Lummi Elder Squil-le-he-le on the Documentary Resident Orca and Her Relatives Beneath the Waves

About this episode

Lummi Elder Squil-le-he-le discusses her relationship with the orca known as Lolita and the documentary 'Resident Orca'.

Squil-le-he-le – Lummi Elder and matriarch – on her relationship, and her nation's relationship, with the orca known as Lolita, Tokitae and Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut, the attempt to bring her home and sharing that story in the powerful new documentary Resident Orca . Resident Orca is now available on Crave in Canada and is still in festivals in the USA and around the world. “You can't separate Canada and the US… “Clean up our beaches. Stop using plastic. Talk to your electeds. And say it's enough. Breach the dams. It's enough, stop the pollution. It's enough, talk to Canada and let's join forces in saving that body of water that we all treasure and hold sacred. ” Made in Canada, eh 🍁 Shownotes: 4:43 Meet Skay-la-hay-la – Lummi (Lhaq'temish ) elder and martiarch. 5:24 On the naming and renaming of Lolita/Tokitae to Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut 7:00 On being related to the orcas. “Our relatives that live under the waves… We're related through cosmology.” 9:10 On the “round-up” that almost ended the southern resident orcas. 11:40 “They separated these babies from their mothers and there were several that were killed in the process and the captors didn't want to count…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Leiren-Young

Guest: Squil-le-he-le

Topics covered

• Lummi Elder
• orcas
• documentary
• environmentalism
• cultural relationship

Keywords

• Lolita
• Tokitae
• Sk'aliCh'elh-tenaut
• pollution
• beach cleanup

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Resident Orca

Books & works: Resident Orca and Her Relatives Beneath the Waves, Resident Orca, The Orca Bites Podcast, Octopus Ocean, Sharks Forever, Killer Whale Who Changed the World, Orcas Everywhere &, The Killer Whale Who Changed the World, Orcas of the Salish Sea & Big Whales, Small World Paint the Ocean You Wish to See with Rayne Ellycrys Benu, The Force of Doubt

Places: Canada, USA, US, Penn Cove, the Salish Sea

More episodes of Skaana with Mark Leiren-Young

• When Orcas “Attack” – Alexandra Johnston on the world’s most infamous whales · January 10, 2026 · 54 min
• Polar Bear Jail, Chilling in Churchill & Hanging Out With the Apex Predator on Ice · December 11, 2025 · 44 min
• Flipper Trainer Ric O’Barry on his journey from SeaWorld to Sanctuaries · October 13, 2025 · 57 min
• Misty MacDuffee on the Southern Resident Orcas and the Threat of Bright Extinction · September 29, 2025 · 58 min
• The Killer Whale That Changed the World · July 16, 2025 · 59 min
• Mark Leiren-Young – Sharks Forever and Jaws Forever? · July 2, 2025 · 16 min