Pacific Peoples’ Partnership

Pacific Peoples Partnership and the Pacific Resilience Fund Help with Samoa Measles Outbreak

March 9, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

A gift to help the family was made to a mother in her early twenties upon the loss of her baby to measles.

By David Williams, PPP Board member, with Muavae Va’a, PPP President

Photos courtesy of Muavae Va’a.

When Pacific Peoples’ Partnership initiated a special fund to deal with emergent situations, little did we realize how valuable and timely this idea would be. A tragedy, one brought about by human folly, makes our recent use of this fund particularly poignant.

The Pacific Resilience Fund (PRF) arose out of the observation that to fulfill our mandated role properly as the one Canadian NGO linking the peoples of Canada and the island nations of Oceania, we would require the means to respond quickly and appropriately to needs brought about by climate change and other problems. Our goal was for communities to be able to apply directly to the fund to finance small to medium scale initiatives that increase social, cultural and physical resilience.

A grandmother received a financial gift on behalf of her family.

The Samoa measles outbreak was not the first use of the PRF. It had already been used in both Fiji and Vanuatu, but this came very close to home for PPP president Muavae (Mua) Va’a because Samoa is his home country and he has many relations there. Indeed, Mua had already experienced tragedy when he lost seventeen family members in the 2009 tsunami. At that time he also assisted with relief efforts, returning to Samoa from his home on Vancouver Island with volunteers to help rebuild the village of Aleipata.

Measles should be a thing of the past, but instead a tide of propaganda from anti-vaccination zealots combined with some improperly prepared vaccine that killed two small Samoan children to create a tsunami of a different sort. Two nurses had mistakenly tainted the vaccine by mixing it with a muscle relaxant instead of water, according to a story in the newspaper, Samoa Observer. All this created a climate of fear among Samoan parents that led to many children not being vaccinated. And so the virus took hold.

By October 2019, only 31% of the population had been vaccinated with a single dose. That’s half of what is required to prevent the spread of the disease once it is present in a community. To achieve what is known as “herd immunity”, an immunization of 95% is required for such a highly contagious disease. Samoa had less than one-third the vaccine coverage rate it needed to prevent a disaster. To make matters worse, at the time of the children’s deaths the government halted the measles vaccine campaign for ten months while it investigated. This was against the advice of the World Health Organization.

On November 17th. the government declared a state of emergency. By mid-December 2019, Samoa had 4,819 measles cases and seventy deaths, most of them children under five.

Sadly, what happened in Samoa is part of a global trend. Vaccinations have dropped precipitously while measles has grown exponentially, up to 300% in the last year. War and highly organized anti-vaccination propaganda campaigns are the main causes.

Mua first heard of the outbreak through social media and local newspapers. Hearing of one young couple’s cry for help from Nofoali’i Village following the loss of one child and a plea to protect the rest, Mua knew he had to go. By the time he was ready to leave, his own grand nephew was dead as well.

In the village of Mutiatele, Muavae Va’a brings condolences and a gift to his nephew and his wife upon the loss of their son to measles.

PPP immediately began a campaign to build up the PRF with money that we could use to bring aid to stressed Samoan medical practitioners and suffering families. We got a quick and gratifying response.

When Mua arrived in Samoa in January, at least 5,700 people had been infected and the death toll had risen to 83. He quickly sought out allies through our partner organization, the Samoa Social Welfare Fesoasoani Trust (SSWFT) and the churches of this heavily Christian country. Mua himself is a life-long missionary, impelled to service by his strong faith.

Working through SUNGO, the umbrella organization for NGOs in Samoa, linked to by SSWFT, Mua soon decided his first mission was to the village of Mutiatele where his grand nephew was so recently buried. It was there he heard of other places of great need, so early in the morning of January 8th, along with staff from SSWFT, he began a journey. Exhausting in the overwhelming heat yet satisfying, Mua and his crew met with 12 families in more than ten villages. He recounts how profoundly emotional this was, and so very difficult to listen to the many stories of loss from grieving parents.

In Lalomanu he found good use for the PPP’s Pacific Resilience Fund. The nurses at the small district hospital had for four years been forced to wash all bed linens by hand, a time-consuming and inefficient use of highly trained personnel. Word came back to us in Victoria that a new washing machine and boiler would transform the operation in the hard-hit hospital there. Funds from PPP were soon on their way and Lalomanu village hospital now has a new washing machine, dryer and boiler.

Muavae Va’a (left) and the CEO of SSWFT, Theresa Asiata (right), present the Lalomanu district hospital with a washing machine. Head nurse, Lani, received the gift on behalf of the hospital’s director.

This may seem like a small thing. It is not. Nurses are now relieved of this tedious duty and able to use their skills more appropriately in healing the sick. PPP has left a small but vital legacy that will be long remembered.

