Me, Myself, and I

The parties involved in this case analysis are the Makah tribe, the young members of the Makah tribe, the elder members of the Makah tribe, the Makah tribal leaders, the gray whales, and the environmental community. The moral issues for this case analysis are the safeguarding of the gray whale population, which was on the decline back in the 1920’s. Another moral issue is the fact that the Makah tribal leaders want to use whale hunting as a way of re-establishing traditions, pride, and discipline with the young men of the tribe.

I believe that the Makah Indians should be granted the wavier to continue to hunt whales. Particularly, since the U.S Government signed the Neah Bay Treaty in 1855 with the Makah people, stating that it was OK for the Makah Indians to continue to hunt for fish, seals, whales, in exchange for 500 acre of their ancestral land. I feel it is only fair for the U.S government to keep their word and continue to let them hunt. In addition, the Gray Whale population has risen tremendously since 1926 and hunting 5 whales per year will not cause anymore damage. It is also very apparent that the Makah people care about the whales and don't view them as just an animal to kill because they volunteered to momentarily end their whale hunting in order to save the species when the whale species nearly went extinct. In conclusion, no part of the whale is wasted, the Makah people find uses for all parts of the whale.

Case #1, page 60: The Gray Whale versus the Makah Tribe, their decision to hunt the whale to instill pride in the traditions of its culture to younger generations, and the environmental impact of this action upon the sustainability of the gray whale population.

The debate surrounding Makah whaling is a heated one to say the least. There are valid points on both sides of the argument, but there is one side I find to be more valid once the facts have been looked at. I will examine and present my findings regarding past and current laws and regulations related to whaling, types of whaling, other countries that take an active part in whaling (and why), as well as the Makah culture – both past and present. In this paper I will argue why the Makah should not be allowed to resume whaling, as it is unnecessary and could potentially put the grey whale species back on the endangered list.

There are two types of orca’s in the Salish sea, the Transients and the Residents. Transient Killer Whales are mammal eating killer whales. They look almost the exact same as resident orca’s, who eat fish. The main difference between the two is the food supply. World wide, Transient killer whales are more heavily populated then the Resident Orcas. This is because they have a bigger food supply. They eat anything from seals to sealions to turtles. While the resident’s food supply is much more limited to mainly Chinook Salmon. The local orcas are struggling greatly to get enough food to survive due to the low number of chinook salmon in recent years. This is because the salmons run up stream in the Snake river has been interrupted by four dams along the Snake River. The Snake River has four different types of salmon and “All four Snake River salmon and steelhead runs are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act”(see “Vital Connections” under works cited). The salmon numbers have not been bouncing back either after millions of dollars of work has been put into trying to bring back the salmon population in the Snake River. Many whale researchers are pushing to have the removal of four dams along the snake river that are helping kill off the salmon. Many whale researchers believe that the problem with the dam’s include “The dams have been killing upwards of a million salmon and steelhead annually for 40 years.The dams impede passage of salmon and steelhead between their spawning and rearing habitat and the Pacific Ocean.The dams have inundated Snake River fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat. The dams have disrupted the free flowing Snake River and turned it into a series of slack water reservoirs.Snake River slackwater reservoirs are deadly to salmon and steelhead” (see “Vital Connections:” in works cited). The cons to the dams

Fast forward to 1995 when the Makah culture wanted to resume the traditional whale hunting. After some intense legal battles with the government they were allowed too. In 1999 after some extremely fierce protesting they finally managed to get a whale.

