Free Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut

摘要

ABOARD a small boat in Biscayne Bay, Florida, Raynell Morris (Squil-le-he-le) beats a steady rhythm on a handheld drum. When she shouts towards the shore, her voice cracks with emotion. "Your people are here," she says. "We'll bring you home." Morris's call is directed at the Miami Seaquarium where an animal she considers her kin is kept in captivity. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut - also known as Tokitae or Lolita - is a Southern Resident orca. It is the last week in September, and Morris has travelled 5500 kilometres from her home in Washington state to mark the 50th anniversary of the whale's capture. Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut's incarceration remains an open wound for Morris and the rest of the Lummi Nation, the Native American people in whose territory the whale was taken. Various groups have been fighting for her release for decades. Now, the Lummi are leading a new approach.