The Whale Hunters

The North-West corner of Washington State, was inhabited by a tribe where powerful men were whalers. These men belonged to the Makah tribe.

A wale hunt was a serious thing. Whales provided meat, oil, sinew, bones (used for making weapons), and much that a village would need. Before the gray whales even came, the whale hunters were ready. The men and their wives had done the rituals: "They and their wives have fasted, bathed in secret prayer ponds, flogged themselves with stinging nettles, and entered the mind of the whale." National Geographic, Voices, America Before Columbus

The canoes leave, many canoes paddling out to the whale feeding grounds. Wives of the harpooners stay absolutely still in their beds facing the shore, trying to encourage the whale to be still as well...and head for the shore. Harpoons made of yew are used to be pushed into the whale, to be precise the whale's shoulder. It is not meant to kill the whale, but is meant to slow it down, for on the harpoon there is a line with many buoys strung on to it. This combined with the wound will slow the whale down. At this point the men will begin to sing, trying to encourage the whale to swim to shore. Eventually the whale will slow down, which is the point when a man may kill it with a sharp thrust with a lance. Another man will then jump into the water and sews the whales mouth shut, preventing water from getting inside its stomach and causing it to sink. As the whale is towed to the shore, the men continue to sing.

From National Geographic, Voices:Indian Perspectives, A Makah Village in 1491: Ozette