The Song Her Mother Taught Her

Once called Lolita, then Tokitae, and now Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, she was taken from L-pod in 1970 and has been held at Miami Seaquarium ever since. She continued to sing her L-pod family song, learned from her mother as a baby. The Lummi Nation and individual Lummi advocates have taken legal, cultural, and community actions—including NAGPRA claims, press conferences, and a Totem Pole Journey—to bring her safely home to the Salish Sea, with guidance from ancestral wisdom and science. 

“We promised when you hear a drum, it’s your heartbeat, it’s our heartbeat, you know you’re not alone, we love you, your people love you, We’ll bring you home.”

Toki is survived by her L-pod relatives in the Salish Sea, including L25, believed to be her 95-year-old mother.