JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!

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Special Alert!

A request on behalf of Deb Cruz, JUUstice Washington’s President 

It’s long been since time . . .

Bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut Home!

A sacred request from
Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris) and
Tah-Mahs (Ellie Kinley)

“Our Lhaq’temish [Lummi] people have had a special relationship with our killer whales since time immemorial. We know them as qwe’lhol’mechen, which means “people under the water.”  Our stories tell of intermarriage and kinship between our Lhaq’temish people and a local qwe’lhol’mechen clan we know as Sk’aliCh’elh.

Fifty years ago, as our own children were being stolen and sent to boarding schools, one of the Sk’aliCh’elh children was stolen and sold to the Miami Seaquarium. We call this orca whale “Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut,” which means daughter of Sk’aliCh’elh. She is our Lhaq’temish daughter, too. She has been held in a small concrete tank and forced to perform for her food since 1970.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People recognizes and uphold our rights to our culture, our spirituality, our families.  In order for our Lhaq’temish culture, spirituality, and family to be whole, we must bring Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home. We are working with the world’s top scientists and experts on how to do this responsibly. We have a plan, but we do not yet have Miami Seaquarium’s agreement to release her into our care.

We are asking all individuals to sign our Petition, as put forth by our partners at the Earth Law Center.”

Hy’shqe,

Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris)
Tah-Mahs (Ellie Kinley)
Enrolled members of Lummi Nation

Please pass this onto family, friends, allies and partners.  Ask them to sign the petition.  It is believed that an overwhelming show of support, Miami Seaquarium’s parent companies might do the right thing and allow the Lhaq’temish people to bring their relation home to the Salish Sea, where they and her orca family await her.

For more information, check the links below:

Links: 

Thank you for your ongoing support of Lummi Nation!

Seaquarim’s Shame: Episode 2 – Talequah

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A mother orca grieves the death of her only minutes old baby in the Salish Sea in the summer of 2018. The world media becomes fixated. 4 years later she has a new baby boy, Phoenix. A landlocked girl from Ohio won’t let her dreams of the sea go unrealized. Be there as has her first encounter with an orca. Today she is an accomplished marine naturalist & creator & hosts one of the best podcasts on the Southern Residents: Breaching Extinction. A Vietnam war veteran discovers Indian Country, finding where things feel right, after years on a motorcycle discovering America. Meet an ally of The Lummi First nation who’s been witness & supporter in their fight to save the Qw’e lh’ol me chen.

Listen here.

Seaquarim’s Shame: Episode 1 – Tokitae

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Something is wrong at Miami Seaquarium.. They have been keeping an orca who doesn’t belong to them for over 50 years. A produce salesman turned vegan activist fights for over a decade on the street corner in front of Miami Seaquarium, turning away thousands of cars. A new legal fight launches in 2020 headed by The Lummi Nation of the Pacific North West. Still: 19,785 days later Lolita the whale remains alone in the smallest tank in the world. Episode 1: Tokitae

Listen here.

Podcast | Past the dams, tribes help the Columbia River roll on

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Few rivers define a region like the Columbia, where tribal scientists are making headway in bringing back its most important species: salmon.

Few rivers define a region like the Columbia. Since time immemorial, it’s been a food source, a dividing line and a driver of culture and politics throughout the Pacific Northwest. And since humans have lived on it, we’ve sung about it — from Native hymns to Woody Guthrie’s “Roll On, Columbia.”

Ever since white settlers first came west, people have gone from relying on its seasonal bounty to attempting to tame it for their own purposes. Of those efforts, nothing has transformed the Columbia like the 18 dams that generate low-cost electricity and create reservoirs that support Washington’s year-round agricultural industry. Woody even wrote a song about the largest of those dams, the Grand Coulee — a 500-foot-tall, nearly milelong wall of concrete that is among the largest objects built by human hands.

Read and listen to more here.

Billy Frank Jr. could replace Washington’s statue of Marcus Whitman

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Efforts to take down the missionary’s statue have resurfaced this year with a proposal to replace it with the renowned Nisqually activist.

On-and-off efforts to memorialize the Nisqually activist have bubbled up in recent years, with some tribes and school districts celebrating Billy Frank Jr. Day as a way to recall his legacy. This year, a state bill could make these efforts for recognition national.

Read more here.