ORCAS ISLAND, Wash. — Lummi Nation is trying again to bring a 52-year-old orca, known as Lolita Tokitae at the Miami Seaquarium, back to her native waters, but this time, they have a multi-million-dollar deal behind them.
Tribal Chairman Jay Julius tells KOMO they entered a Memorandum of Understanding with landowner Jim Youngren to buy 160 acres of a cove on Orcas Island for $5.5 million to be Tokitae’s permanent home.
Tokitae has been performing at the Seaquarium for forty-seven years and KOMO reports they have refused to give her up and refuse to talk with Lummi about it, but Youngren isn’t deterred.
“I’m an eternal optimist, so there’s no reason for this not to happen,” he says.
Starting Thursday, Lummi Nation members plan to begin a two week totem journey to Miami to raise awareness of their effort.
KOMO reports the decades of effort to bring Tokitae back has never had this type of money and plan behind it.