“I am an Australian born Samoan. The decisions made by the leaders in this country do not only affect me here in Australia but also my home, people and land in the Pacific Islands.”
- Matile Moaga at 2019 School Strike 4 Climate, Sydney
I too am an Australian born Samoan. In my 18 years of living, I have come across many different Pacific Islanders from across the diaspora of all walks of life. Some who were born in Australia like me, some in New Zealand, some in the islands, some in other places around the world. Many were brought up by parents who taught them the traditional ways of the culture and many like me, are still learning. Many could speak the native language of their island, many like me, could not. Many have been able to see their ‘motherland’, some of us, like myself, have never had the opportunity. However, despite our many differences, every Pacific Islander from across the diaspora shares a connection to the islands in some way that many others, perhaps even themselves, cannot fully understand. A connection that is sacred and deeply personal which connects us to each other, to our ancestors, to the islands and to the sea.
I see political leaders, organisations and citizens of Australia and other countries around the world debating and denying climate change as if it is some sort of hypothetical theory that could never happen to us ‘normal people’ in our great country. Meanwhile, for myself and other Pasifika people, this crisis is already in motion for our relatives back in the islands and for them, it could not be any more real. Not only are the islands which are of great significance to my people in direct threat but our people and culture are too. Our families and friends residing in the islands are faced with the very real prospect of full evacuation, dispersed resettlement and possible cultural annihilation (Wing, 2017).
The Oceanic region is seen to be the most vulnerable region in the world to the effects of climate change. Although rising sea levels will affect all nations, the Pacific region, in particular, is experiencing sea rise much faster than the global average (Climate Reality Project, 2019). At the rate that it is at right now, rising sea levels will lead to literal submersion of some islands and biological resources and precious freshwater will be devastated in coming years (Wing, 2017), not to mention the influx of natural disasters and increased salinity (Doherty, 2018).
It is no secret that Climate Change is a real threat to Earth and all of humanity. There have been great organisations and groups of activists who have been fighting for change and action against this danger. However, it is not so common to see the voices of Pasifika people being amplified. The Pacific as a region have produced the least Carbon emissions of any area on Earth and yet the area will feel (and has felt) the impacts of climate change first and most acutely (Doherty, 2018). Our islands, our people and our culture are at the front lines of this war against Climate Change and despite all this, our people are rarely invited into the conversation or given a platform to speak about it.
“Samoa asks why it's soaked in raised shorelines.
And I salu (1) the seawater off the sand.
Clasp my mother’s hands like they’ll be the only connection to the land left for me to hold.
Samoa asks who will look after my children when I am gone.
And I pray our homeland doesn’t become another story to tell
Words to enter the ears of children whose eyes will never see their motherland.
Samoa asks if the money is worth its breath.
And I tulou (2) between my grandparents’ headstones.
Ask them to forgive me
For letting the sinking of our island become their second death.”
-@rascal.gal on Instagram
Furthermore, neighbouring countries of the Pacific Islands are already taking in peoples migrating from the islands to larger countries where it could be safer from the rising seas and increases natural disasters — these are the first climate refugees and if it stays at this rate, it is only the beginning.
Although the outlook of the situation for Oceanic Nations seems quite bleak, many Pasifika people are holding their ground and refusing to abandon their culture, their islands, their sea and their mana (3). Trevelyan Wing (2017) claims the Pacific resistance against Climate Change to be “approaching the phenomenon as a challenge with — in some cases, for them — [has] an anti-colonial silver lining: namely, the opportunity to restore sustainable cultures through indigenous knowledge and the renewal of ancestral values.” They also believe that should the world choose to listen, they could offer up some extremely beneficial avenues of survival to the wider world.
The younger generation of Pasifika people in particular throughout Oceania is stepping up to the ‘challenge’ to defend their people, their culture, their homes and their future by offering localised solutions to protect their environment (Wing, 2017). For example, 350 Pacific, part of 350.org, is a youth-led climate change volunteer network which campaigns globally to hold carbon emitters accountable for their actions and the damage they have caused for the Earth, specifically in the Pacific. They aim to shift the power to the community to “take action instead of just talking” about climate change.
Too often, Western circles exclude Pacific Islanders from conversations about Climate Change and write them off as helpless victims of environmental threats instead of valid, practical activists who bring valuable ideas, assets and solutions to the table. 350 Pacific spokesman in Tokelau, Mikaele Maiava (2013) told Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat Program that the Pacific Islands should not be perceived as vulnerable victims, but as warriors fighting climate change (ABC News, 2013). They have made their message clear: We are not drowning, we are fighting.
Pasifika peoples have a strong connection with the ocean. Carinnya Feaunati, a Samoan architect whole families have had to relocate inland from their ancestral homes on the coast of Samoa explains that there has always been a “spiritual mutual agreement” between Samoan people and the sea in that they look after it and in return, it feeds them and keeps them safe. Epeli Hau’ofa, Tongan and Fijian writer and anthropologist and founder of the Oceania Centre for Arts at the University of the South Pacific, Fiji, centred much of his work on the empowerment of all Pasifika peoples. In his Essay ‘The Ocean In Us’ (2004), he expressed the importance of the Pacific Islands no longer feeling intimidated because of the small size of our islands which are separate from one another but instead finding a regional identity in the body that connects us together as a region: the ocean.
The connection to the ocean is a deeply spiritual, sacred trust which is being shattered by external influences that have forced Pacific Islanders out of their ancestral homes as they no longer have control. Feaunati explained that Samoan people “no longer have this sacred trust with the ocean, and that is why we’re seeing deserted coastlines. We’re seeing beaches that are uninhabited because people are worried about future tsunamis” (Wing, 2017).
Climate Change is a direct threat to all humanity but in particular, Oceania and it’s islands. As a teine Samoa (4) of the Pasifika diaspora, I would like to be able to one day be able to visit the home of my ancestors and furthermore I would like my future children and generations after to be able to experience and relish in the rich culture on the island. Our culture is beautiful, rich, sophisticated and invaluable and for that to be wiped out by the destruction of Western greed is not an option for me or other Pasifika people. We must act now to save our culture, our islands, our people and most of all our planet which has fed and sustained us for years.
To aid us in our fight you can donate and sign up to 350 Pacific at 350pacific.org/get-involved/.
We are not drowning we are fighting.
Footnotes
(1) Salu: Samoan word for “sweep” or “broom”
(2) Tulou: Samoan word for “excuse me,” significant in Samoan etiquette when walking in front of people especially elders
(3) Mana: A concept throughout Pacific Islanders which represents power, status, influence, dignity, respect derived from atua (god).
(4) Teine Samoa: Samoan Woman
