There was a large interest for me after having read about the Makah whaling in the introduction. Looking further into it only furthered my curiosity and excitement for the people that were able to participate in the such a amazing tradition.
The amazing thing to me (mainly because I am a pessimist when it comes to dealings with our government) is that the treaty was partially agreed to and followed to a point. The Makah people were allowed to harvest a whale.
The excitement unfortunately was short lived. It didn't take much reading to see all of the problems that this historic event caused to the families of the Makah tribe.
(pg. 1-2) Introduction.
"One of the major hurdles for the Makah centered on how the tribe intended to cope with the firestorm of anger, resentment, and oftentimes racist discoursethe hunt aroused among man non-Indians, particularly environmental groups. Protestors fit into three categories: those distraught by the whale killing, those who disapproved how the whale was killed, and those who exhibited a deep resentment, even hatred, toward the Makah in particular and Indians in general. Protestors rained death threats and bomb threats on the Makah..........."
The sad fact is, is that the people with tradition and history in our country are being shunned for having one that is important to them. These people that don't have a murderous destructive past in comparison to our own are being absorbed so that no one is different. It seems as if our country is a giant mixing pot but we really don't want anything to mix. Everyone needs to basically go through a washer and come out white with the same ideals and history as everyone else.
http://www.makah.com/whalingtradition.html
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/101002_makah21.shtml
