Thanks to Ed M.
The main totem from the “Spirit of the Waters” totem journey depicts a 16-foot killer whale, carrying a baby on her snout. It is inspired by the true story of Talequah, an endangered southern resident orca who miscarried in 2018.
A group of native carvers from the Lummi Nation has hit the road again from Bellingham. The House of Tears Carvers will make stops in Oregon, Idaho and Washington over the next two weeks, as they call for dam removal on the Lower Snake River, through storytelling, conversation and prayer.
The group has organized dozens of such journeys over the past two decades, part of the Pacific Northwest’s indigenous-led environmental movement.
“Spirit of the Waters” is the name of this year’s journey. And the main totem pole featured — and loaded onto a flatbed truck for the tour — depicts a 16-foot long killer whale, carrying a baby on her snout.
It’s the true story from 2018, of the endangered southern resident orca known as Talequah, and her tour of grief after she miscarried.
“Where that mother whale carried that dead infant for one thousand miles in 17 days,” says Jewell James, a Lummi elder who leads the House of Tears Carvers.
“That was really significant,” he says of the story that captivated global audiences more than three years ago but has since begun to fade from the media limelight.
“I mean, how can a whale tell you how dangerous humanity has become to their life, their way of life?” he says. “They’re letting you know the quality of your environment and their quality of life.”