NWIN Program 12 Summary:

Lummi Tribal member Chenoa Egawa hosts the program from the Makah Reservation, Neah Bay, Washington. In the program open, Makah storyteller, Maria Pascua, is telling a traditional Makah Whale story to Tribal Head Start students and Cape Flattery School District students inside the Makah Museum. Ben Johnson, Jr., Chairman, Makah Tribe, discusses the Cultural importance of Whaling to the Makah Tribe.

“Makah Whaling”

Niki Cleary,  reporter, Tulalip

In Makah Culture, the whale is sacred. For at least 15 centuries, the whale has sustained the Tribe, providing food and inspiring a way of life, that to a major degree, honors the spirit of the whale at the center of  Makah culture. The Tribe is in the process of seeking a waiver to the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 which has halted Makah Whaling since 1999. Four public hearings were held this fall.