Working with many selected partners in South Pacific nations, we understand that it is important to listen carefully at the grass roots level to learn what the needs are. Often, larger NGOs go into small nations and communities with preconceived ideas of what aid should be. At its best this can be merely self-serving. At worst, it can actually do harm, resulting in a series of unanticipated consequences. Our more localized approach, where we don’t assume we know best, brought us this response from one of our Samoan partner organizations:

“ … here in Samoa, so we do have a list of families that their children died from the measles. We are grateful to Pacific Peoples’ Partnership and especially to your President for his kind contribution to our beautiful Samoa. I know for a fact your President understand and know exactly what our people needs so whatever your organization provide will appreciate.”

We all confront death. The certain knowledge of our own mortality is perhaps the tragedy of our species. But different cultures treat it differently. In the West we tend to hide it and allow it little space in our lives. Not so in Samoa. The dead, even small children, are on open display before interment. Many pictures of dead children, perhaps shocking to western eyes, appeared in local media throughout the epidemic. The dead find permanent resting places in plots and tombs in the yards of their families. They are kept close.

The Samoan measles outbreak is now over. Most children and adults have been vaccinated and are safe from this potentially deadly disease. Life lessons have been learned by a new generation that thought they were growing up in a world where this scourge had been eliminated. And Mua is back home on Vancouver Island more determined than ever to work with the staff and board of PPP to build the Pacific Resilience Fund so that we can deliver aid wherever it is needed in the island nations of the Pacific.

Acknowledging the death of her son during the outbreak, a PRF gift was presented to the daughter-in-law of the SSWFT CEO.

According to Mua, young families that have lost beloved children are being torn apart by grief and loss. Sometimes they turn inward and direct their anger at themselves or one another. Hearts are breaking and so are families. Such trauma does not end quickly, if ever, but it is a great encouragement for these families to know that people beyond their borders care about them. Mua says even he knows that his experiences working for these families has caused elements of post traumatic stress disorder in himself.

Canada, to its credit, provided significant aid to Samoa during the emergency, managed through the High Commissioner’s office in New Zealand, where Mario Bot recently departed as High Commissioner.

Late in 2020, the two authors of this report will be travelling to Samoa together. While in Samoa they aim to make solid connections with organizations like SSWFT and SUNGO that were so helpful to Mua and PPP during the emergency, for which they are here thanked. The two men will explore possible appropriate projects for the PRF in villages throughout the islands.

This will also be a journey through time for David. His ancestor, the missionary John Williams, travelled and lived throughout the Pacific two hundred years ago and was settled in Samoa with his family when he died in 1839 on Erromango, Vanuatu. John Williams’ influence throughout Oceania is still much in evidence and Mua feels that this aspect of the next visit to Samoa will be a celebration of sorts. They look forward to reporting back to PPP members upon their return.

Would you like to contribute to the Pacific Resilience Fund? If so, please click on this button to find out more and make a donation.

This article was co-written by Muavae (Mua) Va’a, PPP President and David Williams, PPP Board Member and Chair of Development. PPP would like to acknowledge the extraordinary leadership and compassion that our President Mua demonstrated in response to this terrible tragedy. He and his family went over and above, donating personally and absorbing many costs towards this campaign. Inspired by his devotion, a fundraiser will soon be held by members of his Tsawout and Tsartlip Family and Friends on March 30th.

Reindeer, kick sleds, toboggans and snow angels… Pacific Peoples’ Partnership?

March 9, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

By Art Holbrook

April at Sami Gathering Space at Jokkmokk Market

Why are we writing about a winter gathering in Northern Sweden when the focus of Pacific Peoples’ Partnership is the people of Oceania, mainly the tropical island nations of the Pacific?

We’re writing because April Ingham, executive director of PPP, received an unusual invitation. She was invited to observe the guiding committee meeting of Pawanka Fund, to witness this relatively new global Indigenous led fund in action. April formed part of their 20-person

A Ingham checking out a traditional Sami Teepee

delegation, which included respected Indigenous leaders’ representative of the seven geographic regions of the world, plus many of their funding partners. The meetings were held in Jokkmokk located in the Swedish province of Lapland. Jokkmokk is just north of the Arctic Circle and is a center for the Sami people.

The Pawanka Fund was established six years ago as a direct outcome of a UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues meeting. That forum put forward a UN resolution which urged government, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to continue to contribute to Indigenous led funds, as well as to entrust funds for Indigenous issues and the United Nations voluntary fund for Indigenous peoples.

The Pawanka Fund is Chaired by Dr. Myrna Cunningham-Kain, who also sits with April on an Indigenous led fund working group hosted by the United States-based International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP). It was expected that April’s learning experiences at this meeting would contribute to the working group’s knowledge sharing principles and PPP’s own Pacific Resilience Fund’s transformation. April has attended IFIP meetings in Canada and the United States, but this is the first time she has traveled to an international gathering of these funders outside of North America.

Pawanka Delegation with the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples Chair Anne Nuorgam

The Pawanka gathering brought together representatives from around the globe including Hawaii, Asia, Kenya, South America, the US and Russia, along with US based global funders committed to Indigenous led philanthropy including the Tamalpais Trust, the NoVo Foundation, the Christensen Fund, the Swift Foundation, the NiaTero Fund, and the Tenure Faculty. A UN Special Rapporteur also participated. The protocols, logistics and hosting of the meetings was organized by Gunn-Britt Retter, a Pawanka guiding committee member and a Sami Arctic Council leader.

