There are approximately 1500 people in the Makah tribe. To the Makah, family, nature and their history and culture are extremely important. In their communities, there live many talented artists who use their skills to portray animals, including whales, salmon, ravens, eagles and wolves that are important to their culture. Woodworkers make carvings of these animals tell stories from the tribe’s past from the trees that surround the tribe. (Makah Tribe Info)
The Makah tribe has been hunting gray whales for over two thousand years. Most recently, the tribe’s hunting of the gray whales was picked back up since May 17, 1999 under international and domestic laws. Seventy years had passed since the last hunt. The hunting of the gray whales gives oils, meats, bones and sinew. The tradition is a large part of the Makah tradition and include ceremonies and rituals that include songs, dances, designs and basketry. The importance of the tradition is so grand that in 1855 the Treaty of Neah Bay granted the Makah the right whale in exchange for…show more content… The gray whale in the Western North Pacific never recovered and is listed as endangered. All marine mammals are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. (Gray Whale (Eschrichtius robustus))
A party involved in this case is the Makah tribe as a whole, but especially the young men and elders in the tribe. Also, the gray whales, the environmental groups protecting the gray whales and the ecology in its entirety. The Makah tribe has fulfilled its duty to obey the laws regardless of the effect it had on the tribe’s traditions. While hunting gray whales provide food for the tribe and is able to restore the young men’s sense of discipline and pride in their traditions, (Ruggiero, pg 63) the tribe still held out on hunting for seventy years due to the decrease in numbers of gray whales and in correlation with the laws. (Makah Whaling and Whale