The tear ducts are just about dry.
First, there were the tears so many of us shed on May 17, 1999.
After running interference and preventing several whale deaths, that was the day the Makah whalers (with a little help from many departments of the U.S. government) finally killed one.
Yabis (the Makah word for "Beloved") was a juvenile gray whale, posthumously named by Binki.
While we all thought that might be the end of it, more tears were shed about 10 years later, when the Makah whalers ILLEGALLY killed yet another gray whale.
I just learned of Binki's death yesterday...and found reading many of the preceding messages through tears a little challenging.
But before all of that...
It was late '97 or early '98 that I'd heard rumblings about some Makah wanting to resume hunting whales.
I'd been thinking about joining SSCS for some time. Then one day, I saw this huge picture (a headshot of a First Nations woman) occupying the entire front page of Vancouver's Province newspaper. I read about Alberta's courage and strength in opposing the hunt, as well as the very high price she paid for that...and I simply had no choice: I had to join the fight.
Thank you so much, Binki...for all that you were, all that you are and all that you have inspired.
I wish the story ended there, but rumor has it that some Makah are still fighting the battle to kill whales.
With you as Guardian Angel for both us and the whales, NO MORE WHALES WILL DIE!
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