Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut
also known as Tokitae or Lolita
In the Lummi language, the term for killer whales is qwe ‘lhol mechen, meaning “our relations below the waves.”. For many years, we worked to bring the orca Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut out of the captivity and back home to the Salish Sea.
Once called Lolita, then called Tokitae, and finally given the Lummi name Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, she was violently taken from L-pod in 1970, and sold to the Miami Seaquarium. She became a star performer, and was much loved. During captivity, she still sang the L-pod family song her mother taught her when she was a baby (A recording of her singing this song was made at her Miami Seaquarium tank in the early 1990s. It has been identified by at least two experts as being the L-pod song).
Many individuals and organizations worked throughout the years to free her, to no avail. Then, in 2017, Lummi Nation passed a Motion to bring her home, and the Sovereignty and Treaty Protection Office (STPO) of Lummi Nation was charged with this work. When the STPO was closed in 2020, The Sacred Lands Conservancy / Sacred Sea, carried on the work. We commissioned the Whale Sanctuary Project to draft a comprehensive operational plan to bring her home; this plan notably wed Lummi ancestral wisdom to science and best practices. We partnered with Earth Law Center on legal strategies. And we collaborated with tribes, storytellers, artists, scientists, politicians, philanthropists, and eventually the Miami Seaquarium itself. We were all working for common cause: to restore Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut to health, provide her with the best life possible while she was in captivity, and to bring her home once her health allowed. She suddenly and unexpected passed away on August 18, 2023, just as she was on the verge of coming home.
Lummi Nation was able to give her remains back to the Salish Sea in a small, closed ceremony conducted by spiritual leaders. This was not the way we wanted her to come home, but she did come home.
We are forever grateful for all the teachings Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut offered during her life. We are grateful for the chance to work with all those who gave so much love to her, and to the many people who donated to support this work. We had established a GoFundMe dedicated to the work for her release and the establishment of her sanctuary in the Salish Sea. All funds remaining will become part of an endowed scholarship set up in her name at Northwest Indian College. Details regarding the announcement in September, 2024 will be posted here.
Traditionally, the year immediately following a passing is quiet, so that the spirit can rest. We will speak more about Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut after a full year has passed.
In the meanwhile, we are leaving materials pertaining to the work we did for her release up as an archive on this site.
Hy’shqe (thank you) for your time, for your love and care for this beloved relation..
International Ceremonies and Solidarity
Videos from Central Asia, Nepal, Russia, Lummi Nation, the United States, Europe, and elsewhere will be posted soon in this collective, ongoing prayer and ceremony for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut. Videos are also viewable on the “Ceremonies for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut” Facebook Page. Please hold and share your own ceremony, and post to the Facebook page and/or send one to us at info@sacredsea.org via email, DropBox, or WeTransfer.
Recent Press
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Killer whale Lolita imprisoned for 50 years: “Let her be reunited with her mother”– Sweden
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50 years since bloody roundup– Whidbey Times
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50 years ago, seven orcas…- Times Colonist
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Syre in Swedish
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The Guardian, translated on Medium in French
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Primacia in Spanish
