A Whale Hunt :: essays research papers

Envision the Makah nation before white men came to reduce their lands, attenuated their way of life, and contaminate them with new diseases. The Makah tribe was once free to vomit along the dark sandy beaches of the Olympic Peninsula and experience the fiery burn of the sinking sun creep into the depths of the vast Pacific Ocean. They are no longer able to undergo this majestic cycle in the analogous tranquility that their ancestors once did. After dealing with the inequities that were brought upon them by the European settlers, such as being forced to speak a new nomenclature and being confined to a minute area of land, that cannot compare to the wideness of the territory where they once lived. On top of that their traditional whale persist was abstracted from their community. Now with the chance to work again, the Makah faced a grueling decision against the opposition. The Makah tribe decided to return to hunting the whale in attempt to revive their culture and traditio ns. They agreed not to use the hunt for commercial purposes and to hunt the whale in the same way their ancestors did. I think the Makah nation should be able to hunt the whale as means of renewing their culture and pride. The whale hunt provides the Makah with the ability to restore their culture and traditions, provide reparations for Americas mistreatment, all while following strict guidelines for the combination and the process of taking the whale. The Makahs decision to hunt the whale produced impertinent reactions among the many supporters of the whale. Protestors from around the world arrived in mass. They were very unsympathetic, rude, and even aggressive toward the Makahs. An example of this is shown by their behavior toward the Makahs Very soon, a char shouted at the crew, Real men dont kill animals only when a coward kills whales You are a coward and a sissy Another char shouted that the Makah shouldnt have special rights just because they were Indians. Another wom an said her soul was connected to the soul of the gray whale. (Sullivan 136) This shows the emotion that the protestors brought to the animosity against the hunt. Their argument is that the whale is sacred to them too, and that slaughtering the whale is a criminal act. Everybody snarled in the hunt is not perfect, but everybody deserves a chance.