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| In 1999, a crew of Makah Indian hunters killed a gray whale near the Olympic Peninsula, culminating an extraordinary, modern saga. The hunt was celebrated by some as a courageous assertion of Native American rights and a reconnection of the Makah Nation to its cultural heritage. To others it symbolized senseless slaughter and the revival of a commercial industry that decimated the Pacific’s population of migratory leviathans. Throughout his lively book, Sullivan deftly illuminates the complexity of the story, which is as sweeping as a whale’s barnacle-encrusted flukes. The author spent two years with the Makah as they prepared for the hunt, gaining crucial knowledge of their history and home. In A Whale Hunt, he conveys the conflicting values of honoring tradition and living with the modern pressures and conveniences of American society. He delves deeply into the motivations of the hunt’s numerous participants and spectators: the whaling crew, the protesters, the media, and himself. Sullivan describes the coastal environment with the eye of a skilled nature writer, and he takes a brief excursion to Baja California to observe gray whales in their winter calving grounds. The success of A Whale Hunt stems from Sullivan’s conversational tone and detailed observations, and his ability to present the ironies and absurdities in this remarkable story of man versus man and man versus nature. The book may make you long to read about earlier Makah hunts, before they used .50 caliber elephant guns, sipped Pepsi and lattés, and negotiated with German film crews to document their experience. — Reviewed by Kurt Kamin |
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