April was invited to the Jokkmokk gathering to learn about the processes for administering an Indigenous led fund, and about the methodologies that ensure the fund’s founding principles uphold Indigenous worldviews and self-determined processes. She was also there to learn and prepare, as PPP will soon undertake the transformation of our Pacific Resilience Fund (PRF) into one led by and for Pacific peoples, this is part of a major new initiative we will be launching later this spring.

April will be traveling to a number of South Pacific nations to meet with former and current partners, development experts and community leaders, as part of our Pacific Wayfinding 2020 Learning Mission. The findings from that mission, sponsored by Tamalpais Trust, will contribute to PPP’s strategic plan for 2020-2025, and will guide the development of our programs, operations and lead to a transformed PRF.

April arrived in the regional center of Luleå before a number of the other participants. Since prior to joining PPP April lived in Fort St. John, B.C., she is no stranger to cold weather and had time to enjoy the snow and -12 Celsius weather, exploring the small city and kick sledding across the ice in Luleå’s Gulf of Bothnia harbour.

As the delegation joined her in Luleå, they took a four-hour bus trip to Jokkmokk. Outfitted with winter gear provided by the gathering’s

Pawanka Delegation experiencing snow together!

host coordinators, the delegates from warmer climes had the new experience of traveling in a blizzard in Arctic darkness. Arriving at the lodge where the meetings were to take place, April was able to introduce her tropical colleagues to kick sleds and tobogganing and the all-important winter skill of making snow angels.

Gunn-Brit gave the group a warm welcome to the Sápmi Territories and provided a brief introduction to the Sami people and Jokkmokk, a training center for Sami artists. Dr. Myrna Cunningham-Kain provided an orientation to the work of the Pawanka Fund. She explained the importance Pawanka places on meeting in remote regional locations, which helps to remind participants about the diversity of Indigenous peoples. She emphasized how Pawanka is building a process that utilizes Indigenous world views and processes to transform philanthropy. Pawanka is defining the ways and means outside of traditional grant making, while also documenting and generating knowledge, strengthening itself as an Indigenous led fund and advocating in philanthropy.

Jokkmokk Northern Lights by Ellie Lanphier

Over the next six days the participants shared their knowledge and experiences as they compared their successes and challenges in supporting Indigenous led projects. As participants reported on the projects they championed, they explored ways to improve on their collective successes and about how to make projects self-sustaining after the grants that have helped them to begin have expired.

Funders spoke about the lessons they have learned and areas where they might improve including systemization of communications, strengthening monitoring and evaluation and following up activities. There was a recognition that there is growing interest in Indigenous led funds that presents both opportunities and challenges. Meanwhile, sharing carefully verified stories at the UN and other venues ensures that the funds fulfill their responsibility and benefit future generations.

On another day, a panel discussion emphasized the importance of developing strategies that are complimentary, based in reciprocity, holistic in approach and that further the values of Pawanka. Indigenous understanding of how strategies might work was highlighted by Dr. Hussein Isack, the Kenyan representative of the Global Indigenous Advisory Committee, who spoke of the importance of developing grassroots

Young Sami men wrangling Reindeer for the races

connections by using the metaphor of the acacia tree. He hoped that Pawanka will develop deep roots and a wide trunk and that it will grow strong as the organization flowers. He emphasized that organizations must stay grounded by their roots even as their leaves synthesize and grow. Another participant emphasized the need for cultural due diligence even as organizations must recognize that “due diligence” can be interpreted in different ways in different cultures.

In another panel discussion, Danil Mamyev, an Altai Russian delegate, emphasized through his interpreter that Indigenous peoples, cultures and languages are like natural biodiversity and cannot be separated. He shared how elders in his community spoke of how their feelings and perceptions were contained in songs and actions from the past. But now his own children have lost that understanding. Where previously one word could contain an epic poem, now words have narrowed in meaning.

After an agenda-packed few days, the participants got to relax and enjoy the Sami National Day, wandering amongst the 415-year-old Sami outdoor market that Jokkmokk is famous for. While some of the delegates were leaving, April had the opportunity to join an outdoor gathering of Sami youth where she met Greta Thunberg, who had been spending time with the Sami youth. Greta gave a brief speech in which she said,

Sami Youth Climate Action with Greta Thunberg

“We have a lot to learn from those that live by and with nature, and some have done so for hundreds of thousands of years. We have to listen to and give space to Indigenous peoples of the world because we are largely dependent on them, as they are protecting and taking care of nature and its biodiversity, which is necessary for our future survival. By protecting nature, forest and oceans we can take ourselves out of the situation we find ourselves in. And we must understand that nature is something we cannot continue to exploit, rather something to depend on and something we have to take care of.”

A Sami Political Leader at the climate action event gave a message of solidarity with for the hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en, a message April found especially heartwarming to hear so far from home.

