"After a decades-long struggle, a Native American tribe won the right to resume its hunting traditions off Washington state's coast when federal regulators granted a waiver on Thursday allowing the Makah people to hunt up to 25 gray whales over a decade.

As part of its 1855 treaty with the U.S. government, the Makah Tribe secured the right to continue hunting whales, a tradition it describes as at the heart of their spiritual beliefs and practices. But the practice was stymied by 20th-century conservation measures.

In 2002, a federal court ruled that the tribe must secure a waiver of a moratorium on whale hunting under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.

On Thursday, after decades of litigation, environmental reviews, criminal prosecutions of tribal hunters, public meetings and discussions with federal authorities and the International Whaling Commission, the U.S. government granted the waiver."

Jonathan Allen reports for Reuters June 13, 2024. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Makah Tribal Whale Hunt Chronology" (NOAA Fisheries) [3]

"Washington’s Makah Tribe Could Once Again Harpoon Whales As US Waives Conservation Law" (AP) [4]