Flowers in the Wall: Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and Melanesia

What is the experience of truth and reconciliation? What is the purpose of a truth commission? What lessons can be learned from established truth and reconciliation processes?  

Click to access downloadable pdf version https://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781552389546

 

Flowers in the Wall explores the experience of truth and reconciliation in Timor-Leste, Indonesia, and the Solomon Islands. It examines the pre- and post-truth commission phases, providing a diversity of interconnected scholarship. Well-researched and balanced, this book examines the effectiveness of the truth commission in transnational justice. It offers valuable lessons to Canadians and all others trying to attain the goal of truth and reconciliation.

As those will know who have participated in it, this process is complex and ongoing. Although the operational phases of truth commissions have been well examined, the efforts to establish these commissions and the struggle to put their recommendations into effect are often overlooked.

In part, this book is an outcome of a program in which Pacific People’s Partnership (PPP) was involved in 2015: “Memory, Truth and Reconciliation, a collaborative research project and workshop on truth and reconciliation in East Timor and West Papua,” https://memorytruthreconciliation.wordpress.com/.  It was held in Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, and reported on in PPP’s 40th Anniversary Tok Blong Pasifik issue in 2015.  Dr David Webster secured the funding via university sources that brought to this event PPP Executive Director, April Ingham, and Betty Gigisi, a peacekeeper in Solomon Islands during and after that country’s Civil War.

Inspired by her participation in the landmark Ottawa event, April Ingham shared: “PPP was founded in Canada in 1975 in response to nuclear testing in the South Pacific.  We successfully contributed to international solidarity movements to stop the testing, and have been actively rooted within human rights, social and ecological justice work ever since.  Our past campaigns and initiatives included support for peacekeeping and the truth and reconciliation processes within East Timor and Solomon Islands, and for three decades we have maintained a special focus on the human rights atrocities against the Melanesian peoples of West Papua, Indonesia.  Central to our work is connecting Indigenous peoples across the Pacific for knowledge sharing and solidarity building. We actively engaged in Canada’s TRC processes and are working on several TRC recommendations in support of our Indigenous peoples and allies.”

She goes on to say, “PPP believes in the power of partnerships, the importance of nation to nation relations and in our shared learning for the betterment of all.  So we are thrilled to see the realization of Flowers in the Wall.  It offers important reflections and learnings about the opportunities such pathways present to people who continue to suffer injustice, such as those still battling the darkness like our Melanesian brothers and sisters in West Papua, Indonesia.  It serves as an invaluable accompaniment to the essential work of building peace.”

David Webster teaches international and Asian history at Bishop’s University in Canada’s province of Quebec. His academic interest is 20th century history. He is the author of Fire and the Full Moon: Canada and Indonesia in a Decolonizing World, and a collection editor of East Timor: Testimony.

“There is a role for historical research and memory in helping to build sustainable peace and stability in new nations,” he declares. “On the other hand, ignoring violent pasts undermines peace building efforts.

“In the wake of conflict and crimes against humanity, more and more countries are forming a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC). A tool developed for use in less developed countries emerging from conflicts, it has also been applied in Canada which is the only Western developed country to have held a full truth commission around the legacy of residential schools for indigenous people. Truth knows no borders. Increasingly, neither do truth commissions,” Dr Webster concludes.

 

By Dr James A. Boutilier, President Emeritus, PPP

 

More than thirty years ago, in October 1985, the defence communities in Washington, Wellington, and Canberra were rocked by the news that the newly independent Republic of Kiribati had entered into a year-long fisheries agreement with the Soviet Union. It was the depth of the Cold War and it looked as if Moscow had just stolen a march on the western allies in the South Pacific. For its part, Kiribati, bereft of revenue from the recently exhausted phosphate mines on the island of Banaba and challenged by the predatory operations of American Tunaboat Association vessels, had pulled off a masterstroke. Although a micro-state in terms of land area, Kiribati was a giant in the oceanic realm; skillfully parlaying its abundant maritime resources to gain leverage – direct or indirect – with the great powers. From the Russians, the islanders obtained assured revenue; from the Americans, New Zealanders and Australians, renewed geostrategic attention.

