Statement by Senator Slade Gorton
Makah Whale Hunt
I am gravely disappointed with the actions of the Makah tribe and their decision to kill a gray whale off the coast of Washington state yesterday. This gruesome event, documented on live television, has rightly offended the great majority of Americans.
In 1855, the Makah secured the right to hunt whales in their treaty with the United States. No other tribe in the lower 48 states has a similar right. More than 70 years since its last whale hunt, the Makah sought to resurrect this inhumane practice, long since abandoned by the United States and opposed by many nations around the globe.
The Clinton-Gore administration chose to aid and abet the Makah in their effort to start hunting whales again. The Commerce Department advocated on the behalf of the Makah at a conference of the International Whaling Commission, subsequently securing an allocation of 20 gray whales over five years.
The Makah do have the right to hunt whales under their treaty and through the International Whaling Commission. Their choice to exercise this right, however, was both extraordinarily foolish and an affront to the sensibilities of tens of millions of their fellow Americans.
This is an aggressive effort orchestrated by the tribes to show they can avoid the laws that govern the rest of us. In an effort to demonstrate the strength of their sovereignty and their treaties, however, the Makahs and their allies have desperately harmed their cause. I am more convinced today than ever before that we must bring common sense back to the relationship between this country, our laws, and Native American tribes. All Americans should be subject to the same laws.