WHEREAS, we make our homes and live our lives on Lhaq’temish and Coast Salish territories, and strive to embody the traditional ways of this place by practicing right, reciprocal relationship with these lands and waters and the native life contained herein,

WHEREAS, the Lhaq’temish term for orca – qwe’lhol’mechen – means “people under the water,” and recognizes the many ways in which orcas and humans are alike, both of us having unique and complex societies, loving families, language, culture, rituals, and song,

WHEREAS, ancestral teachings hold that that Lhaq’temish people and the Southern Resident Orcas in particular are one single family, with some members living above the water, and some wearing orca regalia that allows them to live below water, and all depending on wild Pacific salmon for physical, cultural, and spiritual sustenance,

WHEREAS, the natural rights of the “people under the water,” like the natural rights of those of us on land, include but are not limited to the right to life; sovereignty; culture; free and safe passage; and freedom from human-caused conditions causing famine or any other physical, emotional, or mental harm,

WHEREAS, our Southern Resident qwe’lhol’mechen neighbors and relations face extinction if we humans do not take meaningful action to ensure their survival and well-being, and the survival and well-being of the wild salmon on which they depend,

WHEREAS, we recognize that those among us who are Lhaq’temish, the qwe’lhol’mechen, and the wild salmon are profoundly entwined with one another, and so our love and good action for one is love and good action for all,

NOW, THEREFORE, we urge the governments of Whatcom County and the City of Bellingham to immediately pass Proclamations that in no way compromise or infringe upon Lhaq’temish Treaty rights and do positively affirm and promote the natural rights of qwe’lhol’mechen to exist as they have since time immemorial,

Signed,