Indigenous people have always considered Mother Earth or Papahānaumoku in ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi to be our living, breathing kūpuna for which we must care. It wasn’t until contact with Western colonizers did kānaka lose their sense of self-sustainability and the islands became just ʻāina, not our actual ancestors. My favorite ʻōlelo noʻeau remains he aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauā ke kanaka (the land is a chief, man is its servant), which is a proverb I try to live by everyday. Western influence and colonization across the globe has historically led to the increase in damaging fossil fuels, fracking, pillaging of sacred land, and a greater threat of life-threatening climate change. Throughout my short life, we’ve seen super storms that ravage populations, countless animal populations going extinct, mass deaths of coral reefs, widespread deforestation, and environmental racism that targets mostly communities of color. As tomorrow is a day where we celebrate and revere Papahānaumoku (previously spoken about here), I can only hope that one day we’ll care for our planet in the ways she deserves—relying not on capitalist and colonizing beliefs of taking what we want no matter what the cost, but instead on Indigenous practices of nurturing and loving our ʻāina for the life she gives us. One way we can exercise massive love for our Papahānaumoku is by demolishing capitalism and the nation state so the military and large corporations can’t continue being the greatest polluters of land and air. We can give land back to indigenous peoples who have always known the best ways to care for Papahānaumoku and eliminate these violent colonizing systems that steal and destroy all living beings. We need to want better for those coming after us, so the first step is dismantling capitalism and the military. Before tomorrow’s Earth Day, let’s all work together to make sure our planet is in the best shape she can be for all future generations!
