The two new 144-car ferries now under construction are being
named Tokitae and Samish. The Washington State Transportation
Commission today selected the names from seven proposals submitted
in September. The other proposed names were Cowlitz, Hoquiam,
Muckleshoot, Sammamish and Ivar Haglund.
Each of the seven proposals met commission guidelines for naming
ferries. The commission then solicited input from Washington State
Ferries, the ferry advisory committee executive council, and
through an online survey sent to members of the Ferry Riders
Opinion Group and the Voice of Washington State survey panels. More
than 4,000 people responded to the survey.
Of the 23 vessels operating in Puget Sound, almost all have
names reflecting the state’s tribal heritage. The names of the two
new Olympic Class vessels, along with the new 64-car ferries, are
in keeping with that tradition.
Tokitae will be the first new 144-car ferry. This Coast Salish
greeting means, “nice day, pretty colors” and also is the name
given to an orca whale captured at Penn Cove, near Keystone, in
1970. Tokitae was brought to a marine park in Miami 40 years ago,
where she was put into service as an entertainer, and re-named
Lolita. She is the last survivor of the 45 Southern Resident Orcas
captured in Washington state during the capture era of the 1960s
and 70s. Such captures were banned in Washington state waters in
1976.
The second 144-car ferry will be named Samish. The meaning of the
name is the “giving people” in proto-Salish origins. The Samish
Indian Nation has held a deep-rooted respect for the traditions of
sharing with its neighbors. The tribe’s historic area ranges from
the mountaintops of the Cascades westerly along the hills,
woodlands, and river deltas, arriving at the far western shores of
the San Juan Island. The tribe’s historic lands have been inhabited
for thousands of years by the ancestors of the Samish and their
Coast Salish neighbors.
The class of ferry — Olympic — was chosen earlier by the Department of Transportation from 130 submissions.
Hopefully this naming decision will bring a tremendous amount of awareness to Tokitae (Lolita) and other captive orcas. I’ve blogged about Tokitae’s situation a number of times; there is a plan to bring her back to her native waters and have her live in a sea pen in the San Juans. She is the second oldest orca in captivity and one of our oldest orcas here is either her mother or an aunt. She still has family in her home waters and she retains elements of her native language. Many people don’t realize that orcas are family-oriented animals with their own language and culture.
Why not use a name that people can say easy.
You mean like Kwa-di Tabil? I actually love to say Tokitae. It’s almost as much fun as saying Suzan DelBene.