The same dynamics occur today. The only major difference is that we are now dealing with a far more powerful, ambitious, and globally-engaged player: China. The meteoric rise of China was, arguably, one of the most important global developments in the last quarter of the 20th century. In the process, Beijing embarked on two unprecedented initiatives: it built an ocean-going navy that is, quantitatively, larger than the United States Navy and it embarked on the so-called Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI is a pharaonic tribute to the power and vision of Xi Jinping, the president of the People’s Republic of China. It envisages two grand commercial arteries, one linking China with Europe across the Indian Ocean and the other linking China with Europe across the heartland of Eurasia. Never before have the Chinese sought to export their influence beyond the Middle Kingdom in this way.

The Chinese leadership has elaborated on the BRI construct since it was first articulated in 2013. They now call for an Arctic ‘Silk Road’ and over the past half-decade they have spoken about a spur line that will extend from Southeast Asia into Oceania. They have already perceived the geostrategic advantages that have accrued to the United States from its privileged relationship with the island polities of Micronesia, a relationship that facilitates an American naval presence in the approaches to the Chinese coast. Why not, Beijing argues, alter the geostrategic balance in the approaches to critical US allies like Australia and New Zealand by targeted development assistance to island states lying across the South Pacific?

Beijing has been extraordinarily adept at exploiting the presence of overseas Chinese communities as a point of entry into these and other societies. In the oceanic context, there were already small Chinese communities, dating back to the colonial era, in key states like Tonga, Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. Regrettably, these communities have been the subject of racist pogroms over the years. More than 25 percent of the Chinese stores in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga, for example, were looted or burned during riots that swept the town in 2006. Similarly, much of the old China Town in Honiara, in the Solomon Islands, was destroyed some years earlier.

Whatever the case, the presence of Chinese citizens legitimized overtures from Beijing and if we look at Fiji over the past decade, when relations between Suva, Wellington, and Canberra were at their worst, we see that the Fijian President, Frank Banimarama, was more than happy, like his Kiribati forerunner, to turn not only to the Russians, but to the Chinese. The Chinese, of course, recognize a good thing when they see it. Small amounts of money, strategically positioned, secure disproportionate amounts of influence, particularly in micro-states. In Beijing’s defence, of course, China as an emerging great power, is doing what all great powers do. However, there has been a good deal of angst about China’s endgame recently. Serious questions have been raised around the world about the economic viability of the BRI, about the potential for BRI loans to become debt traps for recipient states (the inability of Sri Lanka to pay off its loan to China for the development of the port of Hambantota is frequently cited as an example), the theft of intellectual property by Chinese corporations, Chinese espionage activities, Chinese “United Front” activities overseas to influence local opinion and politics, and China’s long-term strategic goals.

Thus, when word reached Canberra early in 2018 that the Chinese were eager to build a port in Vanuatu which could be utilized by the Chinese navy, alarm bells went off in western chancelleries. As it happened, both the Ni-Vanuatu and Chinese authorities denied the suggestion resolutely but Winston Peters, the Deputy Premier of New Zealand, spoke out (interestingly enough at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, rather than in Wellington) about the fact that Oceania was now becoming a contested space. Several months later, the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, warned Beijing not to consider building any military facilities in the Pacific Islands and the Australian government moved to undercut a Chinese bid to lay communications cables from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea to Australia. Indeed, there has been considerable concern in western capitals that Chinese communication firms like Huawei are effectively arms of the Chinese intelligence system and that the utilization of Chinese equipment could compromise western security.

It is important to note that, while Beijing is seeking access to raw materials and markets as well as strategic advantage, the Chinese are playing a parallel game; eroding diplomatic support for Taiwan. Six of the seventeen states that support Taiwan are Pacific Island nations: Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. Taiwan is the tenth largest donor in Oceania although there is a critical difference between Taipei and Beijing. While Taipei only gives grants, Beijing gives grants and concessional loans. Loans are where the trouble lies. In the Sri Lankan case, the government’s inability to repay a Chinese loan obliged it to deed the port of Hambantota to Beijing for 99 years.

