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More to the story The rogue whale hunt
"But now, with the rogue killling of a whale without tribal or federal approval, there is no telling how or if the waiver process will be impacted," said P-I reported Lewis Kamb, who has covered the tribe's controversial struggle to defend its treaty right to hunt whales.
Featured prominently in this story marking the five-year anniversary of the tribe's 1999 whale hunt is tribal member and whaling commissioner Wayne Johnson, the man at the center of the weekend controversy. Kamb explains:
"During my numerous interviews with Wayne for the anniversary story, it was clear that he and some other tribal members in his corner would seek to hunt whales again with or without permission," Kamb said.
Makah tribe member Theron Parker takes the top of the whale after it arrived on the beach at Neah Bay on Tues., May 17, 1999. That hunt was legal. (Grant M. Haller/P-I)
"The feeling among Wayne and some others was that they were willing to put up with the legal process seeking to ensure the tribe's whaling rights -- but only to a point. Wayne and the others (who represent only a small fraction of the tribe) told me then that to their way of thinking, too much process and too much time was only another way to delay and deny the tribe its treaty right to hunt whales ("They've taken my fingers, now they're working on my thumb," is how Wayne put it.)
"A lot of that frustration -- and indications that rogue hunts were a possibility -- is evident in the story."
Kamb described the tribe's legal efforts in this 2005 story.
"The tribe was well on its way in that process when this weekend's hunt occurred," Kamb said.
The tribe has vowed to prosecute the members involved in the hunt.