As April summarized her experiences after returning home, “I arrived home exhausted and full to the brim with inspiration and new learnings. I am excited to apply this new knowledge in our Wayfinding 2020 Deep Listening Mission which will guide PPP’s work beyond our 45^th anniversary.”

Prepared by Art Holbrook, PPP Board Member and Chair of the Communications Committee. Art has been a board member at PPP for the last two and half years. He has traveled to Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu and has developed an affinity for the people of the South Pacific island nations.

Climate Connect Workshop for Indigenous Youth

March 9, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

By Kori Stene

In November 2019, not-for-profit organization ECO Canada, had the honour to partner with the Pacific Peoples’ Partnership (PPP) through an exciting 3-day climate action workshop, delivered to 80+ Indigenous youth of the Tsawout, Tsartlip, Tseycum and Pauquachin First Nations Groups near Victoria, British Columbia. Youth learned from Indigenous Knowledge Holders, Elders, Leadership and Climate experts from across the province and the country, while they engaged in activities and discussions that increased climate literacy, taught the importance of protecting our water and oceans, and instilled environmental stewardship among the younger generations.

Climate Connect educational workshop for Indigenous youth at the LÁU, WELṈEW̱ Tribal School in Brentwood Bay near Victoria.

It was rewarding to work alongside such a passionate group (PPP), connected through a common motive: protection of this planet Earth. The curriculum content for the Climate Connect Youth Workshop was built with the inspiring words of Elder Albert Marshall’s in mind: Etuaptmumk: Two Eyed-Seeing – “learning to see from your one eye with the best of the strengths in the Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing … and learning to see from your other eye with the best or the strengths in the mainstream (Western or Eurocentric) knowledge and ways of knowing … but most importantly, learning to see with both these eyes together, for the benefit of all”.

Being a non-Indigenous woman myself, it is beautiful to observe and learn from Indigenous ways of knowing; to harmonize my own Western science approach to climate change with the cultural, interconnections of traditional ways of viewing the world. Western science brings in the art of external observation, monitoring, and interpreting change through understanding impacts and looking at those impacts upon the human race. The Indigenous approach to climate change shines light on the impacts from within; to understand our relationship with Mother Earth and how taking care of the planet is so deeply aligned with the art of self-care.

The Medicine Wheel was used as a traditional teaching tool.

This beautiful, balanced perspective of inter-cultural collaboration of Etuaptmumk encourages us to work together and to learn from each other. To remind us to bring our Traditional Medicine Wheel along with a geographical compass, when navigating solutions to positive environmental action. This workshop braided those two strengths together, inspiring 80+ youth to become ‘two-eyed seeing’ environmental stewards of their land.

One lesson that truly resonated with me from the workshop was simple, yet powerful, demonstrating the power of collective action. Imagine a room of 100+ people where they all clap at different times. The sounds are mild and sporadic. Now imagine those same 100+ people all clapping their hands at the exact same time. The sound is magnified, harmonized, and 100x louder than the previous. It sent the message to the youth that when our individual actions are combined together, we can make a larger positive impact.

These young Climate Connect participants took the pledge to plant and care for ceremonial cedars

Climate change is something we are all a part of we all contribute-to it, and we all feel the repercussions of it. The youth are the future. The future is now. It is essential that younger generations understand, relate to and take action for a cleaner and more regenerative future … regenerative in that it continues to provide abundance for future generations as Mother Nature always has, instead of leaving less behind.

Dealing with climate change requires coming together as a collective, finding strength in our differences, seeing the world through multiple perspectives, instead of only our own. Climate change is a many-layered issue that will take a unified, yet mosaic-like, systems-thinking approach to come up with a seven-generational solution. The change lies in our ‘two eyed seeing’ youth.

The workshop’s powerful message to youth participants is:

You are stronger than you know and braver than you believe. Think big!
You’re never too young to make a difference, so don’t wait until you’re older.

Kori Stene is the main Lead for ECO Canada’s Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources (BEAHR) program, www.eco.ca/beahr, having delivered 40+ training workshops across Canada. She has project managed many initiatives within ECO Canada including curriculum development for Indigenous Leadership in Energy Management and Climate Change Adaptation Training for Indigenous Leadership. Kori has carried out multiple environmental field studies in Canada, Ireland and Australia.

PPP would like to thank our friends at ECO Canada for their partnership and additional in-kind contributions. We also want to acknowledge RBC Royal Bank Blue Water Fund for their funding support of this program.

As a Human Rights Commission Rules on One Papuan Shooting from 2014, Another Occurs as 2020 Begins

March 8, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

On February 19, 2020, a shooting occurred in Papua. However, sources conflict considerably as to what actually happened. According to Cenderawish command military spokesman Eko Daryanto, there was a shootout between soldiers and separatists and one separatist, Meki Tipagau (age 18) was killed. An unidentified 14-year-old girl was also shot, likely by her own companion. However, a local news website, apparently Suara Papua, identified the victim as Melkias Tipagau (age 12); his principal at SD YPPK Bilogai elementary school, Stefanus Sondegau, hadn’t yet determined if Tipagau was deceased. The same site reported a second fatality, Kayus Sani (aged 51)as well. It also reported that there were two additional people shot, not one: Heletina Sani (aged 30), and an unidentified 11-year-old girl (not 14).

