Exercising Cultural Self-Determination: The Makah Indian Tribe Goes Whaling

American Indian Law Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2002

109 Pages Posted: 17 Jul 2008

See all articles by Robert J. Miller

Robert J. Miller

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

Date Written: 2002

Abstract

Self-determination is an important concept in federal Indian law and for American Indian Nations. Every distinctly identified group of people has the right to determine for themselves how they will live and what religious and cultural concepts and practices they will pursue. The Makah Indian Nation determined in 1994, when the gray whale was removed from the U.S. Endangered Species list, to resume its traditional cultural whaling practices. The Tribe successfully landed a whale in 1999 under intense worldwide scrutiny and some criticism. Since then, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has prevented the Tribe from further whaling. This Article sets out the historical, legal, and cultural justifications for Makah whaling rights, and the reasons the Makah are reviving their whaling religion and culture.

Keywords: Whaling, subsistence and aboriginal whaling, religious and cultural rights, Makah whaling, International Whaling Commission, Marine Mammal Protection Act, cultural self-determination rights

Suggested Citation

Miller, Robert J., Exercising Cultural Self-Determination: The Makah Indian Tribe Goes Whaling (2002). American Indian Law Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, 2002, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1161284

Robert J. Miller (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States
4809654085 (Phone)

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