The Great Whale Hunt at Neah Bay

The tribe of Whale Indians recently captured another whale, making eight in the last four months. The creature was sighted last Thursday a few miles off Cape Flattery by some members of the tribe who were out in their canoes. Word was sent into Neah Bay and within a few hours seventeen canoes, with an average of five men in each, were close to the leviathan. It was not captured until nearly noon the next day, when the tired swimmers found themselves over twenty miles off the cape. As the whale proved too heavy to tow, the tide was awaited, and Friday evening saw the monster beached at Neah Bay. By this time, the bare bones of that same beast are scattered by wind and wave or lie bleached in the sun; for, on such occasions, the services of the entire tribe, including men, women and children, is required in stripping the flesh from the carcass. In return for this service each receives a fair apportionment of the deep sea meat, long festoons of which will be hanging along the eaves of the houses for weeks to come, drying in the smoke of the fire to be hoarded up for use in the winter months.