Returning a Relative

Lummi Nation tribal members fight for the return of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, an orca who was stolen from the Salish Sea over 50 years ago.

Story by Brie Vogler | Photos by Waverly Shreffler

June 12, 2021

In 1970, the lives of the southern resident orcas of Puget Sound were changed forever. Their native waters of the Salish Sea were littered with boats, ropes and bombs all meant to capture young orca calves. More than 100 orca whales were corralled into a small cove off the northern stretch of Whidbey Island. Seven calves were successfully captured. Now, over 50 years later, only one is still alive.

The remaining captured orca is 54-year-old Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut previously known as Tokitae and Lolita. She was born into the southern resident population in the late 1960s to Ocean Sun, the oldest living killer whale in the southern resident community. In the years before her capture, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut lived with the southern resident orcas of L pod, learning the distinct songs and calls, bonding with the other orcas and learning hunting behaviors. Since her capture she has lived at Miami Seaquarium, performing for crowds.

For over three years Lummi Nation Elder Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris) has led a passionate campaign for the return of the lone survivor from a tank in Miami to the waters of the Salish Sea.

Squil-le-he-le, with the help of fellow tribe member Tah-Mahs (Ellie Kinley), continues to fight for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s return, citing The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA). In 2019, the two tribal members announced their intent to sue Miami Seaquarium and their parent companies EQT and Parques Reunidos to bring about Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s release.

Before the passing of the late hereditary Chief Bill Tsi’li’xw James in June 2020, Squil-le-he-le was tasked with healing the Salish Sea for the Lhaq’temish people of the Lummi Nation.

“[Chief Bill Tsi’li’xw James and the spiritual advisor] cleared my path,” Squil-le-he-le said. “They said it’s mine to carry, to heal the Salish Sea, heal the salmon, heal the Qwe ‘lhol mechen (southern resident orcas) and heal the Lhaq’temish people.”

She believes that Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s return to her native waters would kickstart healing for the Lummi community and the Salish Sea.

“She’s our relative,” Squil-le-he-le said. “She’s our kin, and you don’t rest until your family’s together.”

Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s return depends on how the courts interpret NAGPRA, which was created to restore items of cultural significance taken during the era of colonization. The act requires all museums and federal agencies to return requested Indigenous cultural items to lineal descendants and affiliated tribes. Qwe ‘lhol mechen have major significance for the Lhaq’temish people.

Tah-Mahs and Squil-le-he-le have partnered with The Earth Law Center, a leading community of Indigenous rights groups, to sue Miami Seaquarium for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s return. Her captivity is considered a violation of the repatriation law, according to Michelle Bender, the oceans director at Earth Law Center.

After Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut was taken from the Salish Sea at the age of four, she was driven across the country by truck and greeted with her new home: an 11-meter-wide tank that could pose health risks due to its small size, according to a study done in 2016. She was given the showgirl name “Lolita” and performs for food to this day.

Miami Seaquarium could not be contacted after multiple attempts.

The 50th anniversary of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s capture was an emotional day for Squil-le-he-le and Tah-Mahs. The two traveled to Miami and chartered a boat into the waters next to Miami Seaquarium with Samuel Tommy, a Seminole tribal member.

As the boat rocked back and forth in the blue waters surrounding the Miami Seaquarium, Tommy started to play a song from his flute. The song continued as Tah-Mahs let branches of cedar fall into the water and slowly float into the intake valve of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s tank to remind her of the smell of home.

“I drummed for her and talked to her and told her to get ready,” Squil-le-he-le said. “We’re coming.”

Multiple cases have gone to court to retire and return Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut back to the Salish Sea, citing health concerns for the orca.

The latest case from 2018 was filed by animal rights and whale advocates against Miami Seaquarium. It was dismissed in The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Miami.

The plaintiffs cited 13 injuries sustained in captivity. However, the judge ruled that keeping Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut in captivity at the Miami Seaquarium was not in violation of The Endangered Species Act (ESA) because the injuries, which were mostly self-inflicted, did not qualify as “harassment or harm,” as it is outlined in the ESA.

Marine theme parks like SeaWorld and Miami Seaquarium argue that returning an orca that has been in captivity for a prolonged amount of time would result in harm to or the death of the animal. In Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s case, they say the stress of transporting her across the country could be catastrophic. They also argue that the Atlantic Ocean pathogens she harbors could pose a threat to her health and that of the L pod orcas if she returns to her native waters.

Experts continue to debate about which decision carries the lowest risk for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut.

“Does she have the potential to bring anything that she’s picked up in captivity into the wild and transmit it to wild animals?” asked Dr. Joe Gaydos, veterinarian and science director for the SeaDoc Society.

Some are wary of the levels of risk associated with the preparation of Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s possible release.

“The biggest challenge is going to be a chain of transfer,” said Lori Marino, president of the Whale Sanctuary Project. “A transfer can be done, but it’s stressful. And the psychological change? She has to be prepared for that. It can’t happen overnight.”

Gaydos believes that while there is no risk-free way to transport Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, there are things that can be done.

“As a veterinarian, we translocate animals frequently,” Gaydos said. “We have standards and health protocols to do what we can to minimize risk.”

Howard Garrett, co-founder and president of the board at Orca Network, said there is no evidence that Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut would be harmed if she were released back into the Salish Sea. Since 1997, Garrett and the rest of Orca Network have had a release plan set in place for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut. This plan is based on the one set for Keiko, the star of the 1993 film Free Willy.

“Keiko surpassed almost all expectations in his recovery from near death in captivity to the full bloom of health, and in his ability to catch live fish, use echolocation and to call out in his family’s native vocalizations,” Garrett wrote in a 1997 report.

Squil-le-he-le and officials from the Whale Sanctuary Project have also created a plan for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s return. It has yet to be released.

“Orcas continually display behavioral and physiological signs of stress and frequently succumb to early deaths despite decades of advancements in veterinary care and husbandry in marine theme parks,” according to Marino’s 2019 study.

This is clear in the death of Hugo, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s former tank mate of 10 years. He had a radical change in behavior in January of 1980; usually docile, he began thrashing about in his habitat. He died three months later of self-inflicted damage to his head.

What does the future hold for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut? Earth Law Center, Squil-le-he-le and Tah-Mahs have yet to file their case for her return, though there’s hope that they will be able to meet and reach an agreement with EQT and Parques Reunidos this year. There have recently been responses from EQT mentioning a possible meeting at the company’s headquarters in Europe in the near future, but Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s release is not yet certain.

“I’m ready to go to Spain, because this kind of discussion about a relative cannot be done on Zoom,” Squil-le-he-le said. “For 50 years, all [Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut] has been living on is her heart, her spirit and hope.”

According to Squil-le-he-le, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut produces the call of her family to this day.

Pronunciation of terms, spoken by Squil-le-he-le:

In order: Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, Tokitae, Squil-le-he-le (Raynell Morris), Chief Bill Tsi’li’xw James (Bill James), Tah-Mahs (Eleanor Kinley), Lhaq’temish (Lummi People), Qwe ‘lhol mechen (southern resident killer whales), Lummi.