by Toka Toka
This article was adapted from Toka Toka’s presentation at the “Educators Stand for Climate Justice and a Just Transition” held in May 2023 at Lautoka, Fiji.

My name is Toka Toka, a member of the Cook Islands Teachers Union-Youth. I hail from the island of Manihiki in the northern waters of the Cook Islands. I am glad to be here with you to gain new knowledge and expand my understanding of climate change. I am doing this so that I may be able to generate more awareness on the impacts of climate change to our island homes.

I am here to talk about the importance of teaching young Indigenous Peoples about our traditional ways of life and why knowing these foundations is also key to our struggle for climate justice. I would like to share about an organisation called Korero O te Orau, an environmental NGO whose members consist of Cook Islanders passionate about protecting the country’s culture, environment and natural resources. Team members hail from diverse backgrounds with expertise ranging from geography, marine biology, climate change, policy, psychology, communications, information technology, to traditional knowledge of the Cook Islands. It was founded by Dr. Teina Rongo, a marine biologist who studied in the US and returned home to our islands.

Under this organisation, we formed a programme called “Atul’anga Ki Te Tango,” which focusses its teachings on our youth and children as they are our future. Because of my passion for Cook Islands culture and language, I work as the organisation’s programme lead.

In Cook Islands Māori, Atuianga KiTe Tang translates to “connecting to your foundation.” Foundation, in this case, is knowing who you are: your origins, language, culture, history, environment, customs and traditions, and genealogy. It also includes the traditional knowledge that has been practiced by the ancestors and that is being passed on from generation to generation. In our programme, we ask our students: what is your foundation? Do you know your foundation?

In the Cook Islands, most of our children are unaware of their foundation. For example, part of our foundation as Pacific Islanders is fishing and our connection to the sea. In the past, our ancestors went out to sea to catch fish, which in turn formed an integral and intimate relationship between our people and nature. However, nowadays, we rely on supermarkets to provide fish, which can make nature seem like an abstract and distant concept for our people, especially the youth.

In this programme, we teach young people how to fish in the traditional way because in order to learn foundational parts of our community as Pacific Islanders. If we do not have this connection to the fish and oceans, we are not going to value it and how it forms part of our intricately connected lives.
In the Cook Islands today, we can already see the consequences of rapid and unregulated modernization. We are slowly losing our language, our culture, our traditional knowledge and practices. We are gradually losing our traditions and cultures. Economically, we are becoming more reliant on imported goods, which comes at a high cost for the environment. Our agricultural lands are being converted into hotels and commercial trading. As a small island nation, we are also more vulnerable to climate change, even though our cultures and traditions already provide pathways to climate resilience. Without a strong foundation in our traditions and indigenous knowledge, Cook Islanders will not be prepared for the worst impacts of climate change.

We see the impacts of what climate change in our islands everyday. This is why it is important to build resilient communities, where we look after one another especially in times of disasters and need. Likewise, promoting our traditional ways of living among the youth and combining this with scientific recommendations regarding climate change adaptation is vital to the survival of Cook Islanders in the climate crisis.

I am grateful to the Korero o Te Orau Organisation and Atuianga kite Tango Programme because I am passionate about my Cook Islands culture, and I want to pass this onto our youth. I am teaching these through Cook Islands traditional dancing, singing, drumming, making costumes. We also encourage students to participate in the national cultural event competitions. For example, this year one of our students participated and won in the annual national dance competition. Perhaps, if we build this connection with the young, we will be able keep alive the foundations which we, as a people and community, are built upon.

Teaching the foundations of Māori life to the youth is one of my greatest pleasures as an educator. My Cook Islands language and culture are my passion and sharing it with students fills my heart with pride and joy. The youth are the voice of tomorrow, and I believe that collaborating with them as education unionists is crucial in our struggle for climate justice. By promoting our traditions, languages and reiterating the value of knowing our foundation as Māori people, we can also help in minimizing the impacts of climate change on our beautiful islands.

Meitaki.