Washington state’s Makah tribe clears major hurdle toward resuming whale hunts

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — The United States has granted the Makah Indian Tribe in Washington state a long-sought waiver that helps clear the way for its first sanctioned whale hunts since 1999. The Makah is a tribe of 1,500 people on the northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula and is the only American Indian tribe with a treaty that specifically mentions a right to hunt whales. But it has faced more than two decades of court challenges, bureaucratic hearings and scientific review as it seeks to resume hunting for gray whales. Thursday’s decision would allow the tribe to hunt up to 25 Eastern North Pacific gray whales over 10 years.