The struggle of a marginalized community for ethnic renewal: the whale hunters of Neah Bay

The Makah Indian Tribe is a federally recognized tribe located in the US state of Washington. The whale is deeply embedded in Makah culture, and many believe that resuming the whale hunt could have extensive implications for Makah cultural survival. Makahs were compelled to take a hiatus from the whale hunt in the 1920s to protect future access to this invaluable provider of culture, spirituality, and health. During this hiatus, the mainstream Eurocentric value of the whale evolved from that of a commodity to a sentient being worthy of protection from any harm. I used one-on-one in-depth interviews, a focus group interview, and participant observation to examine the Makahs’ struggle to resume the hunt. I argue that the whale hunt represents the Makahs’ continued fight for ethnic renewal through exercising political and cultural sovereignty and through cultural reconstruction. In addition, I argue that the normalization of the whale as an animal with an intrinsic right to life and the way many Makahs have experienced the discursive framing of the whale hunt as barbaric and primitive have served to sustain ongoing colonialism and racism.