Furthermore, West Papua National Liberation Army (separatist) spokesman Sebby Sambom denies that any of his people were in the area at the time and that the victim (singular) was a civilian. He also claimed that there was no shootout and that “the security forces cracked down on villages.” Sources even conflict as to whether the shooting occurred at Yoparu village (Sugapa District) or at Gulanggama village in Intan Jaya district), and one site suggests it happened a day earlier but was reported on February 19. With so much conflicting information, we will provide an update on our Facebook page as we learn more.

Ironically this shooting occurred within days of Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission (Konmas HAM) determining that the Indonesian military violated human rights in a 2014 shooting in Papua. In Indonesia’s Bloody Paniai case, or Kasus Paniai Berdarah in Indonesian, the TNI’s Special Battalion 753 Team shot and killed four Papuan students and injured 21 others on December 8, 2014. This was at a protest at the Karel Gobay Field in Madi district, Paniai regency, over alleged beatings of Papuan youth by the army. After demonstrators threw stones at the military office, security forces opened fire on the crowd.

Then recently-elected President Joko Widodo ordered the National Human Rights Commission (Konmas HAM) to investigate. On February 19, 2020 the commission determined that the military had carried out gross violations of human rights. They explained that the delay in arriving at a conclusion was the result of unnamed individuals hiding evidence. Konmas HAM “interviewed two dozen witnesses, analysed documents and visited the scene”.

The commission announced they have forwarded the findings to the Attorney General’s office for possible prosecution and says the soldiers and their superiors should be blamed not only for their deaths but also for the torture of 21 Papuans. The commission’s chief investigator Muhammad Choirul Anam called the shootings “a crime against humanity”. Presidential Chief of Staff, Moeldoko, who was at the time of the incident the commander of the armed forces has counterargued that the shootings were not premeditated and that it was not a violation of human rights. He claimed that the military’s sudden reaction was due to being caught by surprise.

As witnessed by the shooting on February 19, shootings occur with alarming regularity in the region, stemming from Indonesia seizing control of the mineral-rich region in the 1960s. A series of violent outbreaks occurred in the region August-October 2019. We hope that the Konmas HAM conclusion will discourage the latest shooting from starting a new lengthy round of violence towards Papuans.

Sources:

Deadly shooting in Papuan village, RNZ, 19 February 2020

Bedova, Dennis, Indonesian military say Papuan separatist killed in…, Infosurhoy 20 February 2020

Mawel, Benny, At least one killed in Papua gunfight, The Jakarta Post Wed, 19 February 2020

Human Rights Commission: Indonesia’s military found responsible for Paniai deaths, RNZ, 19 February 2020

Gorbiano, Marchio Irfan & Sutrisno, Budi, Palace denies 2014 Papua killings constitute gross human rights violation, The Jakarta Post, 17 February 2020

Indonesia military to blame for 2014 Papua killings: rights commission, Thai PBS World 17 February 2020

Prepared by Andy E. Nystrom, PPP Archivist & Research Assistant

February 19, 2020

A Canary in the Coal Mine: Disappearing Islands and Climate Change

March 8, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

The tiny Micronesian state of Kiribati (pronounced Kirabass) was in the news lately. A recent United Nations human rights committee ruling states that it is unlawful for governments to return people to countries where their lives might be threatened by climate change. The ruling was made after a New Zealand court rejected the claim of a Kiribati citizen who applied for refugee status in New Zealand for himself and his family. He claimed that their lives were at risk due to rising sea levels. While upholding New Zealand’s claim, the UN human rights committee cited projections that rising sea levels won’t make the atolls that comprise Kiribati uninhabitable for 10 to 15 years. They believe that time period should allow the international community to take steps to “protect and, where necessary, relocate [Kiribati’s] population.” (The Guardian, 20 Jan 2020)

The 33 islands and atolls that make up the nation of Kiribati are among the most threatened places on earth. The atolls are only a few feet above sea level. Already a combination of storm surges and salinization of freshwater aquifers on the islands is challenging inhabitants. Even when storms aren’t threatening to swallow the islands, fresh water is becoming difficult to find. Low lying islands in Hawaii, Japan and the Arctic have already disappeared. (NBC News, 9 June 2019)

Nor is Kiribati alone among the Pacific Nations: the nine islands that comprise Tuvalu are also experiencing threats. (The Guardian, 16 May 2019) As Tuvalu resident Nausaleta Setani, initially not a believer in climate change, has said, “I have been learning the things that are happening are the result of man, especially [from] other countries. It makes me sad. But I understand other countries do what is best for their people. I am from a small country. All I want is for the bigger countries to respect us, and think of our lives.”

Former president of Kiribati Anote Tong claims that it is already too late for Kiribati even as the large nations of the world do little or nothing about climate change. (The Washington Post, 24 Oct 2018) According to a University of Texas at Austin update, “Climate Security in Oceania,” (31 Dec 2019), Tong’s ideas have not changed on the subject.

