(From nytimes.com) Five Makah Indian whalers who killed a gray whale in an illegal hunt last September have been sentenced in federal court. The two men considered leaders of the group, Wayne Johnson and Andy Noel, were sentenced to five months and three months in jail, respectively. They will also be supervised for a year after their release, the United States attorney’s office said.
The other three men, Frankie Gonzales, Theron Parker and William Secor, received two years of probation and 100 to 150 hours of community service. The Makah, who have been whalers for centuries, have sought to resume their hunts as part of their cultural heritage. The tribe has treaty rights to hunt whales, but it must obtain a waiver under the Marine Mammal Protection Act before exercising that right. The five men did not have a federal permit to kill the whale.