 

In the case of Palau, the penalty came in a different form. When Palau hosted the Taiwanese President, Tsai Ing-wen, in 2018, the Chinese set out to punish Palau by cutting off the flow of Chinese tourists. As one news source opined, China had weaponized tourism. There was nothing new in this approach. In 2017, when South Korea sought to protect itself from North Korean attack by installing missile defences, China (alleging that the radar associated with that defence system compromised Chinese security) cut off the flow of tourists to South Korea, thereby inflicting billions of dollars of losses on the republic’s economy. The same has been true in Palau where almost half of the annual influx of 122,000 tourists come from the People’s Republic of China.

These sorts of punitive strategies are frequently counter-productive and the scope and tone of Chinese activities in Oceania have resulted in renewed commitments by Australia and New Zealand to the Pacific Islands in the run-up to the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in September in Nauru. Australia is already the biggest donor in the region although much of that support is earmarked for Papua New Guinea. The Chinese have continued with their grants and loans programme, buttressed by the recent goodwill visit of the Chinese hospital ship, Peace Ark, to Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga. The vessel had visited Nuku’alofa in 2014 but this visit coincided with an interesting and murky episode in which the Tongan Prime Minister, Akalisi Pohiva, suggested that Beijing forgive the loans that China had made to Pacific Island nations. Almost immediately, Pohiva reversed himself, whether as a result of pressure from China or Samoa’s prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, the outgoing chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, is hard to say. Whatever the case, the Tongan proposal highlighted, once again, the concern of small, third world states in the Indian and Pacific Ocean areas that deep indebtedness is a significant possibility when taking receipt of foreign loans.

What we can see is history repeating itself, more or less. Kiribati’s overtures to the Soviet Union in the mid-1980s enhanced its budgetary prospects but alarmed the metropolitan capitals concerned about the strategic implications of Soviet activities in the heart of Oceania. Similarly, Chinese activities in Oceania in the opening decades of this century, sharpened by an increasingly pessimistic assessment of China’s global ambitions, have resulted in new aid and security initiatives issuing from Canberra and Wellington. The problem evaporated in the 1980s when the Soviet Union collapse ignominiously. In the 21st century, however, the challenge is likely to grow as China seeks to exert its newfound wealth, authority, and military power around the globe.

 

 

Postscript

Just as this article was being drafted, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) was taking place in Nauru. The PIF was, in many ways, a perfect metaphor for Pacific Islands’ dynamics. The host nation, Nauru, enjoys diplomatic relations with Taiwan and the Nauruan authorities reportedly refused to allow the Chinese delegates to enter the country on their official passports. At the same time, concern about the extent of Chinese activity in Oceania ensured a fairly high level of diplomatic representation from the United States and Australia. Ironically, neither of these governments is enthusiastic about climate change initiatives, something which is of crucial importance to Pacific Island nations. In fact, five years ago, Christopher Loeak, the president of the Marshall Islands, noted that “the Pacific [was] fighting for its survival.” He spoke just after a freak tide had inundated the capital, Majuro, and flooded the airport runway.

The PIF proceedings were marred by a diplomatic contretemps in which the Nauruan president, Baron Waga, refused to allow a Chinese delegate to speak out of sequence and the delegate stormed out of the room (in a building constructed with Taiwanese aid money!) The Nauruans were offended by what they considered to be the bullying and arrogant behaviour of the Chinese delegate and alleged that they would seek a formal apology from the People’s Republic. In the interval, the newly-appointed Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Marise Payne, (barely a week in office after a change of prime ministers in Canberra) broke with her party in promising climate change support for the islands and the US government issued a statement enumerating the array of initiatives undertaken by American agencies in Oceania. For more on this story, see Taiwan News, 7 September 2018, https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3524503.

 

September 2018 articles with fast-breaking news around this theme:

“Tides of change in the South Pacific,” 8 September 2018, East Asia Forum, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2018/09/08/tides-of-change-in-the-south-pacific/

“… Increasing Chinese activity across the region is well documented. Beijing has usurped the United States as the region’s second largest aid donor and is funding projects across the South Pacific. Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has said that Fiji’s cooperation with China ‘reminds [Canberra] that countries like Fiji have options’.”

 

“ADB ramps up Pacific presence as aid donors jostle for influence,” 17 September 2018, Reuters Business News, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pacific-debt-adb/adb-ramps-up-pacific-presence-as-aid-donors-jostle-for-influence-idUSKCN1LY09Z

“… The Asian Development Bank said on Tuesday it is expanding its presence in the Pacific islands, at a time of competition for influence there, opening seven new country offices and expecting its loans and grants in the region to top $4 billion by 2020.”

