Makah leaders optimistic after D.C. meetings

A Makah tribal leader Wednesday said he is "cautiously optimistic" that the unauthorized killing of a gray whale last Saturday by five tribal hunters won't hurt the tribe's future chances to legally hunt the mammals.

Before the illegal shooting and harpooning of the whale off Neah Bay, the tribe had been pursuing an exemption to the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act that would allow a legal hunt. After the whale was killed, tribal leaders voiced worry that it might hurt chances for the waiver. But so far, they said Wednesday, that doesn't seem to be the case.

"I am cautiously optimistic," said Micah McCarty, a member of the Makah Tribal Council and one of five tribal leaders who went to Washington, D.C., this week to reiterate a distinction between the whalers who illegally killed the animal and the official tribal leadership.

"I haven't seen any indication that there is an outcry to halt the waiver process, or political pressure to do that," McCarty said.

The tribal delegation met with the state's two senators Wednesday. Afterward, Sen. Patty Murray said she remained disappointed by the illegal hunt but was glad to see the leaders making an effort to handle it promptly.

"I know this has been a painful event with high emotions on all sides," she said. "I believe that the Makah tribe is taking the right steps to move forward from this situation, and I will be monitoring their progress."

The hunt, which broke tribal and federal laws, immediately brought a call to the feds from some wildlife and animal-rights groups to reject any waivers for future hunts. The tribe has promised to prosecute the whalers to the fullest extent of its law. Two of the illegal whalers have been forced to resign from the tribe's whaling commission.

The whalers were detained Saturday by the Coast Guard, which also confiscated the whalers' gun, gear and boats. The whalers were later arrested and jailed by tribal police, then released on bail.

No charges have been formally filed. Potential penalties under tribal law include up to a year in jail or a $5,000 fine, and temporary suspension of the whalers' treaty rights to hunt and fish. Federal penalties include a fine or jail time.

The Makahs have also met with officials at the National Marine Fisheries Service. More meetings with congressional staff are planned for the rest of the week.

Lynda V. Mapes: 206-464-2736 or lmapes@seattletimes.com

Information in this story, originally published on September 13, 2007, was corrected on September 15, 2007. The five Makah tribal members involved in a whale hunt off Neah Bay were not arrested by the Coast Guard, as a Sept. 13 story stated. The Coast Guard detained the men and brought them to shore, where they were questioned by agents from the National Marine Fisheries Service. The men ultimately were arrested by Makah tribal police.