NEAH BAY -- The high school security guard in this Indian fishing village was the last man to see the gray whale alive before it forever slipped beneath the waves.

Joe McGimpsey doesn't consider himself a shaman, but he was the one the Makah Tribal Council sent in a small boat to recite sacred chants over the dying behemoth -- the victim of a rogue hunt in September.

It wouldn't have been right to let the whale die alone, said McGimpsey, who has often prayed with whalers in his sweat lodge.

Like most people here, McGimpsey -- a good-humored man with a penchant for seeing the ordinary and calling it "magic" -- was troubled because the surprise hunt lacked the intense discipline and spiritual preparation that mark tribally sanctioned whaling.

But he won't pass judgment on the five rogue whalers, who see themselves as "treaty warriors" -- defenders of their tribe's 153-year-old treaty with the United States. "I am not going to sit here and condemn them," McGimpsey said.

Early next month, the whalers -- who don't deny killing their prey -- face criminal charges in Tacoma's U.S. District Court for unlawfully taking a whale.

The case has political implications, not only for the Makahs' ancient whaling way of life, but for the sanctity of all tribal treaties with the United States.

On Sept. 8, Frankie Gonzales, Wayne Johnson, Andrew Noel, Theron Parker and William Secor Sr. drove a harpoon into the whale's flank at least four times. They also shot the animal at least 16 times with large-caliber rifles.

But before they could deliver the coup de grace, the Coast Guard arrested them. Twelve hours passed before the whale died, sinking in 700-foot-deep waters in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The hunt sparked nationwide headlines and angered animal-rights activists.

Prosecutors charged the whalers with violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act, a misdemeanor that carries up to a year in jail. If found guilty of also violating tribal laws, they could face time in a reservation jail.

Click here to read the complete story in the Seattle P-I.

To read the story on the pre-trial hearing set for March 18, click here.