 

“Chinese Tourists Are Beijing’s Newest Economic Weapon,” 26 September 2018, Foreign Policy Magazine,

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/26/chinese-tourists-are-beijings-newest-economic-weapon/

“… Due to its unique ability to control outbound tourists, China can use tourism as a tool of pressure, giving it a new form of soft power never seen before on the global stage. And the country is beginning to use it. Last year, it was directed at South Korea. Today, the target is tiny Palau due to its ongoing diplomatic recognition of Taiwan. Tomorrow, it could be Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, or any country that gets into a geopolitical spat with China.” 

 

“U.S. to counter Chinese internet bid in Papua New Guinea: diplomat,” 27 September 2018, Reuters World News, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pacific-debt-huawei-tech/u-s-to-counter-chinese-internet-bid-in-papua-new-guinea-diplomat-idUSKCN1M800X

“… The United States is working on a counter-offer to stop Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from building internet infrastructure in Papua New Guinea (PNG), its top diplomat to Australia said on Friday.

“The bid comes two years after Huawei first agreed to build a network there, and as the United States and its allies mount a vigorous campaign to check China’s rising influence in the region by deepening their own diplomatic ties and boosting aid.”

 

“Questions over huge Chinese funded PNG power project,” 28 September 2018, Radio New Zealand, https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/367475/questions-over-huge-chinese-funded-png-power-project

“… China is said to be pressuring Papua New Guinea to sign a huge hydro electricity deal before the APEC summit in November. … The project is linked to Beijing’s signature Belt and Road Initiative through the Shenzhen Energy Group, which would finance, build and operate the plant for its first 25 years.”

Talofa Lava!  Pacific Peoples’ Partnership wishes to officially provide notice to our members of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Thursday November 15th at Sneq’wa e’lun – The Blue Heron House at Royal Roads University.  

We are thrilled to have our AGM in this stunning seaside location!  The doors open at 6:00 pm with the official meeting set to begin at 6:30 pm with a social to follow.  During this meeting we will pass new bylaws to ensure our compliance with the BC Society transition act.  Plus we will have prizes, special announcements and presentations concerning our programming and partnerships so please join us!  Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Note we are seeking new Board Members, if you are interested to learn more or to send an expression of interest please email our Board Director Rachel Levee  

Please ensure your membership is up to date by renewing your annual commitment and membership with a minimum $15 donation at: https://archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org/donate/ or email us at info@archive.pacificpeoplespartnership.org to learn more.

Lastly for planning purpsoes please RSVP or register your participation: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pacific-peoples-partnership-agm-social-tickets-51531278441

Thank you,  Members are the heart of our organization!

RedTide: International Indigenous Climate Action Summit – Building a Collaborative Legacy to address Climate Change.

By April Ingham, Executive Director, PPP & Collaborator for RedTide

My introduction to Pacific Peoples’ Partnership (PPP) began with a wonderful publication entitled “Pacific Promises.” This was jointly authored by interns Stephanie Peter of the Cowichan Tribes on Vancouver Island and Deyna Kiriata Marsh of the Cook Islands, two young women who represent diverse nations within the North and South Pacific. Together, they crafted a work of fiction about a friendship that began with a message in a bottle, and what would lead to life changing global experiences for two young girls. The story felt very personal to both women, as the exchange powerfully illustrated their own unique biospheres, and the impacts that climate change is inflicting on their families, peoples and homelands. Ultimately, the story presents a hopeful message about solidarity, global citizenship and the promise of our youth.

As was illustrated so beautifully in this special publication, connecting peoples North and South for culture and knowledge exchange, as well as working intergenerationally within communities to build up our youth, is central to PPP’s work. Over the years we have produced 23 Pacific Networking Conferences (PNC), which are typically held in Canada every 2-3 years to address topical Pacific and Indigenous matters. Past conferences have focussed on critical topics including: West Papua human rights, Truth & Reconciliation in the Solomon Islands, and in 2015 we held “Rising Tides: Our Lands, Our Waters, Our Peoples”  which focussed on experiences of climate change within Indigenous communities.  

