[PEN-L:7417] FW: Makah Whaling (fwd)

["Craven, Jim" <jcraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: David Gene Lewis [mailto:coyotez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, May 28, 1999 12:24 PM
To: jcraven@xxxxxxxxx
Subject: Makah Whaling (fwd)


Please distribute, thank you.
In Spirit
David

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 08:26:31 -0700
From: Madonna Moss <mmoss@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: coyotez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Makah Whaling
The following Opinion-Editorial article appeared in the Register-Guard, the
daily newspaper published in Eugene, Oregon on May 28, 1999.
>
>Whale Hunt Honors Makah Way of Life
>by Madonna L. Moss
>
>Twenty-five years ago, I had the privilege of working alongside Makah
>students on the excavation of the Ozette archaeological site, located on
the
>Olympic Peninsula of Washington.  I had enrolled in the Washington State
>University field school, co-sponsored by the Makah Tribe, one of the first
>collaborative efforts between an Indian tribe and a university on an
>archaeological project.  It was a pivotal experience, eventually leading me

>to a career in anthropology.
>
>During that summer of 1974, I learned that Makah culture was not dead or
>dying.  Makah youth were very proud of their heritage.  They knew the songs

>of their kin groups; they knew which stories were their property to tell.
>They knew the dances their elders had taught them, and they honored their
>grandparents.  They knew the ecology of their home territory: the food,
>medicinal, and industrial uses of the plants and animals in their
>rainforests, on their beaches, and in the nearshore and offshore marine
>environments.  They were incredibly patient and generous with outsiders
such as me.

Life on the reservation was not idyllic, however, with poverty,
>unemployment, and substance abuse causing serious social distress.  The
>archaeological work at Ozette, however, promised to uncover a different
>chapter of their history.
>
>Ozette was a whaling village, its occupation dating back 2000 years.  It's
a
>prime location for intercepting migrating gray whales, northern fur seals,
>and Steller sea lions.  The remains of the village were buried under a
>mudslide, preserving the tools, implements, household furniture, as well as

>the houses themselves that normally disintegrate in the wet Northwest
>climate.  Contained in the deposit were numerous whale bones, many used to
>line an extensive drain system built around the large wood plankhouses.
>Whale bones were used to make furniture and many other artifacts.  We found

>the weapons used to hunt whales, harpoon point blades made of sharpened
>mussel shell, bone harpoon valves, cedar rope lanyards, and parts of the
>sealskin floats used to drag the whale.  In one of the four houses
excavated
>was a wood carving of a whale's dorsal fin, inlaid with over 700 hundred
sea
>otter teeth.  This item of great wealth was found in the back of the house,

>associated with the highest status family at the site, probably that of the

>whaling captain.  The artifacts recovered from Ozette can be seen at the
>Makah Cultural and Research Center, a world-class, Makah-run museum in Neah

>Bay.
>
>Drawing from ethnographic, archaeological, and ethnohistorical sources, we
>know that not every Makah person was qualified to be a whaler.  The
>prerogative to hunt whales was inherited, but also had to be earned.  Young

>men apprenticed to experienced senior men to learn the technology and
>personal power necessary for whaling and seafaring.  They prepared for the
>hunt by fasting, spiritual purification, and rigorous physical training.
>Women played roles of equal importance; the wives of whalers had to undergo

>their own rites of purification and spiritual disciplines.  It was a great
>privilege to be involved in whaling, and the entire community depended on
the
>success of the whaling party.  The same is true today.
>
>Non-natives have caricatured contemporary Makahs as red-neck hunters, out
to
>enjoy the thrill of killing.  This portrait easily fits that of the
"savage"
>or "primitive" American Indian.  This grossly ethnocentric
misrepresentation
>of Makah technological sophistication also fails to acknowledge the
religious
>importance of whaling.  While many of us have grown up in a society that
>rigidly divides church and state, religion was not separated out of
everyday
>Makah life--- neither in the past or today.
>
>The Makah and their relatives on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the
>Nuu-chah-nulth, were the only Northwest Coast Indians who routinely hunted
>whales.  The Makah have a special relationship with the gray whale, and
>whaling is a essential part of Makah social identity.  This was never
>strictly an economic pursuit, as it incorporated spiritual practices
>Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and Buddhists would call "prayer" and
>"meditation."  Whaling was recognized as a dangerous activity, not only
>because of the whale's size and physical power, but because of the
volatility
>of ocean conditions.  Whalers were confronting challenges of supernatural
>proportions, and their success required individual and community
preparation.
> Whaling demands comparable physical and spiritual provisions today--
>although unfortunately-- the whaling crew has faced intimidation and
threats
>of violence by misguided radical environmentalists.
>
>While the Ozette investigations were about documenting the past, Makah
>whaling today is about exercising treaty rights and reclaiming history.
The
>Makah hunt was sanctioned by the International Whaling Commission because
it
>did not pose a threat to the survival of gray whales.  As indicated
recently,
>biologist Bruce Mate of the Hatfield Marine Science Center has documented
65
>gray whales found dead along the shorelines of Mexico, California, and
Oregon
>this past winter.  Whatever has been killing these whales should be of far
>greater concern to us than the single whale taken by the Makah.  If we are
>worried about the gray whales, we should support Mate and others in
>discovering the causes of these deaths.  We can rest assured that the Makah

>will use the products of their whale responsibly, to nurture their bodies
and
>souls, to honor the memory of their ancestors, and to educate the rest of
us
>about their unique culture.
>
>Madonna L. Moss is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the
University of Oregon.
>
Madonna L. Moss, Associate Professor
Department of Anthropology
1218 University of Oregon
Eugene, OR  97403-1218

Tel: 541 346-6076
Fax: 541 346-0668

Homepage: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mmoss/gatemm.htm
ANTH 443/543 Course Website: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mmoss/gate443.htm
ANTH 449/549 Course Website
http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mmoss/gate449.htm