NAGPRA, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, was originally passed by Congress to force the return of the remains of Native Americans to their tribes, when they can be identified, by federally funded entities such as educational institutions, as well as cultural artifacts.
But the Lummi Nation is taking it a step further, according to NewScientist (28 November 2020). The Lummi considered themselves kith and kin to the orca pod that hunts off the coast of northwest Washington State, including a collection of juveniles collected in 1970. The sole survivor of that group is currently an attraction at the Miami Seaquarium. Their strategy for releasing the survivor from what they consider inhumane conditions?
For the Lummi, who draw no distinction between what they call their “blackfish” and human kin, Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s captivity is nothing short of imprisonment. “We are one and the same,” says [Lummi Nation tribal elder Raynell] Morris. “We call ourselves a pod.” Nevertheless, she also recognises that these ancestral spiritual ties aren’t enough to secure Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut’s freedom. “You have to walk in the white world,” says Morris. Before returning to the Lummi Reservation in 2007, she worked for more than 22 years in corporate banking, and then as a White House staffer under Bill Clinton. It is this experience, she believes, that led her ancestors to task her with the “sacred obligation” of bringing Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut home.
To that end, Morris and [Lummi tribal elder Ellie] Kinley have enlisted help from the Earth Law Center, a Colorado-based non-profit organisation that aims to transform laws worldwide so that they protect, restore and stabilise ecosystems. In July, they informed the Miami Seaquarium and its parent companies in writing of their intent to sue under NAGPRA. The Miami Seaquarium, having received federal funds, meets the definition of a museum, so is subject to this legislation, they argue. Their aim is for Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut to be repatriated as “cultural patrimony”, defined by NAGPRA as “an object having ongoing historical, traditional or cultural importance central” to a Native American group or culture.
As an agnostic, I’m not particularly enamored of the claim that the Lummi are part of the orca pod.
However, as an observer of the world, I have no problem acknowledging the likelihood that this captive orca, known to the Lummi as Sk’aliCh’elh-tenaut, has some form of intelligence. The fact that orca can learn human-concocted tricks more or less ends the debate on that question.
Therefore, I’m all in favor of releasing all captive whales. Some have been ruined, I don’t doubt, by their time as captives, especially those inhabiting low quality quarters, as is alleged in the Seaquarium instance, and may require support.
Hell, I’ve always found the concept of a zoos to be uncomfortable. I recall visiting the Minnesota Zoo once – reluctantly – and witnessing some sort of large herbivorous quadruped, slowly walking backwards in circles. I thought that was heart-breaking.
On the other hand, I’ll happily eat a steak. Call me inconsistent if you must, but our dentition tells the story of our needs.
