Freya the Walrus
A couple months ago, a 1,500 pound Walrus who got named Freya started roaming the Norwegian coast. She was found many times sunbathing in boats that were left crushed after her departure. Many people became fans of Freya. She would be sleeping on the coast and jet skis, crowds and security would form in seconds. People taking pictures, watching and many getting too close , messing and testing her.
“They are too close, I think. And it is not just one boat, but a dozen boats,” Walrus expert Rune Aae says.
On Tuesday, he watched TV broadcasts from the area and could observe that the walrus reacted with sudden movements when some boats came too close.
“Everything indicated that she wanted to get away. But she couldn’t because she was trapped,” he says.
Many people are calling her a “visitor”. A common name used by and for the wrong people. Even though walruses have not been in Norway for about 23 years they are natives to that land. Norway are next door neighbors to the arctic and it was common for walruses to be in that area.
Freya is native to that land, she is indigenous. Walruses are endangered species, their population has been on decline since the beginning of the 20th century.
After a couple months the Norwegian government announced that they were going to kill Freya, their reason being that people get too close. The stupid actions of others means she should die? 2 days after the announcement she was euthanized.
This part of the story hit me hard. She was another indigenous being killed. Death and murder are the “solutions” to all problems the colonizers have. Freya was no different than our ancestors that had their hands cut off for playing drums. Or all the indigenous sisters that have been harassed and murdered in the trail of tears. This ain’t nothing new and it ain’t over.
She never had caused any harm to anybody, she was gentle in her massive body. There are many videos of her floating, sleeping on boats, trying to climb onto boats.
But let's not forget that the coast is their coast. It could have been a way to reclaim that coast. The people that she left mad were all the owners of $40,000 plus dollars worth of boats and yachts.
After some research I discovered that in that same ocean near walrus territory the Norwegian government just offered a whole lotta oil and gas mining licenses. Which do cause lots of pollution and destruction of mother earth. And the displacement of these endangered relatives.
We as humans tend to get stuck in an idea that we are the only important beings, people even believe that different color equals difference in “worth”. It's a radical idea to advocate for animal rights. People are so blind to our direct connection to the beings of this earth. We are beings of the earth just as much as a bear, just as much as an ant.
Freya gave her life to bring the disrespect and ignorance to light. To remind the world one walrus can body many boats, we should walk humbly on this earth.
