Alaska Native culture bearers bless Cook Inlet Fin Whale [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Alaska Native Heritage Center staff gathered on the Cook Inlet mudflats on Monday to honor a whale that washed ashore over a week ago.

“We came here today to offer some prayers and ceremony to the whale that washed up,” Ben Baldwin, with the Alaska Native Heritage Center, said.

Baldwin was one of several staff who took part in the blessing ceremony for the nearly 50-foot fin whale.

“The reason that we’re here as Native people is to be respectful of all living things,” Marilyn Balluta, with the center, said. “This [the whale] is your non-human relative.”

During the ceremony, Baldwin performed both a prayer and a song for the whale. According to Baldwin, this was the first time he had done a blessing like this in front …