Tokitae Podcast with Bonnie Swift cover art

Tokitae

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Tokitae

By: Bonnie Swift
Narrated by: Bonnie Swift
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About this listen

 In 1970, in one of the most infamous orca round-ups in history, an orca calf named Tokitae was taken from the islands off the coast of Seattle. For more than 50 years, she has lived at the Miami Seaquarium, in North America’s smallest orca tank.

Multiple lawsuits have been brought forward to free her, all of which so far have failed.

Then, in 2017, an elder from the Lummi Nation received a message, carried from a dream. “Can anybody hear me?” Tokitae said, “I want to go home.”

To the Lummi, Tokitae is not just an animal in captivity, she is a kidnapped relative. Now, members of the Lummi Nation are taking up the fight to return Tokitae to the Salish Sea, where she was born.

But there’s a problem. Tokitae’s wild family is struggling for survival. Is it safe to bring her home, when her family here is facing extinction?

“What happens to the orcas is going to happen to us,” says Jay Julius, the former Chairman of the Lummi Nation. “And what happens to the Indians is going to happen to everyone else.”

Bonnie Swift grew up on Penn Cove, hearing the story of Tokitae’s capture, and as a child sang songs at protest events on Tokitae’s behalf. Now, in her thirties, Bonnie's come back to Tokitae. This is a story about killer whales, capture teams, Free Willy, the failures of environmental law, the extinction crisis, indigenous rights, grief, spirituality, and, most of all, the promise of repair.

©2021 Bonnie Swift Productions, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC Animals Biological Sciences Outdoors & Nature Science
Episodes
  • Trailer

    Trailer
    Nov 4 2021
    In 1970, in one of the most infamous orca round-ups in history, an orca calf named Tokitae was taken from the islands off the coast of Seattle. For more than 50 years, she has lived at the Miami Seaquarium, in North America’s smallest orca tank.

    Multiple lawsuits have been brought forward to free her, all of which so far have failed.

    Then, in 2017, an elder from the Lummi Nation received a message, carried from a dream. “Can anybody hear me?” Tokitae said, “I want to go home.”

    To the Lummi, Tokitae is not just an animal in captivity, she is a kidnapped relative. Now, members of the Lummi Nation are taking up the fight to return Tokitae to the Salish Sea, where she was born.

    But there’s a problem. Tokitae’s wild family is struggling for survival. Is it safe to bring her home, when her family here is facing extinction?

    “What happens to the orcas is going to happen to us,” says Jay Julius, the former Chairman of the Lummi Nation. “And what happens to the Indians is going to happen to everyone else.”

    Bonnie Swift grew up on Penn Cove, hearing the story of Tokitae’s capture, and as a child sang songs at protest events on Tokitae’s behalf. Now, in her thirties, Bonnie's come back to Tokitae. This is a story about killer whales, capture teams, Free Willy, the failures of environmental law, the extinction crisis, indigenous rights, grief, spirituality, and, most of all, the promise of repair.
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    2 mins
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  • Chapter 1: How to Capture a Whale

    Chapter 1: How to Capture a Whale
    Nov 18 2021
    Tokitae’s capture in 1970 was one of the most infamous orca round-ups in history. Seven calves were taken, and five whales drowned. The public outcry following this capture helped put an end to the capture era in Washington State. Of those seven calves who were taken, Tokitae is the last survivor.
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    58 mins
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  • Chapter 2: Superpod

    Chapter 2: Superpod
    Nov 25 2021
    Tokitae’s extended family, the southern resident killer whales, have lived in the Salish Sea for at least 700,000 years. Likely longer. They are highly sentient beings, with large, wrinkly brains, x-ray vision, languages, cultures, and they live in matriarchal family units called pods. They are also on the brink of extinction.
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    50 mins
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Written and Reported By
The Team

Meet the Creators

Bonnie grew up in the islands of the Pacific Northwest and currently lives in Seattle.
She has a BA in history from Stanford and an MFA from the Konstfack College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Sweden. Her first love was radio and podcast, but she’s also worked as an architectural historian, as a freelance editor, and in healthcare research.
Tokitae is her first long-form audio story.

Meet the Creators

Tokitae features prayers and original music by Chenoa Egawa, as well as original music by Mark Nichols and Julie Lewis.
Our editor and production manager is Loretta Williams.
Our executive producer and editor at Audible is Rachel Hamburg.
Kurt Russo is our producer and liaison.
Cyrus James is our assistant producer.
Fact checking by Elizabeth Atalay.
Nadini Agarwal is our research assistant.
Sound design, mix, and mastering are by Jake Young and Cara Ehlenfeldt of Mumble Media.
Audio engineering by Daniel Guenther.
The photo on our cover is an image of Tokitae at her capture, courtesy of Terrell Newby.
Thank you to CBC, Howard Garrett, Geoffrey Schaaf, and John Ford for archival materials. And to Emily Harrold for procuring them.
Thanks to Jaime Wolf and Jacob London for their legal expertise.
Special thanks to all of the interviewees who took part in this series, and especially to those at the Lummi Nation who trusted me with their stories.

Most relevant  
I have always loved Orcas but now much deeper. I had no idea this really happens in real life, only in movies. My heart aches.

Touched my heart

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I was emotionally captivated by the story and admire the narrator's steadfast factual story-telling with such powerful emotional sustanence of the story and its relative 'characters'...well done...-im such a baby cuz the dolphins (orkas) make me cry--Hooty & the 🐡

steadfast narration

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Grew up in South Florida where Id see Lolita at least once a year, I remember the first time I thought to myself, hmmm her tank is actually pretty small for her size, so I stopped going, that was over 10 years ago now. But I never stopped thinking about her and following her story. But theres was actually a lot I didn’t know, and this podcast taught me a lot about her story. Even 10, 20, or 50 years from now I believe this podcast will be just as good a listen. Bonnie did an amazing job. Brought me to tears and had me contemplating a lot throughout the episodes.

Emotional

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Heartbroken she was so close to being able to go home. Much love to all who worked so hard for this beautiful Being.

Tokitae won my heart in this telling of her life.

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