Makah Indians cutting up a whale, ca 1910 (MOHAI 6882)

The Makah people of the Olympic Peninsula hunted whales and other sea mammals from large seagoing canoes. Eight hunters would paddle several miles offshore in search of migrating whales. If they killed one, they towed it back to the village and butchered it on the beach. The entire village turned out to divide it up. Relatives of the hunters and important members of the tribe got the best parts of the whale.
In this photo, a group of Makah people are cutting up a whale at Neah Bay. They have sliced the blubber into strips and are peeling it away from the body. Asahel Curtis took the photograph around 1910.

Subjects (LCTGM): Makah Indians; Whaling