The Makah tribe is a native American tribe who lived in Olympic Peninsula in Washington State for centuries. Makah people tended to descend their culture to one another and ran on their traditions through generations. Makah tribe practiced whale hunting in the past as one of their historical traditions when they were given permission after Treaty of Neah. The Makah harvested whale for provisions and countries-exporting values. But most people think it 's demoralizing to kill a pure, innocent mammal like whale. As an outsider, we can’t go to conclusion and say their tradition is inhumane and needs to be stopped. If we put ourselves in their shoes, we could probably learn the truth behind the whaling process and decipher all the

Orcas are complex social creatures deserving freedom and respect, not captivity in theme parks under the guise of public education and entertainment. Aquarium staffs say captive whales are priceless educational tools. However, people can educate their children by bringing them to the wild instead of bringing the wild to them at the expense of the Orcas health and well-being. "The price of a family admission ticket is what continues to drive this cruel spectacle," according to Michael O' Sullivan, the Executive Director of The Humane Society of Canada (Whales in Captivity, 2010, Para. 3). Orcas suffer in many ways in

Whale hunting has been a way of life for the Makah Tribe for more than 2000 years. They have traditionally depended on the whale meat to survive as well as they have utilized the whales blubber and oil. The dependence on whale hunting has caused the whale to be an integral part of the Makah culture. The whale is in their songs, dances, designs and basketry. It has given them a disciple and pride in their tribe. Yet for the past seventy years the Makah has been prevented from hunting due to the gray whale, the whale they hunt, being on the endangered list. In 1994 the gray whale was removed form the endangered list opening the possibility of the Makah Tribe to hunt again. Yet this possibility has caused anti-whaling organizations

The topic of whale conservation and the Makah people’s economy is not something that some audiences would jump at reading nor is it an easy topic to research and discuss in a formal paper. The techniques and strategies that authors use to write a paper that is worthy of a person’s time differ from author to author but the main core of a paper is similar in most aspects. When it comes to researching the Makah economy a person must do so in a way that is purposeful and targeted at a specific audience; the three articles I read do just that. With a similar purpose of sharing economic and legal issues that the Makah people face, to an audience of professionals in a similar field, these three articles are able to raise similar questions about the

Holding killer whales in captivity is a harmful problem to the mammal that requires action from both the government and the public.

Congress created the Marine Mammal Protection Act as a reaction to the public's concern that human activities were threatening to extinguish certain species of marine mammals. As Dye (1993) states, “Congress enacted the MMPA to prohibit the harassing, catching and killing of marine mammals by U.S. citizens or within the jurisdiction of the United States”.

Whaling has become a global environmental issue as vast numbers of whales are killed commercially and scientifically every year. Intense debate on the necessity of whaling has been stirred but failed to be resolved due to the lacking of pragmatic measures employed by the responsible parties. Whaling nations continue to defend their whaling right for cultural and research purposes. Yet, ethical and humanity issues are among the controversial disputes raised by concerned public. In February 2010, International Whaling Commission (IWC) proposed a plan of lifting whaling ban by limiting scientific whaling activities with the intention of reducing overall number of whales killed besides solving the current impasse between pro

Commercial whaling is a serious world issue that has always been difficult for those who are in support and those who are against it. Each group defends their side with convincing arguments. Morally, whaling is wrong, but do the reasons for whaling outweigh the reasons to cease the primitive hunts? By studying the effects of whaling,realizing how culture has changed over time, and taking note of the money that would be saved, it can clearly be seen that there is no longer a current need for whaling to continue. Efforts have been made to try to stop whaling, but with no help from any authoritative figure,nothing has been done to regulate the whaling. The famous sea shepherd, known for its strikes against whaling, can even be seen on

However it is critical to understand that when they are conserved in captivity, we prevent them from getting their main biological needs from the ocean as a natural habitat. With their wide food spectrums, orcas hunt for turtles, sea lions, crabs, seals and many other food varieties depending on their ecotypes. This makes them travel over large regions in the ocean in search of the same. Just as human beings are top of the food chain with regards terrestrial animals, so are orcas in the oceans. It is therefore important to raise our voices against this practice to avoid the risk of classifying them as endangered species. Even though the whales “gave me so much in my life and my career” (BioExpedition 1), he grew to believe that the whales’ physical and emotional well-being was incompatible with captivity. Confined to unnatural social groups for the convenience of their owners, bored and restless, forced to perform tricks for food that trainers withheld as punishment, they occasionally slipped, he writes, “into the dark side” (Adler 2).