But will the international community respond by allowing the islanders to migrate with dignity? Examples from Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric to Hungary’s efforts to ban immigrants suggest the international community won’t respond with generosity.

Sources

The Guardian, 20 January 2020: “Waiting for the tide to turn: Kiribati’s fight for survival”

NBC News, 9 June 2019: “Three islands disappeared in the past year. Is climate change to blame?”

The Guardian, 16 May 2019: “One day we will disappear: Tuvalu’s singing islands”

CNN , 20 Jan 2020: “Climate refugees cannot be sent home, United Nations rules in landmark decision”

Washington Post, 24 Oct 2018: “Our island is disappearing but the president refuses to act”

University of Texas at Austin report, 31 Dec 2019: “Climate Security in Oceania”

Prepared by Art Holbrook, PPP Board Member and Chair of the Communications Committee

Australia’s Wildfires Through the Eyes of its Aboriginal People

March 8, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

We can all be grateful the devastating 2019/2020 wildfire season that ravaged major areas of Australia seems to have been extinguished by drenching rains. While the fire events were reported daily across the newsfeeds of the world, the voice and wisdom of the Aboriginal people within the country has arguably been under-reported. Here are three recent articles that spotlight the wisdom of those who have lived there forever as they would say, and used their knowledge of caring for the land in managing such hazards.

National Public Radio, January 11, 2020, “With Their Land in Flames, Aboriginals Warn Fires Show Deep Problems in Australia”:

Until the latest New South Wales wildfires totally destroyed his property, Aboriginal Australian, Noel Butler and his wife held camps and workshops there on aboriginal culture, including a program for troubled indigenous youth. School groups would come to learn about native art, history and food. Fire was a key issue they would teach about.

Noel Butler notes that public officials today rely on massive controlled burns contrary to the way Aboriginal people have managed the landscape of Australia. “Fire in this place is our friend,” he says. “Fire has been used to maintain, to look after this whole continent forever. … Native peoples called them “cool burns,” low-intensity fires intended to balance the various plants and trees growing in an area. … How we maintain that balance is through fire, by not letting any one thing dominate something else,” explains Butler. “The eucalyptus shouldn’t be allowed to overrun all the other trees. If one shrub starts to take over a grassland, it should get burned back.”

BBC, January 12, 2020, “Australia fires: Aboriginal planners say the bush ‘needs to burn’”:

This insightful article focuses on Shannon Foster, a knowledge keeper for the D’harawal people who are residents of the Sydney Basin coastal area of New South Wales. Country is personified within Aboriginal culture, she explains. “The earth is our mother. She keeps us alive … It’s the concept of maintaining country – central to everything we do as Aboriginal people. It’s about what we can give back to country; not just what we can take from it.”

“The current controlled burns destroy everything. It’s a naive way to practice fire management … Whereas cultural burning protects the environment holistically. We’re interested in looking after country, over property and assets. We can’t eat, drink or breathe assets,” declares Ms Foster. “Without country, we have nothing.”

New York Times, January 15, 2020, “Want to Stop Australia’s Fires? Listen to Aboriginal People”:

In this richly-informative article, Murrandoo Yanner, a Gangalidda leader and director of the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation in northern Australia, shares his traditional wisdom. As the story says, he is a man made for these times, declaring that the way forward is back … “If we can understand, learn from and imagine our place through the laws and stories of our ancestors then we will have true knowledge on how to live, adapt and survive in Australia, just as our ancestors did.”

Prepared by Alison Gardner, Editor, Pasifik Currents

2019 Referendum Declares Bougainville Residents Want Independence

March 8, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

In 1989 a civil war began in Bougainville, which had long wanted independence from Papua New Guinea (PNG). A ceasefire occurred in 1998 after about 20,000 of the 200,000 residents of Bougainville were killed. In 2001 the government of PNG, wishing to maintain the peace, signed into law the Bougainville Peace Agreement which established the Autonomous Bougainville Government and promised an independence referendum no later than June 2019.

This referendum finally happened November 23-December 7, 2019. Residents were offered two options: greater autonomy or full independence. Nearly 98% of the 180,000 Bougainville residents who voted in the referendum (176,928 people) voted in favour of independence from PNG. After the results were announced on December 11, a crowd attending the vote announcement broke into song as the writs were signed by the commissioners.

However, this is only the first step to becoming independent. The referendum is non-binding, so Bougainville is now in the process of negotiating with the leaders of PNG. The national parliament of PNG has the final say on whether or not Bougainville will in fact become the world’s newest nation. An issue for PNG is that, on the one hand, it doesn’t want to lose part of its nation or encourage other provinces to secede, but on the other hand, a long process could result in civil unrest. According to Australia’s Lowry Institute, Bougainville independence is optimistically still years away. While the province has substantial natural resources, particularly copper, mining was crippled by the war and they estimate that it has 56% of the resources needed to be independent. It appears likely that the resumption of mining would be a necessary step to become self-sufficient.

