Mr. Choi.....that's a crock and you know it. Finishing the job. They just wanted to kill a whale because they feel it's their right to do so.

I hope that all of them are tried in Federal Court and sentenced to a long prison term. It's what they deserve. The whale didn't deserve the maiming and slow, painful death that it had to endure.

I and my family was there during the whole event watching everything that went on. 18 shots where fired into the whale before the Coast Guard got there. 3 more with the Coast Guard in site. Total 21 shots. This whole thing started at about or before 9am and the Coast Guard got there after 10:30am or so. I stood next to the lady that shot the video that was aired on TV. My son saw the blood spurting out of the whale. Nothing about this killing looked anything like the Indians knew what they where doing. Just think about the danger the Indians put the fishermen in that where out there fishing for salmon. And I have to tell you that there was a whale close to shore that was very upset so you have to wonder.

This is just so sad... screw these guys.

This is just so sad... screw these guys.

There is no excuse for the cruelty of the Makah. They and other tribes celebrate a senseless death of one of God's creatures as if it were a good thing, a point of pride in thumbing their noses at the white man. The whole world is watching now. How foolish they are; don't they know this has set back peace and good relations like nothing else could have. It has loosed hatred and racism and it seems nothing but evil shall come of it, at least not while the tribes defend this reprehensible act.

There is NO reason for the tribe to be hunting whales. At the time the treaty was signed whaling was thier subsistence.

They will not eat it.. as evidenced by the last kill .. most of the meat and blubber went to waste.. very few like it.

history can be preserved by reinactments, and you would THINK the tribe would be more interested in PRESERVING the whale population for it's future generations, as a symbol of their past generations and way of life.

You can not fgo back and change history but the tribe can preseve it. Unless the tribe intends to sustend itself SOLELY on whale meat as their ancestors did.. what is the purpose of the hunt?

Cash. the sale opf the meat to oversea customers as in Japan and China.

Bottom line ALWWAYS comes back to $$$

'Tradition' has NOTHING to do with a whale hunt. Cash talks and the tribe would make good money selling those carcasses that NO ONE else is allowed to harvest.

First off the whale hunters were put up to this by the tribal chairman Ben Johnson, acting by himself without the support of the tribal councel. His plan for getting himself re-elected in two months back fired, and once it took a bad turn he turned his back and denined everything.

Secondly, If they are trying to pass on their traditions they should get their kids sober and off drugs.
Then again they really don't care enough about their people to do anything for them, they enjoy being native to see what they can get giving to them.

The 99 hunt and any other hunt has nothing to do with money or food. It is an expression of power to show that they can do what they want. Most of the tribe never got a peice of the last whale because it was given out to vistors as gifts.(read; look how important we are, you cant offer this)They wasted this one after the goverment asked them to finish the job and to tow it in. Why, bad pr? Silly for all that suffering. Remember that littering commerical where the native cries when someone throws a soda can out the window, You can tell how sensitive and caring the tribe is by the clear cutting they do to their land, the over fishing they do in the river and ocean, and the waste of this whale for political reasons. But please dont litter, unless you are a teenager throwing out a beer can as do drive drunk and kill yourselves.

As for the tribe proscuting these "poachers" ask what the local court has done about DUI's or drug dealing. The worst sentence handed out by the court has been three days in jail or a $500 fine. These guys will just get a hand shake, the tribal councel will make sure of that no matter what they say to the gullable media.
Just wait for the defered sentance.

I think whale hunting should be banned completely! Whale hunting has not been a "tradition" for a long time. And those five who killed the whale should go to prison and have a VERY large fine.

I don’t hear anything being said about the fact that this whale was a resident whale. The permit that is being challenged in the 9th Circuit District Court requires the Makah NOT to take a resident whale.

The whole issue of the Makah hunting whale again should be denied.
The treaty states: “In common with citizens of the United states” see below. How can they be allowed to whale when the average American would be thrown in jail and the keys thrown away?

Provided, also, That the exclusive right of taking fish in the streams running through and bordering said reservation is hereby secured to said Indians, and at all other usual and accustomed stations in common with citizens of the United States, and of erecting suitable buildings for curing the same; the privilege of hunting, gathering roots and berries and pasturing their stock on unclaimed lands in common with citizens, is also secured to them.

Article nine was interesting; perhaps the Makah should be worried about the drug abuse on the reservation. The monthly check could be taken away! It is obvious that the members of the reservation are uncontrollable and something should be done about it before someone is seriously hurt. Just like the dead whale. Maybe the FBI should go in there and clean up the mess.

ARTICLE 9. In order to prevent the evils of intemperance among said Indians, it is hereby provided that if any one of them shall drink liquor, or procure it for others to drink, (such one) may have his or her proportion of the annuities withheld from him or her for such time as the President may determine.

