60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey: Tribute to the Orca – A Short Film of Importance
- 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey: Tribute to the Orca - A Short Film of Importance 2:58
Hello to you listening in the Great State of Washington!
Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds for Wednesdays on Whidbey and your host, Diane Wyzga
Orcas are an integral part of my life on Whidbey, in particular the Southern resident orcas pods. Our Langley Whale Center celebrates and shares the lives of orcas, as well as gray whales, humpbacks, and other marine mammals of the Salish Sea. Volunteers regularly share sightings and soundings of this much loved and revered mammal iconic to the Salish Sea and the Pacific Northwest
I’m delighted to share a moving short film capturing the essence of Tribute to the Orca, an Indigenous-centered public event that took place during Orca Action Month (June 2024) at the Seattle Aquarium. The short film was produced by Se’Si’Le, an Indigenous-led nonprofit organization based in Bellingham who collaborated with Salish Sea and Northern Straits Native Nations and NGOs to host Tribute to the Orca.
All Our Relations: Tribute to the Orca delivers powerful voices of regional Indigenous leaders delivering somber and urgent narratives. The short film highlights Indigenous communities’ ancient kinship with orcas and salmon, and the importance of reciprocity in our relationship with our caretaker: Mother Nature. A special focus is on the Southern Resident orcas whose survival, like the survival of Indigenous lifeways here in the Pacific Northwest, depends on scha’enexw (the Salmon People). Click to watch on VIMEO
EPISODE NOTES
Learn more here: Columbia Snake River Campaign
Questions to ponder to support your activism: Jay Julius, Se’Si’Le co-founder and board president, who spoke at the Tribute event, introduces the film: “I am a Lummi Indian, a fisherman, a father, and, like all my people, a relative of Sk’aliCh’elh (the Southern Resident Killer Whales). I am President of Se’Si’Le that helped make possible the June 12, 2024 Tribute to the Orca. This video is based on that gathering where Indigenous voices honored an obligation to our endangered relatives. We ask, ‘Who has the moral authority to permit their extinction?’ We wonder, ‘What can be more grievous than watching the last of our relatives go under the waves for the last time?’ The speakers at the gathering shared a sense of urgency and empathy, heartbreak and hope, anger, anguish, and a call for action. We ask you to take to heart their words and the suffering of these dear ones, and take action now in the spirit of right and respectful relations with the Creation.” – W’tot lhem (Jay Julius)
CTA: After watching the film, please take the next step and act! Urge your policymakers to recommit to upholding treaty rights and support tribal leadership in developing comprehensive solutions in the Salish Sea and the Columbia-Snake River Basin to protect salmon and orcas from extinction.
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Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team
Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music
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