“Rising Tides” was a participatory and creative program developed and hosted with the direct support of several Coast Salish Nations in Canada. Within this we explored resilience, innovation, climate change adaptation, and the importance of traditional knowledge to ensuring our sustainability. The conference was blessed with the attendance of Ora Barlow-Tukaki, a strong Māori woman with a grand vision. This multitalented educator, performance artist, activist and community connector told PPP of a vision to host an international Indigenous climate action gathering in her traditional Māori territory of Te Whānau-A-Apanui. PPP welcomed the opportunity to help coordinate a PNC inspired conference in the South Pacific, and was honoured to work alongside Ora and her husband Ray’s organization Toitoi Manawa Trust to help make this a reality.

For two years preceding the RedTide: International Indigenous Climate Action Summit, PPP along with fellow Canada based partners – Indigenous Studies at the University of Victoria, and Indigenous Climate Action worked jointly to assist Toitoi Manawa Trust, and their Māoriand New Zealand counterparts, to realize the vision of hosting and organizing this important summit.

From the beginning the process was collaborative, kicked off with a virtual International participatory visioning exercise with Indigenous climate activists, educators, traditional knowledge keepers and leaders to help guide program development and build Indigenous global solidarity for RedTide.  

Rooted by this collaborative process, with incredible support and participation, we held RedTide this past May 1-6, 2018. This was no small feat as the Summit was located in Toitoi Manawa Trust’s homelands, which was once a whaling community, and located in one of the more remote coastal areas of Aotearoa NZ. The rich landscape and biosphere here are 97% Māori owned and controlled, with the nearest township an hour away. Given the remote location, coordination and promotion was understandably a bit of a challenge. We wondered: would internationals come that far? How would delegates get to this location? The answer was simple: yes they would come, and by any means necessary. Delegates biked, bussed, hiked, camped, flew, carpooled, tented and hitchhiked! Nearly all the guests had an interesting tale to share about their travels to Te Kaha and of the warm hospitality that awaited them at both of the hosting Maraes.

RedTide began May 1, 2018 with welcoming protocol at Pahaoa Marae, followed by two days of solid conferencing designed specifically for youth. Over 100 youth primarily from Māori communities attended, some making a three hour round trip just to participate. Others living locally would stay late into the night, in support of their family members who volunteered to host the guests at their Marae. PPP was delighted that Vancouver Island youth delegate Kalilah Rampanen (Ahousaht/Cree), also a performer at our 2015 Rising Tide Conference, was sponsored to attend largely thanks to crowdfunding donors and the support of Indigenous Climate Action.

It was my greatest pleasure to accompany these youth as they traversed, and excitedly participated in dynamic daily sessions. They included those relating to water health and fish monitoring (at the riverside); and about reading Tohu (the signs) through hands on participatory learning sessions led by Māori Traditional Scholars; or at creative spaces where they explored 3-D design technology, spoken word and GIS mapping.  

For me, the highlight was exploring the Māori Stardome. Laying on the floor inside a large bubble similar to a bouncy castle and surrounded by people of all ages, we looked starward and learned directly from expert Māori Astronomy researcher and educator Dr. Pauline Harris. She captured our imagination and wonder through a guided presentation, utilizing a special 3-D stargazing projector to educate and awe her students about Māori astronomical star lore, traditional navigation and the Māori Moon calendar.

More and more people began to arrive in advance of the main summit. As they settled in, our Coordination Team along with the host community hoisted a massive marquis tent on the grounds of the historic Te Kaha Marae which was the site of the main RedTide summit.  On opening day May 3, dozens of visiting delegates were officially welcomed onto the Marae.  Walking up together we were surprised to see a drone flying overhead recording the ceremony. However, this did fulfill an important goal of RedTide which was to make the proceedings accessible to all who are interested.  

Over the three days that followed 200+ community members and delegates came together for meal prep, cleanup, groundskeeping, daily sharing, and communal living on the Marae. From early morning to late at night we witnessed fascinating keynote speakers, inspiring presenters and young leaders. Together we shared in song and feast, enjoying creative pursuits, educational environmental outings, and ultimately learning together and building community.  Sessions covered diverse themes such as Climate Justice and Indigenous Peoples; Youth in Climate Change; Community Resistance against Environmental Racism through Reconciliation; Customary knowledge; Organics and Community Resilience; Coastal Inundation; Recycling; Maramataka (Māori Calendar), and Climate Education Toolkits & Research.