Mr. Choi,

I have a question for you that perhaps you can answer. Was the high powered boat, 50 caliber gun and the harpoons purchased with Federal Grant moneys? If so, that puts the Federal Government in the embarrassing position of bank rolling the illegal hunt! Now THAT would be a predicament for the Government.

A former friend, works there. Quite a lot of $ for work is available. I've also been told by very reliable sources that drug sources, such as "Crack Corner", are just one of the problems of their young people. I don't think we, as a nation, provide help in the manner we do outside the reservations when we have the ability to help or to work cooperatively with native tribes. Had we had a better communication going one, I feel we would not be dealing with the whale issue today.

"your question was why let it suffer?" seems almost every blog said something totally different then the asked question. the whale was property of the feds..the feds are the ones who would not allow the whale 'finished'. NOT the coast guard! C.G. job was to keep everyone away (their patrol waters). i am a makah , i love whale meat and the blubber! BUT NOT tak'en this way!

choi,
to awnser some of your peoples questions that are left hang'en. why don't you awnser is it to make people madder?...or because choi you don't know?
there was "NO" federal dollars used in this or any thing to do with the whale.
no machine gun, no 50 cal, no fishing net was used on this whale.
we eat creatures from the beach and ocean ....that i have found very few non indians will even try....that includes many orientals...but we still eat it!
we eat alot of seal meat and blubber.....whale meat is not as strong as seal. it does not reguire 2 weeks soaking and rinsing as seal meat does.
as i know there is foods all over the world i could not eat or most of you.
until you can understand what our grandpa's left us.....you people will always be looking and talking bad about makahs. what is usually called "an UNEDUCATED guess."
back in 1983? 85? the makahs were under the gun about seal hunting. back then GREEN PEACE was the main aniamal group that was against the hunting of seals.
we invited the green peace to the museum. many green peace came. we met, talked for hours , looked at the ancient seal things. when green peace left...we parted as friends...they understood and agreed. that WAS an EDUCATED MOMENT!! what became of the GREEN PEACE people who came to makah?

This is sick beon sick you know the other whale was it's mate and it had to listen to it's mate scream and cry in pain for 8 hour's How can anyone justified what this guy's did and for the rest of the tribe saying they back them how ashamed they out to be I thought the tribe's were to worship the animal's that feed them that was not worship that was murder in the worst way

I watched in horror Saturday something I thought I would never see,INDIANS killing a precious whale. I watch the saga unfold & listen to the TRIBE denounce the act. I came to the conclusion that the TRIBE is the entity who has promoted this barbaric Neanderthol consciousness for generations, so why isn't the TRIBE responsable as well? Let's pretend we are only a part of the TRIBE if we are good, when we are bad, we are not TRIBAL!!!!! It is like robbing a bank, if you were a part of the party promoting the act you are as guilty as those caught with the money in their hands. The whole TRIBE needs to step up to the plate & take real responsability for their ludicrous inhumane teachings & behaviors as they have all earned the punishment for encouraging to kill protected endangered species. No matter what the TREATY says, WRONG is WRONG, even a child knows that. The whole TRIBE needs to pay for this not just a few stupid idiots who honestly believed what they have been taught by the Makah's alienated rights & customs set down in a TREATY now broken by the Makah TRIBAL members. Dead fish in abandonded nets on rivers, killing deer & elk on private properties no season no permitting, take horns & leave the animal to rot, steal out of private crab traps & oyster beds, fireworks that kill innocent children every year, casinos that breed diseases of acholoism & gambling, & the best part, they contribute NOTHING to our society in general, a selfish type of pack dog. I am part indian & I have the good sense God gave me to know that what has happened here & unfolding all around us is, indians behaving out of control & the beginning of thier real demise. Long over due.

To answer the question on why the whale was left so long to die without putting it out of its misery. Mr. Gorman said that the feds were waiting to make sure the animal was terminal before euthanizing it. The whale sank before they could end its agony

What is the State government doing about this illegal hunt? Why aren’t the Feds doing something? This was NOT a tribal matter; this was a Federal matter in Washington State waters. They broke Federal and International law. Something should be done, I for one will be watching the law makers closely, there is an election looming in the future and I will not vote for anyone that sides with the Makah.

And to the poster who said no Federal dollars were spent on the hunt. Last time over $450,000 was spent on the hunt and the whale rotted on the beach, some was left in freezers and it ruined, no one ate it. Some say it is their treaty right; it was a 150 years ago, times change, circumstances change, and the oceans have changed. There are very few whales in the oceans, why kill off what little are left. Traditions change with the times, the Makah will have to change or like the whales become extinct because they will not evolve along with the other peoples of the earth.

