Human-rights law operates at a universal level as all individual human beings are seen to have these rights vested in them. Cultural rights are understood to be different from human rights in that they are taken to be vested in distinct groups of people. While we focus on the challenge of human versus cultural rights, we can also see how cultural practices may be at odds with national and international law regarding the treatment of animals and the environment generally. Defenders of these practices invoke the argument of cultural rights. Visit HistoryLink, the Free Online Encyclopedia of Washington State (http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&File_Id=5301) and review the article on Makah Whaling.
- After having read the article, summarize the key points in this case.
- How is the case of animal versus cultural rights similar to or different from the discussion of human versus cultural rights?
- Imagine that you are a cultural anthropologist called to defend what the Makah claim is their cultural right to conduct whaling. How would you defend the Makah?
- Imagine that you are a cultural anthropologist called to support the whales as a protected animal species under international law in spite of claims of the Makah. How would you need to think about culture in order to build a case that refutes the Makah?s claims?
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