Sacred Lands Conservancy

This is a time of great possibility for Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, the captive killer whale also known as Tokitae or Lolita. While she has had serious health struggles over the past year, so much in her life has changed for the better. The new owners of the Miami Seaquarium have committed to her well-being, and to doing what is best for her in the long run.

We believe that home is what will be best for our relation, and we want to be ready to receive her. We also believe that those who have decision-making power over her future are more likely to say "yes" to her homecoming if they see that we have a great home for her in the Salish Sea, as well as a robust plan for her ongoing care.

Please help us!

 

Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut , the orca also known as Tokitae or Lolita, was violently taken from her Salish Sea family over 50 years ago and was sold to the Miami Seaquarium, where she has been performing ever since.

She, like other Southern Resident orcas, is a sacred relation of the Lhaq'temish people of Lummi Nation, in northwest Washington State. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut is a true Salish Sea daughter, a beloved family member of both her L-pod and the Lhaq'temish people.

 

Orcas are tremendously intelligent, social beings who dive deep and swim for miles every day. For an orca to be isolated in a small concrete tank is a cruelty. For a child to be separated from her family is a tragedy.

 

Lummi tribal members have invoked their kinship, legal, and cultural claims to Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut and are calling for her to come home. The Lhaq'temish-led non-profit Sacred Sea has spearheaded a campaign to return Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut to the Salish Sea, where she will be cared for in a custom-built netted area in her native waters.

 

We are working and fundraising in phases:

 

Phase 1: completed. We commissioned Whale Sanctuary Project and their network of experts to draft a comprehensive plan on how to safely and responsibly bring Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut home. The plan, which was paid for by online donations from our generous supporters, details all aspects of her return, her Salish Sea home, and her ongoing care.

 

Phase 2: NOW. Our immediate concern is Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut's health. We raise our hands to all her caretakers at Miami Seaquarium, and to The Dolphin Company for collaborating with the experts at Friends of Lolita, who are so generously supporting Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut's recovery and enrichment. We are thankful to the Seaquarium for inviting Lhaq'temish spiritual practitioners to hold traditional healing sessions with Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut. We believe that science and ceremony, love and medicine, will bring her back into good health.

While Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut continues to recover and strengthen, we continue to work on securing a site for her home in the Salish Sea. We are in search of a safe, protected area in the San Juan Islands. We have narrowed our search down to a few excellent candidate sites. The complicated process of seeing which site(s) might be feasible is next. Leases, permits, permissions, negotiations and outreach are part of this process.

 

Phase 3: 2023. Once we have secured a site and Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut's health has stabilized, we will begin accepting pledges for putting the entire plan into action.

We have faith that Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut will come home, that an old wrong will be righted, that her orca family will be made whole again, and that this healing will be part of the greater healing that needs to happen between our species and our Mother Earth.

Your donation of any amount is greatly appreciated. It will take all of us, Netse Mot (of one heart and one mind), working together to bring her home. Hy'shqe (thank you) for your support. Your generosity makes our work possible.

 

Sacred Lands Conservancy 501c3 doing business as Sacred Sea is a Lhaq'temish-led non-profit committed to Indigenous and indigenized stewardship of the Salish Sea. Learn how we can all be in better relationship with the place we call home at www.SacredSea.org.

The Gooseberry Point Protector is a larger-than-life bronze cast statue of a traditional Lhaq-temish woman standing on a base of swimming salmon and a reef net anchor. She will be placed on the shoreline near the ferry dock, where fishermen and boaters coming from either direction can see her, and feel blessed, welcomed, and protected by her.

The larger Protector vision encompasses 5 identical statues --designed by internationally acclaimed artist Haiying Wu-- placed throughout the Norther Straits Salish islands and coastlines. Right now we are fundraising for the first Protector, to be installed at Gooseberry Point.

The Protector statues will:

The Gooseberry Point Protector in particular will also be the site of the annual Blessing of the Fleet, and will serve as a memorial to Lummi fisherman lost at sea.

This project celebrates the spirit of the Salish Sea, and the Straits Salish peoples who have relied on and taken care of these islanded waters since time immemorial. All of us who now love this place have a sacred obligation to protect this place; the Protector will bless and protect us all.

Artist Haiying Wu has already designed the statue and created a maquette, which will be scaled up. The finished Protector will stand more than 7" tall, and will be cast in bronze, to last through the ages.

The total cost of this first Gooseberry Protector is $131,000. Lummi

Fish Commission's salmon dinners at SeaFeast and in-kind donations have provided seed funds, and Haiying Wu has completed the design phase (please see the maquette in the slideshow here). We would love to see the Gooseberry Point Protector finished and installed sometime in the summer of 2026, with the first Blessing of the Fleet and memorial reading of names. We believe that if we can crowdfund $25,000 that this is possible. Any amount helps, as projects like this rely on community support as well as financial support!

Sculptor Haiying Wu's most recent work includes the Billy Frank, Jr. statue to be installed in Washington, DC. Haiying is generously contributing some production services towards this project. Hy'shqe, Haiying!

Artist Jason LaClair created the image "Woman Strength," used here, especially for this project. Hy'shqe, Jason!

We are grateful to each and every one of you, individuals who are working for a future where we all feel a sense of gratitude, belonging, and respect towards Mother Earth and all her waters.