Actually, a study was done in 2000 by CAGW on the taxpayer cost of this ongoing fiasco...

They concluded that well over $5 million of taxpayer money had been spent to date. And that was as of eight years ago.

It is undeniable that taxpayer dollars have funded the hunt.

If the Makah Council didn’t know about the hunt, surely the Makah whaling commission did. Andy Noel one of the five whalers is a Makah whaling commissioner! I doubt seriously that the whalers will be punished. The whole thing was a set up it flies in the face of NOAA.

The whaling commission, and some tribal council members, are furiously backpedaling today. The article is on the Seattle Times website.

This statement proves this hunt was set up all along. And yet our elected representatives do nothing, I and many others have written to our representatives with no response. Come election time perhaps we will have no response.
Keith Johnson, President of the Makah Whaling Commission said, the hunt can be looked as "a signal to the U.S. government, I am saying we need to have this expedited, or looked at with more seriousness in terms of our treaty right to hunt whale."

The only punishment these waste of humans will get will be 2 weeks without drinking privileges.

These elders of the sea, deserve respect and peace. They deserve to not be harrased by whale watchers too close to them or ANY TRIBE KILLING THEM.
After the last legal hunt my daughter a student in the N. Kitsap school district was encouraged to "try" a taste of the blubber AT SCHOOL! (without parental knowledge or consent). Fortunatly, she had been to the Bahamas with me the year before and had swam with the wild dolphins. She had been to Oregon to meet Keiko and was startled when he swam the length of his tank and looked at both of us....right in the eye! It is a discrace to kill these creatures and no one will truly be punished for this gross killing. We, as a people, must band together and stop these tortures. I agree with all the blogs that say these are painful to the whale. It should be painful, to those who agree on killing them. I pray the whale left to Davey Jones Locker, will serve as the LAST whale to be brutally killed, in my life.

There will never be any justice for the whale or Washington State citizens.

Members of the Makah Tribal Council have discussed meeting to consider "contingency plans" if federal charges are filed against five tribal members who fatally harpooned and shot a gray whale. The Makah have said that the whalers will be prosecuted by the tribal court,

On Monday, it was reported that the Tribal Council members planned to have a conference call.

But Tuesday, the council did not meet, and there was no major conference call, said Ben Johnson Jr., Makah tribal chairman, although some council members talked with each other

Micah McCarty said on Tuesday of this week that the council may meet at a later date.

According to the Makah constitution and bylaws, criminal charges are filed by complaint.

Which means that a law enforcement officer, in conjunction with the prosecutor, submits to a judge a report which details the crimes alleged to have been committed?

The report includes evidence to establish probable cause that the crimes occurred.

A complaint had not been filed as of Tuesday, Ben Johnson Jr. tribal chairman said.

So the "Pay per view Injuns" are at it again. I am of Native American, Native Alaskan, European, Hispanic, & Native Hawaiian descent. I have been raised around all of my "religions". We are all taught not to take any more than you need, to not kill for pleasure or sport, never waste, to always give thanks to the animal that you have taken the life of to sustain yourself. I remember hunting with my step-father, he wounded a deer & we tracked through that forest for almost 3 days til we found the buck & my step-dad sat down with him & cried so hard that I thought his heart would explode, he then talked to it & told him that he couldn't just leave him injured & that his family was hungry & that he would not let so much as a single tooth of his go to waste. with that he fired a single shot & laid with him for hours still crying. Still makes me cry now 25 yrs later. There is no Tribe in this area or anywhere in our Nations that agree with what has happened, but are afraid to speak out as they feel it will throw the treaty rights they trying to get back a hundred years in time. So they are silent... so they are also guilty. They have paid & will continue to pay for thier crimes, shortly after the first whale kill, & that whale sat on the beach & rotted... they started having a record number of still births & miscarriages, all the elders whisper of the "curse" they've brought, but the youngsters don't listen, they don't care. Did anyone else but me find it interesting that shortly after they got themselves on TV for the whale hunt sham they announced they we're going to open up a new casino???? That's why I called them "the pay per view injuns" Oh & a very "Traditional" whale hunt it was. Yes the elders also had power boats & high powered rifles, yep just check your history... DUH!!!! Okay if they wanted to be so traditional & teach their young men, then why couldn't they have had a "Mock whale hunt"??? Because it had nothing to do with whales... It was free advertising. The PPV injuns will destroy themselves in time, they are already hard at work on it right now. This was also a whale that they knew personally, (this was that whale's home) that thier ancestors knew, maybe 2 or 3 generations back. They killed a friend, they killed a family member. I can honestly say I will enjoy watching thier decline as it will be a lesson for my family, myself & many other tribes for future generations to come.

Does anyone know if a defense fund for the Makah five has been put together? I'd love to contribute. Seriously.