Rachel Clark - The Blackfish Prophecy

When I began to read, I was absolutely captivated. A marvelous story, and I love the spiritual aspect. I have myself experienced the connection between Native Americans and First Nations people, and dolphins.

Dr. Jane Goodall, D.B.E., primatologist and anthropologist, UN Messenger of Peace

The Blackfish Prophecy is a sweeping, emotionally packed book, with a grip-ping tale and a big heart. Rachel Clark has created a fascinating world of smart kids, mystical orcas, and acts of morality that must be carried out, no matter how difficult. Readers of all ages will learn much about killer whales, and why they simply do not belong in captivity. This wonderful story is fictional, but the facts are all too real.

David Kirby, author of Death at SeaWorld: Shamu and the Dark Side of Killer Whales in Captivity

Rachel Clark has created an entrancing story that not only captures the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the native and orca societies which make it so unique, but also the potential for deep and powerful connections between human and killer whale cultures in the wilderness environment. I enjoyed it immensely.

Tim Zimmerman, Associate Producer and Co-Writer of Blackfish

The Blackfish Prophecy opens many doors to understanding and possibilities for living as members of the family of life on Earth.

Howard Garrett, co-director of Orca Network

THE BLACKFISH PROPHECY

Terra Incognita & The Great Transition: Book One

RACHEL CLARK

Illustrated by

KAREN SAVORY

Copyright 2016, 2017

Request permissions at

www.FawkesPress.com

Karen Savory, Illustrator

Susan Marie Andersson, Cover Designer

David Kirby & Susan Dente Ross, Editors

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

Permission to reprint lyrics for Drive granted by Mr. McFerrins management team at Original Artists.

LAST NIGHT I HAD THE STRANGEST DREAM

Words and Music by Ed McCurdy

TRO Copyright 1950 (Renewed), 1951 (Renewed), 1955 (Renewed)

Folkways Music Publishers, Inc., New York, NY

International Copyright Secured Made in U.S.A.

All Rights Reserved Including Public Performance For Profit

Used by Permission

Fawkes Press and the author wish to gratefully acknowledge

Dr. Jane Goodalls approval of her fictionalized portrayal herein.

Print ISBN 978-1-945419-00-3

EPUB ISBN 978-1-945419-01-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901288

:

In memory of all those beings who have suffered too much or died too soon in the shadow of The Fallacy.

With love to my sons and the generation of the Great Transition:

You are unleashing an epic force for harmony

just by being you.

This is your time .

This book is dedicated to you and to the whales

and to all Earths life and ecosystems

with whom you dance across the universe.

The greatest story is that all life is one.

-Carl Safina

TERRA KNELT IN THE PUNGENT GLOOM inside the ancient cedar tree. Huddled in focus, she worked her bow drill back and forth, laboring for a spark. Sometimes shed use a match, but today was special. Today needed the sacred birth of a coal. A match was so different: the quick unmistakable snap of ignition, the whiff of sulphur, the instant leap of flame. But this quiet work of drawing fire from cool wood, of running the spindle fast against the board, the heat of friction slowly building to a flame drawn up from deep inside herIt was the only way to properly celebrate this news.

Eyebrows knit in concentration, her arm working as sure and strong as any loggers, Terra whispered in sync with her work until it was almost a mantra: Welcome, little one. Welcome to your dark, cold home. Welcome to the waves washing over you. Welcome to the salmon that will fill you. Welcome to the sounds that will guide you. Welcome to your mama, your sisters, your aunties and uncles and cousins and friends. Welcome to your Granny. Lowering her voice even more, her throat tight, she blinked and murmured, You are so lucky, little one, to be born while your Granny is still here.

Terras dream came to her again, the way it had almost every day for the last few months since shed first awoken from it. But now. Now everything was different. As of today, the calf shed dreamt about was real. Could that mean the rest of her dream was real too? She shook her head, trying to focus on her work, but took a quick glance at Tiluk, her best friend. Maybe she should tell him the rest of her dream. Maybe Granny did need help. Her throat tightened again, remembering. But it was just a dream, wasnt it?

There it is. She inhaled sharply. The birth of a coal was always a miracle.

She put down her bow, bent further and leaned on her palms, her long, otter-brown braid grazing the dirt, and breathed gently into the tiny hole where the newborn orange light lay nestled. Smaller than a match head, it glowed with her breath, an instant response. She sat up, pushing her braid back over her shoulder as she reached for the tinder bundle of dry moss shed gathered for this fire. Then, tilting her board, she carefully nudged the little ember from its notch into the dry tendrils and whispered, Welcome little blackened one. Welcome to the Salish Sea. Welcome to Earth.

Terra blew gently on the tinder bundle and a lick of flame leapt up, answering her. She placed the bundle into the ring, and fed it carefully; adding more moss, then the bits of kindling shed laid aside to dry months earlier. The fire wrapped its arms around the moss and sticks, quickly growing, tripping over itself as it rose higher. Hungry orange light flung back the shadows and the walls came alive. She sighed with satisfaction as she leaned back on her heels; the fire illuminating her pale moon cheeks, her long slender nose, and her prominent heart-shaped face as she looked up at dozens of killer whales dancing across the cave of the hollow tree. She smiled, knowing it was a family tree inside a tree. She and Tiluk had carved every single killer whale of the Southern Resident Community in Puget Sound, all 79 of them, on the walls of their tree cave. The Southern Residents were made up of three maternal family groups called podsJ pod, K pod, and L pod. And now the newest calf of J pod was about to be inscribed here, too. The 80 th orca of the endangered Southern Residents. A cause for celebration.

Terra glanced at Tiluk again, her quirky, expressive eyebrows mirroring her quiet smile. Tiluks black eyes flashed sparks of warmth in the flickering new light. Now she could see Fierce, her kestrel. Fierce was a bird of prey, a falcon, and he was perched on Tiluks arm, hooded by his tiny leather cap, patiently waiting until it was time to hunt. That would come nextafter the ritual birth of fire and carving of the new family member. Like no one else, Tiluk got her reverence for the orca, and now, this calf. Maybe she should tell him everything. She just couldnt believe it was happening. The calf was real ! She shook her head to clear it. Did that mean she was destined to have a special mission with the calf, as Granny had transmitted in her dream?