In particular I was jolted by the powerful words issued by Indigenous rights and environmental law expert Dayle Takitimu –

“Close your eyes and you will find the solution to climate change it is in your DNA…Indigenous people have a particular worldview, this positions us within the world, not masters of it… The planet does not need saving, it is US that needs saving, we will make ourselves extinct…  Stop playing the power game – play the sacred one – it is more empowering… Indigenous peoples have a special role to play due to our unique relationship with the earth.”

So many inspiring speakers and participants shared throughout the program. The richness of the experience was overwhelming. Invaluable connections were made, ideas exchanged, and solidarity built. From the very beginning of planning in late 2015, those that contributed to the vision put forward by Toitoi Manawa Trust all agreed that we wanted to ensure a legacy. Our 16 year old youth keynote speaker Manaia Sorensen, fresh from a regional win for her speech “Five Embarrassing Things you Didn’t know about Climate Change”, seemed profoundly inspired by RedTide and ended up taking her message directly to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand. She was even photographed in the “Boss’s” seat alongside PM Ardern just a few days ago. This is the future!  

 

Achieving legacy is an ongoing goal and true outcome of RedTide, and PPP is deeply  honoured to be a part of this important movement. Together we built community, celebrated young leaders, inspired action and introduced new career pathways for youth. We created educational curriculum and resources that will contribute to climate education worldwide. The events were historically marked by a RedTide carving residency and the resulting creation of two poles by Master Carver Michael Matchitt. The poles were gifted by Michael to a new regional school which is currently under construction and set to open in 2021. Another enduring legacy is the REDTIDE Rangatahi Roopu – a community launched Youth Group.

As mentioned in Ora’s Reflections on RedTide, the gifting of cultural property was also an important component of the program. It was to this end that I felt honoured to carry “Little Dream”, a cedar carved miniature dugout canoe, with me to Aotearoa. The canoe was carved by talented Ahousat Carver and PPP friend Moy Sutherland, and then gifted by him and his daughter Pawa Haiyupis (who contributed significantly to the development of RedTide). “Little Dream” was gifted ceremoniously with the cultural support of Kahlilah and the Turtle Island delegation to all those that keep the spirit of RedTide alive. The canoe will journey to each coordinating community now and into the future, with the next confirmed landing planned for Vancouver Island in 2020. It is to this end we welcome you aboard this vision, and encourage your support of PPP along with our partners as we work towards hosting the next RedTide!  

 

GRATITUDE:  So many people and organizations contributed to making RedTide a reality. Here are but a few: University of Victoria, Indigenous Climate Action, MetaMāori Science & Digitech, E Tu Whanau, Te Runanga o Te Whanau, Southern Trust, Nga Whenua Rahui, Eastbay REAP, Coast Community Board, Opotiki District Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, LUSH Handmade Cosmetics, Kiwis 4 Kiwi, Forest & Bird, Michael Matchitt, Te Runanga o Te Rarawa, Te Puni Kokiri, Department of Conservation, Hataraka Ngata Gibson of Crazy Hat Productions, IFIP (International Funders for Indigenous Peoples), Mark Gauti from T’Sou-ke Nation for the creation of our amazing logo, and to all those that contributed to crowdfunding and participated in envisioning RedTide.

 

In closing, PPP wishes to acknowledge Toitoi Manawa Trust and the amazing people of Te Whānau-A-Apanui upon who’s lands and territories these historic proceedings were held.  Your hospitality was beyond amazing and you will forever be remembered. Thank you for allowing PPP to be part of this amazing vision, and we look forward to seeing you again in 2021 for the raising of the commemorative poles!.

– – – – – –

 

To learn more about the 2018 RedTide program check out the following stories and links:

www.redtidesummit.com

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RedtideClimateActionSummit/

https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/23-05-2018/iwi-and-the-fight-against-the-rising-tide-of-climate-change/

https://thebeacon.co.nz/2018/05/climate-waka-launched/

https://thebeacon.co.nz/2018/04/red-tide-calling-mayday-2/