There was no appeal during the 40-day petition period where an appeal was possible, and the results were closed January 20, 2020. When PNG Parliament reconvened on February 18, 2020, it was officially furnished the results. Bougainville Affairs Minister, Sir Puka Temu, in his ministerial statement declared that the national and Autonomous Bougainville Governments are expected to offer guidance going forward. He noted that while the result unified Bougainville, “it has also caused most learned and informed Papua New Guineans, including leaders, to have preference for a united country’. He stressed that Parliament is not duty-bound to immediately accept the outcome but must receive the result, consider it, and then decide.

So, with Parliament only having been furnished the results weeks ago, it is highly unlikely that anything will happen immediately, but PPP will continue to monitor the independence process. Whatever happens next, there can be no doubt that Bougainville wants its independence.

Sources:

Lyons, Kate Bougainville referendum: region votes overwhelmingly for independence from Papua New Guinea, The Guardian 11 Dec 2019

Bougainville referendum: PNG region votes overwhelmingly for independence, BBC News 11 Dec 2019

Kenneth, Gorethy Sir Ruka Reports on Bougainville Vote Results, Papua New Guinea Post-Courier, 19 Feb 2020

Prepared by Andy E. Nystrom, PPP Archivist & Research Assistant

February 19, 2020

Statement of Pacific Peoples’ Partnership Solidarity with Wet’suwet’en Nation

March 8, 2020 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Pacific Peoples Partnership (PPP) stands in solidarity with the people and the Hereditary Chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and supports the right to Indigenous self-determination and governance on Wet’suwet’en ancestral territories. For over forty years, PPP has supported the self-determination of South Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples in their struggles for peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and community development.

The United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007. Although Canada initially voted against the Declaration, it reversed its position and removed its permanent objector status in 2016. On November 26, 2019, the province of BC unanimously passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (UNDRIPA). UNDRIPA states, along with several other articulated rights, that Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands.

We call on the federal and provincial governments of Canada to implement UNDRIP on the unceded lands of the Wet’suwet’en nation. The actions of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the provincial government are not reflective of their stated commitment to the UNDRIPA and we call for the RCMP and Coastal GasLink to leave Wet’suwet’en lands immediately so that free, prior and informed consent can take place. In solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation, PPP calls for the provincial and federal governments to:

Respect Indigenous land title and engage in true Nation-to-Nation relationships with Indigenous Peoples, which entails meeting with the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership;
Cease construction of the Coastal GasLink Pipeline project immediately and suspend all permits in accordance with the self-determining authority of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership;
Implement UNDRIP and recognize the Wet’suwet’en right to self-determination, including the right to free, prior and informed consent;
Withdraw the RCMP from Wet’suwet’en lands, in compliance with the December 2019 calls to action of UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination’s (CERD);
Respect Wet’suwet’en laws and governance systems and prohibit the use of any force to access their lands or their people.

We urge the Province of B.C. to change their current course of action and to respect UNDRIP and Wet’suwet’en laws in order to promote free, prior and informed consent on Indigenous lands and waters. Additionally, we recognize the complex political, social, and cultural contexts in which Wet’suwet’en peoples are navigating and strive to be sensitive to these complexities. In doing so, we commit to upholding and prioritizing Indigenous peoples’ self-determining authority, nationhood, laws, and commitments to promoting a healthy, just and sustainable future.

Indigenous Knowledge Climate Action Preschool Coming In 2020

December 4, 2019 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Written by the IISAAK OLAM Foundation

What would pre-school programs look like if they were centred around climate action, reconciliation and place-based learning? Thanks to a grant from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and a partnership between the IISAAK OLAM Foundation, Pacific Peoples’ Partnership, and Saanich Parks, we’re about to find out!

Climate Action Youth Ambassador Canada (CAYAC) is an existing solutions-focused youth initiative that mobilizes knowledge about Indigenous innovations for climate action. Although CAYAC has been focused primarily on youth ages 16-30, the IISAAK OLAM Foundation wondered what it would look like to immerse even younger children in leadership programs that highlight connections between nature and culture. From this, the seeds of the CAYAC Preschool program were sewn. The life of this program will grow in a purposeful environment that mobilizes knowledge and builds capacity for the conservation of biological and cultural diversity through: conservation, climate action, and reconciliation- the mission of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation.

Starting in January of 2020, four to five kids will be a part of the first cohort of wee ones to join CAYAC Coordinators and Indigenous Elders/knowledge holders in a part-time experiential learning program that involves immersion in nature, Indigenous languages and teachings about the land, and activities based in the natural law of IISAAK: ‘To observe, appreciate, and act accordingly.’ Recent studies show that “children experience profound and diverse benefits through regular contact with nature. Contact with the wild improves children’s wellbeing, motivation and confidence” (Horton, 2019).

CAYAC Preschool will help foster a relationship between young children and nature, encourage intergenerational learning, celebrate cultural diversity, and provide opportunities for parents to explore alternative community-focused education models. CAYAC Preschool will also coincide with Saanich Parks’ ‘Natural Intelligence’ movement which aims to “strengthen the knowledge of nature, parks, and on how to improve the community’s environment” (Saanich Parks). “Natural Intelligence means understanding how to; interpret the natural environment, interact with the natural environment, and integrate our lives with the natural environment” (Saanich Parks). Still curious about the movement? Learn more here!

