The Makah Tribe’s long-awaited return to traditional whaling has been pushed back yet again — this time by more federal delays, according to a report by KNKX radio.

Despite securing a key federal waiver last year affirming their exclusive treaty right to hunt gray whales, the NOAA permit needed to begin a hunt is now unlikely for at least another 18 months.

The tribe applied for that permit in March, expecting quick approval after more than 20 years of review. But this summer’s hunting window came and went with no decision from NOAA.

Makah Chairman Timothy Greene says the tribe is determined to get back on the water, calling the hunt vital for future generations to see their culture in practice.

NOAA officials say only that the Marine Mammal Protection Act requires both a waiver and a detailed permit before any whale hunt can begin. The Makah application outlines proposed seasons in 2025 and 2027 and complies with strict federal criteria on methods, safety, and whale-management limits.

The waiver allows the tribe to take up to 25 gray whales over 10 years.
Some observers, including UW professor Joshua Reid, argue the continued delays amount to the federal government bogging down treaty rights through bureaucracy.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Makah people have hunted whales going back at least 2,000 years.

Continuing the traditional whaling practices is at the heart of Makah citizens' identity, spiritual beliefs, subsistence practices, and ceremonies. Makah ceremonies, songs, dances, art, basketry and traditions are all connected to their whale relatives. Makah citizens are deeply spiritually and ecologically connected to the whales and the ocean — not just hunters, but stewards of the whales in a reciprocal relationship that is honored through ceremony before the whale is hunted and before it is harvested.

PHOTO: Makah Tribe website

Clallam PUD has received a 60-thousand dollar grant from the American Public Power Administration to purchase up to 50 portable batteries that can stay charged by solar power. PUD Communications Director Nicole Hartman says they will first be available to customers living in the west end of the county who are dependent on life saving medical devices that can be life-threatening without them in the event of an extended power outage.

“The west end customers are the ones who really experience prolonged outages in the case of BPA lines going down because there’s no redundant line out there.  So we applied for a grant from the American Public Power Association to purchase 50 of these battery units. They come with solar panels so that they can be recharged.  In that way people who low income dependent on a medical device – life saving medical device – can apply through our low-income assistance program to qualify and receive one of these batteries and solar panel units. And the nice thing is because they are electric, you plug them in and you charge them up to 100 percent and then you can use the solar panels to keep them charged.”

If there any units left over after the application process, she says they may try to see if the can get permission to have the remainder go to anybody else in the county who may need one.

“We did have to purchase five that were a bit larger capacity for people who maybe had a larger device that was going to draw more power than the little one could handle. So, we tried to size them to the person’s medical equipment. And this could be anything from an oxygen concentrator to if somebody needed a mini refrigerator to store medication that needed to be refrigerated.”

Interested applicants can check on line for more information and determine if they qualify at www.clallapud.net/medical-equipment-backup-program/

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