The Makah Indans’ Whaling Plans:

Might Whale Meat Once Again Find a Place on the Menu?

There is, however, fervent disagreement as to how they got on. Some say that “nobody wanted the meat” - others say that “most people were really surprised how well it tasted”. Opinions follow the dividing lines between the two standpoints on the resumption of whaling. The Times quoted Makah woman Alberta Thompson as saying: “They had to ask an Alaskan woman to cut it up. They handed it round the village. Nobody wanted it because it was a horrible smell”. Thompson was brought to the Whaling Commission Meeting in Aberdeen by a coalition of animal rights groups so that she could make her opposition to the Makah whaling plans known to the international media.

The High North News has asked “an outsider”, biologist Pat Gearin, for his version. He is employed by the federal National Marine Fisheries Service and works with the Makah tribe on cooperative research on fisheries and marine mammal issues. “Some of the people liked it, some did not. I guess it was about fifty-fifty,” says Gearin. In his opinion, it all depended on how the meat was prepared. The whale had been dead for over 24 hours and some of the meat was slightly off, whereas other parts of it were still fresh. Some of it had to be thrown away. “It had started to turn green,” says Gearin. Since the whale had been found dead, the blood had not been drained from the meat. Some people put it in salt water in order to remove the blood, while others boiled it as it was. “I think that, on the whole, the people that prepared it properly and had a fresh cut of meat, did in fact like it,” says Gearin. In his opinion, whale meat may once again become part of the Makah Indians’ menu, providing that people are given experience in preparing the meat, and that the meat made available is of good quality.

Gearin was impressed by the efficiency of the butchering and distribution process. Within three hours the meat and the blubber had been stripped off the 7 tonne whale and distributed to the villagers. About fifty people took part in the process and also many of the 300 - 400 people who came down to the beach during the day lent a helping hand. Everybody that wanted it, got a plastic bag with meat and blubber to take back home. Gearin confirms the fact that an Alaskan Inuit women living with the tribe, instructed some of the people on how to make the cuts: “It was quite helpful,” he said.

The Makah are used to eating seal meat and the oil from seal blubber is used to garnish fish meals. Much of the whale blubber was used to render oil, but some was also eaten: “We boiled some of the blubber at the beach and the kids ate it like candy,” Makah director of fisheries, Dan Green, told the International Harpoon.

In November 1995, Seattle Times Magazine reported that Maria Pascua, a museum researcher and curator of the Makah language and culture museum, boiled some blubber, rendered the fat and brought a paper plate of smoked whale blubber to work. It was chewy, softer than salmon jerky, tastier than pork rind but not as fatty. The staff munched the savory whale jerky during coffee break, along with their usual store-bought Danish.

See also the story “Dinner or the Dump?” - in the 1996 International Harpoon Extracts.