NEAH BAY — Alberta Nora Thompson, a Makah elder who fiercely opposed whaling, died Wednesday at Avamere Olympic Health & Rehabilitation in Sequim.
She was 88.
“She was just a very outspoken woman. A very strong Christian,” her daughter, Sarah Espinoza, said Saturday.
“She was an advocate for all our tribal people.”
Espinoza said her mother’s stand to protect gray whales became the most exciting role in her life.
“When she met a whale, she just fell in love with them.”
A funeral is scheduled at 1 p.m. Monday at the Neah Bay Assembly of God Church, where she was a longtime member.
Viewing will begin at noon, followed by burial at Neah Bay Cemetery.
Thompson was born in Neah Bay on Dec. 3, 1923, to father Hilary Irving Sr. and mother Clara Johnson.
She was married to Ralph Moore Thompson in 1948 until his death April 21, 1992.
Many stood up at a tribal meeting last week, Espinoza said, offering fond recollections of the woman known as “Binki.”
Thompson worked at a Seattle factory that built parts for aircraft used in World War II.
She also worked as a secretary at Neah Bay High School, at the health center and as a coordinator for senior citizen programs, and drove elders around.
“She always wanted to help the older generation,” Espinoza said.
Thompson opposed a legal Makah whale hunt May 7, 1999, the first in seven decades.
Whale hunting is an integral part of the culture of the Makah, who are the only tribe in the Lower 48 states who negotiated the right to whale as part of their treaty with the United States, the 1855 Treaty of Neah Bay, the tribe says on its website at www.makah.com.
Anti-whaling activists with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which protested the hunt and was among those who tried to stop it, posted a memorial to Thompson, calling her “the most outspoken and most courageous” of the Makah elders in opposition of whaling.
‘She stood her ground’
“Binki, as we all affectionately called Alberta, was vilified and scorned by some of her own people for opposing the whalers, but she stood her ground,” the post said.
She was quoted in the post as saying, “Yes, my people once killed whales, and yes, the whale is important to us.
“But now it’s time to repay the whales for what they gave to us in the past. Now is the time to protect them, not to kill them.”
In addition to Espinoza, she is survived by daughters Cynthia Castaneda and Tracy Thompson, all of Neah Bay; son-in-law Zacarias Espinoza of Neah Bay; stepsons Randolph Thompson of Clallam Bay and Robert Thompson of Snoqualmie; 10 granddaughters; eight grandsons; eight great-grandsons; and 11 great-granddaughters.
She was preceded in death by her brothers, Raymond Irving, Elwood “Butch” Irving, Hilary “Zab” Irving, Albert Irving, Murphy Irving and Glen Irving; sisters Julia Halttunen and Clarisse Irving; and sons Hilary Thompson and Donald Thompson.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
