On January 15, the day of Governor Bob Ferguson’s inauguration, approximately 200 people gathered in Olympia at the Washington State Capitol calling on policymakers to take action for the endangered southern resident killer whales.
The urgency for the vigil was brought on by Tahlequah’s (J-35) second journey of grief. She was seen pushing her deceased daughter’s (J-61) body through her home waters from December 31, 2024 to January 10, 2025. At the time of writing, Tahlequah and her calf’s situation is unknown as they are likely traveling outside the Salish Sea.
Vashon’s Backbone Campaign, an island nonprofit internationally known for their artful activism, iconic imagery and progressive policy advocacy was there, outside the Capitol in full strength with giant inflatable orcas, salmon signs, and a proposal for addressing the needs of salmon, orca, farmers and tribes alike.
Backbone’s team included long time members as well as their newly added staff. While Indigenous leaders shared their insights, songs and prayers, Team Backbone animated the event with the colorful imagery that framed the purpose of the event and celebrated the creatures that are so fundamental to NW Indigenous culture and our regional identity.
In 2018, mother orca Tahlequah brought international attention to the plight of our resident orcas. Her 17-day tour of grief, during which she pushed her deceased calf through the waters of the Salish Sea, revealed both the shortage of Chinook salmon and the potential solution, breaching the Lower Snake River dams. Tragically, she recently lost another newborn and undertook another exhausting vigil with this deceased calf as well.
Backbone Campaign interpreted Tahlequah’s heroic journey in 2018 as a call to action. It turned its energy, creative tools and actions toward breaching the Lower Snake River dams in order to recover vast habitat for wild Chinook and other species.
In the years since, Backbone has expanded its imagery to include multiple lifelike inflatable salmon and orcas. It has facilitated 17 “human orca murals” across the region, executed projections on the dams and produced dozens of events from bannering over freeways to processions through Pacific Northwest towns and cities.
At the Olympia rally, the 24-foot replica of Tahlequah was accompanied by their two baby orca inflatables, fittingly representing her two calves who have passed away.
The beautiful 20-foot chinook salmon, which debuted at the 2024 Strawberry Festival, and multiple banners made the Olympia event a spectacle that neither press nor elected officials could ignore. Fox 13 ran a news item that featured this imagery and broadcasted the call for breaching the Lower Snake River dams.
At the Capitol, Backbone Campaign spoke about its Solutionary Rail project and its Rosalia to Pasco Shortline Access Rail Corridor proposal for providing additional rail service to farmers currently dependent on the barging.
Our research has shown that trains can save salmon. Solutionary Rail worked for two years to develop the proposal for restoring track to abandoned stretches of once excellent rail corridor. This would give wheat farmers the resilient and competitive service that they currently cannot count on from BNSF or Union Pacific railroads.
All but 16 miles of the proposed Rosalia to Pasco route is owned by Washington State already, including the proposed terminal at the confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers. As in other places across the country, Solutionary Rail is striving to return rail service to communities that have been left behind.
It is not really adequate to simply shout ‘Breach the dams!’ without proposing a vision for the future in which everyone can thrive. We are doing both.
Backbone is both critiquing the status quo and proposing a way forward, a refreshing approach in a world of people yelling past each other. Backbone acknowledges that changes in leadership in Washington D.C. and Olympia come with difficulties and opportunities. As a member of the Community Advisory Committee for the ongoing transportation replacement study, we think actions to improve rail service are valuable on their own and that Governor Ferguson could take action with the Legislature in the 2025 Legislative session. For more information, visit SolutionaryRail.org/lsrbarge2rail.
Team Backbone welcomes you to join them in whatever parts of their work draws you. To learn more and to express our community’s commitment to heed the plea of Tahlequah, Backbone invites you to speak out and show up for the southern resident killer whales and free flowing rivers by joining their upcoming Human Orca Mural on Vashon at Lisabeula Park. For more information and to RSVP, head to BackboneCampaign.org/vashonorca.
Bill Moyer is the executive director of the Backbone Campaign, a local progressive advocacy organization.