The program will also connect to other programs such as RedTide Indigenous Youth Climate Connect, coordinated by the Pacific Peoples’ Partnership. The goal of RedTide is to increase climate literacy and inspire agency for Indigenous youth to become the next wave of change makers through clean technology, green entrepreneurship, creative arts, and cultural practice. “The opportunity to support the synergies between RedTide and CAYAC Toddlers is exciting. We are allies working together on a collective vision for the future generations of leaders,” stated April Ingham, Executive Director of the Pacific Peoples’ Partnership.

A ceremonial launch of the program is scheduled for early January, date TBD. More details to come!

Special thanks to our lead donor:

Maunakea as a Kipuka of Hawaiian Resurgence

December 4, 2019 by Pacific Peoples' Partnership

Maunakea as viewed from a Hawaiian Ahu (altar), where visitors make offerings to the mauna (J. Corntassel, 2019)

By Dr. Jeff Corntassel

Standing at 33,000 feet when measured from its underwater base, Maunakea is the highest mountain in the world. It is also the piko (umbilical cord, center) for Kanaka Maoli / Native Hawaiians as the sacred meeting place of Earth Mother, Papahānaumoku, and Sky Father, Wākea. As one Kūpuna (Elder) explained to me during my visit, you only go to the summit of Maunakea if you have a spiritual need to do so. This place of reverence is currently the site of the largest Hawaiian mobilization in over one hundred years.

The protocols of kapu aloha practiced at Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu at the base of Maunakea

Following a July 10th, 2019 announcement that construction of a Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) at the summit of Maunakea would begin the following week, Hawaiian kia‘i (guardians or protectors) began to gather at the base of Maunakea to protect it from scheduled construction. The TMT, which is a 1.4 billion dollar project, would be 18 stories high and 5 acres wide, and threatens the integrity and sacred nature of the Maunakea ecosystem. While there are already 13 telescopes constructed on the summit of Maunakea, most of these were built without proper permits and without the consent of Kanaka Maoli people. Acting under a protocol of kapu aloha (governed by love, respect and discipline in accordance with Kanaka Maoli teachings and spiritual practices), Kia’i stood their ground at the base of Maunakea as 38 Kūpuna were arrested on July 17, 2019, by police as construction vehicles were blocked from going onto the mauna.

Kūpuna, some with walkers and wheelchairs, were led one-by-one to police vans as kia’i witnessing the arrests sang and chanted to support the Kūpuna protectors. With the ensuing media coverage of the Kūpuna arrests, over three thousand Kanaka Maoli traveled to Maunakea to demonstrate their support and Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu was created by kia’i as a sanctuary for supporters to protect Maunakea.

Hula on the Ala (road or path) at Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu as part of the daily protcols (J. Corntassel 2019)

In September 2019 I traveled to Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu to express my solidarity as a Cherokee citizen with Kanaka Maoli kia’i. I met some Kanaka Maoli as well as supporters who had lived here since July 15, 2019 and they expressed their Aloha ʻĀina (love of the land) by contributing their talents to make Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu a liveable and safe place grounded in Kapu Aloha. Since the beginning of the struggle, kia’i have followed protocols for the mauna three times per day (8am, 12pm, and 5:30pm), which includes chants, hula, presenting ho’okupu, a mele and finally a recitation of the protocols for living at Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu. This kept our focus on Maunakea and forms the spiritual core of this movement.

In addition to the intake tent, the medic tent, the food tent, the recycling tent, and the arts and crafts center, there is a university. This is not just any university – this is the land-based Pu’uhuluhulu University described as “an actual place of Native Hawaiian learning” and is a Kanaka Maoli innovation. Classes are held on the lava fields and are free of charge. I taught a short course on Indigenous sustainability and it was an amazing discussion and experience. Presley Ke’alaanuhea is the Chancellor of Pu’uhuluhulu University and is also a kumu (teacher) at the University of Hawai’i, Mānoa. As Chancellor, Presley schedules new classes, recruits kumu to teach them and designs the spaces where the teaching takes place. It’s truly a space for ʻĀina-based education and has inspired other grassroots educational opportunities, including the new Hūnānāniho University in Waimanalo. Overall, Pu’uhonua o Pu’uhuluhulu can be described as a kipuka (an “island” of land or new growth surrounded by one or more younger lava flows) of Hawaiian resurgence. Kanaka Maoli are exercising their self-determining authority to honor and nurture their relational responsibilities to Maunakea and are doing this following protocols of kapu aloha. As one kia’i told me, “we are learning to live in community again.”

Kahala Johnson, one of the kumu at Pu’uhuluhulu University (J. Corntassel, 2019)

Byline: Dr. Jeff Corntassel is Associate Director at the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community Led Engagement (CIRCLE) at University of Victoria, he is also a PPP Board Member and contributing partner to RedTide: International Indigenous Climate Action.