Still celebrating Earth Day 2024

I pass by my son’s bottle cap mural all the time, but the other day I really noticed it again. And that made me think about Earth Day.

When he was 10 years old, he created an up-cycling project with colored plastic bottle caps. He chose to create the message “THINK BIG”, which we glued to a plywood board. I love the idea of turning things we might usually throw away into something functional, beautiful, or inspirational!

Voting in the Plastic Free Hawai’i School Mural Contest ended on April 20 and Earth Day 2024 was on April 22, but we can celebrate sustainability, ‘āina, and our connection to ‘āina year-round.

Here are some up-coming activities and events you might be interested in:

April 25 (Thursday) is Kama’āina Thursday at Waimea Valley, where kama’āina can receive free admission from 12 pm to 3 pm. After you enjoy the botanical gardens and hike to the falls, be sure to stop by the Hale’iwa Farmer’s Market from 2 pm to 6 pm.

April 27 (Saturday) is a 3R Drive at Waialua High & Intermediate School from 9 am to 11 am. Reynolds Recycling will redeem aluminum cans, plastic bottles, glass bottles, steel and bi-metal cans.

April 27 (Saturday) is a Kaloko Inlet Restoration with 808 Cleanups. You can help remove invasive species, haul away debris, water and weed the native planting zones, and remove litter. RSVP on the 808 Cleanups App or email kimeonakane.808cleanups@gmail.com. Waiver required. Look for other cleanup opportunities, planned for almost every day of the week!

May 19 (Sunday) is a Wawamalu Beach Service Project from 9 am to 12 pm. Limited to 24 attendee/volunteers. Help return Wawamalu Beach to its native/natural state after years of off-road abuse and inattention. Natives planting, seed collection and sowing, as well as removal of invasive plants on tap. Personal pickaxes welcome and encouraged. Work gloves provided.

June 6-16 is Ho’oulu Lāhui: Regenerating Oceanica, the 13^th Annual Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture. It’s the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders. The festival will showcase performing arts, heritage arts, and visual arts, as well as conferences, workshops, and panel discussions to enhance cultural understanding, sustainability, and the preservation of Pacific heritage.

How did you celebrate Earth Day? What small change can you make today to help Hawai’i?

The sun is still there

In Hawai’i, it was a beautiful morning, like any other beautiful morning with partly-cloudy skies. The sun tinted the clouds a gorgeous orange-pink color when I looked in my rearview mirror.

On April 8, 2024, people in 15 US states within “the path of totality” experienced a very different morning – a solar eclipse, when the moon completely eclipsed the sun. From photos I saw, some places were completely dark, as if it were night, while other places seemed to be in an eerie twilight.

As I was driving to work, this reminded me that people can experience the same event and have very different perceptions of it and reactions to it. And their perceptions and reactions are all equally valid. It is their truth.

Some people may feel fear about the darkness or awe about an incredible event, or both at once. Some people may feel profoundly changed, and others may notice it and move on, unaffected.

Some people may have traveled long distances to be able to experience a once-in-a-lifetime event, and other people may be content to read about it or watch it on video.

Your reactions to events, your feelings about things that happen to you or around you, are valid because they are yours. They don’t have to be the same as everyone else’s. They are not good or bad, right or wrong. They are your reactions, your feelings, your emotions.

We may think that the people closest to us are more likely to have the same experiences and react in the same way. It may be true. It’s okay if it’s not true.

I hope that they can respect your feelings and you can respect their feelings.

And I just wanted to remind you that even if you couldn’t see the sun during the eclipse, whether the sun was behind the moon or behind the clouds or on the other side of the world, the sun is still there.

What was your experience of the solar eclipse? How did it make you feel?

Experiencing fear and awe

A little bit of fear and a lot of awe.

That’s what I felt when we were driving up Round Top Drive in Honolulu one morning. We turned a corner and left the city behind.

As a passenger in the car, I turned my head side to side, trying to see everything. The tangled verdant plants, arching trees whose canopies blocked the sunlight, the bamboo sentinels, the winding road that wound continuously upward. Even through the closed windows, the air felt cooler.

I felt a little bit of fear as we rounded sharp edges on a barely two-lane road, and the sudden surprise of looking up into the overcast sky and down into a valley when there was an opening in the trees. I felt little apprehensive about swerving off the road or missing the turn (thankfully, the woman driving was very confident). I felt even more apprehensive when we were driving behind a cement truck mixer on the way down.

And I felt a whole lot of awe. Surrounded by the forest, it felt as if we had left Honolulu behind. There were no sidewalks bracketed by tamed grass or precisely planted trees and shrubs. The plants felt free to grow wildly, the trees had the height of human generations.

It makes me feel both small and connected to the ‘āina.

When I visited Muir Woods as a child, I remember feeling that same sense of fear and awe – though I think it has a stronger impact on me as an adult. But the memory of standing under massive living trees lingers.

And since I didn’t take a photo as we were driving on Round Top Drive, I choose a photo of redwoods to remember that the ‘āina was here before us and will continue after us.

Picture a moment when you experienced a sense of fear and awe. What did it feel like? Can you describe it in words, in a drawing, in music, in scents?

