Whaling is an issue that has been attracted with numerous debates and arguments. For the Makah Indian Tribe, whaling is an act of culture need and has been practiced for more than two thousand years. In the article, The Makah Manifesto, Keith A. Johnson, president of the Makah Whaling Commission, express the facts and cultural values why his people should be allow to whale freely. In opposition, The Sea Shehpards, a conservation group, is doing everything they can to stop humans from whaling in effort to save the gray whales from potential extinction. In response to Johnson's article, founder and president of the Sea Shephard Conservation Society, Paul Watson wrote: Where is the Whales' Manifesto? In which Watson states his values and facts why the Makah Tribe should not be allow to whale for any reason. The differences in their values and facts have stirred up a disagreement between the two groups.

A difference of the interpretations of facts that both authors present in their articles has to do with the population of the gray whales, and whether or not this should still be consider a conservation issue. Scarcity had prevented the Makah tribe from whaling

Johnson believes that his people, the Makahs, should be able to hunt the whales due to the fact that it has been a cultural practice for more than two thousand years. Watson claims that if the Makah tribe uses culture a reason to hunt whales then other cultures such as the Japanese, Icelanders, Norwegians, and many others, will also claim that same right. Therefore, it will lead to a conservation issue.

Another disagreement of fact that the two authors present is the financial aspect of whaling. Both Johnson and Watson do not argue over the value of a gray whale being worth at a half-million dollars; however, they disagree on whether or not the whale will commercially. Johnson stated that the Makah people do not see the prospect of money from whaling and that they are "willing to risk their lives for no money at all" ( ). While Watson argues that "the Makah previously affirmed that the hunt has a financial motivation" ( ). Johnson claims that the Makah tribe "has agreed to limit themselves to noncommercial whaling, and has no plans to sell the whale meat in the future." However, Watson believes that the Makahs will whale commercially and has every intention to sell the meat. Johnson reasons that whaling has cost his tribe a substantial amount of money to carry on the whale-hunting programs. In response to Johnson's claim, Watson states that whaling has cost the government an estimated $150,000 to provide policing cost of the hunt and that Makah lobbying ef

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Approximate Word count = 998
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)