoria
Confrontation looms off West Coast over whaling expedition
Vancouver Opponents of whaling from Canada and the United States converged on the choppy waters off the tip of northwest Washington yesterday in an effort to thwart the first whale hunt by Makah Indians in more than 70 years. Starting today, members of the Makah tribe have the right, sanctioned by the International Whaling Commission, to kill as many as five grey whales before the end of the year.
Even as the protesters made their way to the killing area, however, there were rumours that the Indians had jumped the gun and had gone out whaling yesterday, ahead of today's official green light. "That's what we've heard," said John Brewer, editor of the Peninsula Daily News in Port Angeles. "The law-enforcement people tell us they're out there right now."
The natives, who live along the Washington coast across the Juan de Fuca Strait from Vancouver Island, say the controversial hunt represents a return of their long-lost whaling heritage.
They plan to set out in quest of their first whale in a dugout cedar canoe, hurl a traditional harpoon into its big body, and then finish it off with multiple rounds from a powerful, .50-calibre rifle.
Antiwhaling groups are determined to do what they can to block the killing, arousing concern over potentially dangerous confrontations at sea with the natives and law-enforcement officials protecting their legal right to hunt.
"It will be quite intense on the water," said Neil Gregory of the West Coast Anti-Whaling Society as he headed off in a separate boat from Victoria harbour.
"We feel this thing is going to happen right away. It makes political sense. As time goes on, opposition will mount." The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has vowed to deploy two ships and an 11-metre mini-submarine painted like a killer whale to try to scare grey whales away from their human predators.
"We'll be trying to communicate with the whales to keep them out of the area," said Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson. He suggested that an arbitrary 400-metre protection zone imposed by the Coast Guard around the native hunters was designed only "to keep people away from witnessing an atrocity."
Although the grey whale, which draws thousands of whale watchers to the west coast of Vancouver Island during its twice-yearly migrations, is not endangered, opponents of the Makah hunt argue that it will encourage commercial hunting of other species by people with a tradition of whaling in other parts of the world.
One of those cheering on the Makah natives is Tom Happynook, a traditional whaling chief of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth group on Vancouver Island. "It brings joy to my heart to see those young men heading out there," said Mr. Happynook, whose tribe is related to the Makah.
"This is not a show. The whale is so deeply rooted in our traditions. It was the foundation of our economic system. These are traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years." He said the native hunters don't want a lot of publicity. "Their preparations are very sacred, very spiritual and very secret. We are not allowed to talk about them."
Mr. Happynook, who heads a Victoria-based organization called the World Council of Whalers, said B.C. coastal natives are also likely to resume whaling one day.
"We have the aboriginal right to hunt whales right now, but we are very patient. At the moment, there's no time frame." Mr. Happynook's grandfather took part in the last whale hunt by B.C. natives, in 1928.
John Ford, director of conservation and research at the Vancouver Aquarium, said he was concerned about the Makah hunt. Noting that the main migration of the grey whale from Alaska to the waters off Southern California does not begin until later this year, Mr. Ford said the natives may end up killing resident grey whales with distinct genetic differences.
"So, although the grey whale itself is not in danger, there is definitely a conservation concern that a subspecies may be endangered. I'm not happy about it."
Mr. Ford said the natives may have trouble bagging their whale. Grey whales weigh as much as 40 tonnes and stretch up to 15 metres in length. "They are also a very dangerous whale. Old whalers used to call them the 'devil fish.' They can be quite aggressive."
The grey is not as attractive as other whale species such as the humpback whale, with its marvellous songs, or the killer whale, which ranks high in intelligence.
Mr. Ford described the grey whale as smarter than a sackful of hammers, but not by much. "They are more like an ungulate. They are out there to eat."
TWO VIEWS
"The whale is so deeply rooted in our traditions. It was the foundation of our economic system. These are traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation for thousands of years."
-- Tom Happynook ,
a traditional whaling chief
"We do get a lot of comments from people calling us racists. I don't think it has anything to do with race. It wouldn't matter who it is; we just don't think it's right to whale."
-- Chris Hall ,
West Coast Anti-Whaling Society
REVIVING A TRADITIONAL WHALE HUNT
The Makah, a native tribe on Washington State's Olympic Peninsula, are campaigning to revive the tribe's traditional grey-whale hunt some time this month, a move fiercely opposed by some environmental groups.
West Coast migrant
The California grey whale makes an annual migration of 8,000 km from the Bering Sea, where it calves in the summer, to its winter feeding grounds off Baja California.
A modest giant
The grey whale is average sized compared with giants such as the blue and the bowhead, another species targeted by native hunters.
Migration route
Grey whales stock to shallow waters close to the coast as they make their way south. Relatively slow swimmers, they've been an easy target for whalers for centuries.
Tribal tradition
The Makah received the go-ahead from the International Whaling Commission to revive a hunt that last occurred when the grey was put on the endangered-species list in 1937.
Opponents of the hunt
The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society plans to dog the Makah whaling boats, impeding the hunters and driving off the whales. The Makah are licenced to take five grey whales this season. They'll track the giant in a traditional 12m-long cedar canoe, striking first with a ceremonial harpoon, then with multiple rounds from a .50-calibre rifle. The Sea Shepherd Society hopes to scare off greys with its submarine, Mirage, painted to look like a killer whale.
Sources: Larousse Encyclopedia of Animal Life, Sea Shepherd
Conservation Society, Tacoma News Tribune