Insights from “Inhabitants”

It was a beautiful late afternoon and delicious scents enticed us from covered serving dishes on the table. Mohala Farms and the Environmental Justice Club at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa prepared and served a farm-to-table dinner for us in the lush inner courtyard at Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu.

They were feeding our bodies just as the Sierra Club of Hawai’i was feeding our minds and spirits, with a special film screening of “Inhabitants – Indigenous Perspectives on Restoring Our World.” The documentary follows five Native American Tribes across deserts, coastlines, forests, and prairies as they restore their traditional land management practices and restore their relationships with the land.

We watched the film in the sanctuary, breathing in the cool breeze and feeling fellowship with each other.

I wish I could have stayed for the discussion, but it was a long day and my energy was running low. As I drove home, there was a lot to think about. Three insights circled in my mind:

Receive what the land gives you.

Western farmers plant corn in 1” of dirt and irrigate the land. In Arizona, the Hopi Tribe plants corn 2 feet in the ground and don’t rely on irrigation. It was amazing to see green shoots growing in the arid dirt. What does this reveal about their relationship with the land? Western farming focuses on quick results with minimal effort and often a wasteful use of resources. Indigenous farmers spend more time and effort in the planting, choosing corn varieties that can survive drought and flooding.

Safeguard someone’s livelihood and you safeguard their independence.

In the 1800s, Western settlers slaughtered wild buffalo. In Montana, the Blackfeet Tribe relied on buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and cultural practices. It was exciting to see video of buffalo charging across the grasslands, and see Blackfeet youth have fun learning. What does this reveal about their relationship with tradition? Western thought focuses on changing nature to fit people, putting their own needs ahead of tradition. Indigenous people adapt to the land and resources available, interweaving tradition, cultural practices, and resource management.

Food sovereignty builds community resilience.

Western farmers plant a single crop. In Hawai’i, Indigenous farmers plant a variety of crops and create “food forests.” It was wonderful to see a family farm thriving with banana, taro, and breadfruit, with so much land. What does this reveal about their relationship with food? Western farming is transactional, planting crops that will yield the best profit and not giving the land an opportunity to recover. Indigenous farmers see the value of a variety of crops, ensuring that families have food to eat year-round, and ensuring that a disease or infestation will affect only a single crop.

What can Native Hawaiians and Indigenous people around the world teach us about better stewardship of the land?

Resource colonization and healing in “Powerlands”

Directed by Navajo (Diné) filmmaker Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso, “Powerlands” is a documentary film that investigates the displacement of Indigenous people and devastation of the environment caused by the same chemical companies that have exploited the land where she was born.

With heart-store stories of Mauna Kea protests and the recent Red Hill water contamination in my thoughts, I attended a free screening hosted by LAING Hawai’i on a Sunday afternoon at UH Mānoa.

Resource colonization is a global problem. “Powerlands” lets us hear the voices and stories of Indigenous peoples around the world.

The film begins in the Navajo Nation (Dinétah Land), where they are struggling the lack of water, the exploitation of the land for natural resources (coal, oil, gas, and uranium), pollution, and government harassment in the form of livestock impoundment and forced relocation.

The film takes us to the Wayúu in La Guajira, Columbia, where the Indigenous people are displaced by coal mining that covers 270 square miles of land, forced relocation, pollution, the loss of agriculture, the loss of food autonomy, and the loss of community…

Tampakan in The Philippines, where leaders have been killed, protesters line the streets, and guerilla soldiers join the New People’s Army to resist mining…

Standing Rock at the Lakota Nation, where in 2016 people gathered to protest the oil pipeline and heal historical trauma with peace and prayer…

Oaxaca, Mexico, where 2,000 wind turbines were installed without involvement from Indigenous peoples, who have lost their land and community…

Coming full circle, the film closes at the Navajo Nation with a cultural gathering to create clay for traditional pottery.

I felt sadness, anger, outrage, hope, empathy. I remember the film in flashes:

Flash: Navajo Duwayne Blackrock says, “This is who we are and where we want to be.” How can I become more sure of my identity and my place in the world?

Flash: At a meeting, a mining corporate executive expresses outrage that the good they have done for the community is not appreciated. How can Indigenous people become empowered to decide what is good for Indigenous people?

Flash: The wife of a slain B’laan leader chants her prayers that no one will be harmed and her hopes for peace. What can she teach us about looking beyond our loss, pain, and anger?

Flash: A guerilla soldier dances in the forest, his rain boots stepping rhythmically on the mud-packed ground, the rifle around his shoulder incorporated into his dance. How can peaceful protest lead to understanding, restoration, and forgiveness?

Flash: “We are not separate from our environment,” Navajo elder marie gladue (name in lowercase letters) says. This could have been said by a Native Hawaiian kupuna (elder). What makes some people separate themselves from the land, and how can we help them reconnect?

I am thankful to Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso, LAING Hawai’i, and the sponsors of this film screening for the opportunity to watch, learn, and reflect about resource colonization, environmental activism, environmental racism, and power.

What similarities and differences do you see between these Indigenous communities and Hawai’i? What does the title “Powerlands” mean to you?