MAKAH INDIANS PREPARE FOR WHALING OFF WASHINGTON COAST, 1998-10-01 (photo)

Dewey Johnson, a Makah Native American, posted a "Support Whaling" sign on his pickup truck on September 30 in order to rally community support while driving the coastal town of Neah Bay, Washington where the Makah tribe will begin hunting gray whales on October 1. The Makahs, who have been granted permission by the International Whaling Commission to hunt up to five gray whales a year, will hunt the whales via eight-man traditional paddling canoes using a harpoon and a .50-caliber rifle to kill the animal. The Makahs, whose cultural heritage included whaling for 2,000 years until the U.S. government stopped the practice in the 1800s, have tried to revive the cultural practice, especially since the gray whale is no longer on the endangered species list. APB/CM/ME