Indigenous ocean leaders from across the world gathered at Waitangi last week for the Taiātea symposium, discussing Indigenous-led solutions to climate and environmental issues affecting their oceans.
Among them was Native Hawaiian elder and One Oceania co-founder Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, who is calling for greater urgency around threats such as deep-sea mining in Te Moana Nui a Kiwa - an issue he says strikes at the core of Indigenous identity.
“My genealogy, it says that I come from the deepest part of the ocean,” he says.
“If this process is going into the place of my creation and destroying it, it is an intrusion that I feel is destructive to my existence and the continuance of our existence in the Moananuiākea.”
More than 20 Indigenous ocean leaders, marine scientists and researchers from across the Pacific took part in the wānanga in Waitangi, which focused on Indigenous-led solutions for climate change, marine protection and the restoration of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.
For Kaho’ohalahala, this was his first visit to Waitangi, though he says the place feels deeply familiar.
“I feel like I’m home because I feel embraced here and I feel like I’m part of that moʻokūʻauhau – we’re one family,” says Solomon Pili Kaho’ohalahala, known as Uncle Sol.
He says the peoples of the Pacific are bound by shared origins and responsibilities.
“We understand we’re the people of the canoe, we live in Oceania, it’s our home, we have generational experiences and knowledge. Then the question is – are we responsible for the changes that are happening in this time?”
He kimi rautaki, he whakapūmau i ngā hononga
This year’s symposium was hosted at Te Tiriti o Waitangi Marae, coinciding with Waitangi Day events. Taiātea leader Sheridan Waitai (Ngāti Kuri, Te Rarawa, Tainui) says the hui is about strengthening global Indigenous relationships and collective responsibility for the moana.
“We are connected through our shared kaitiakitanga of taonga and our ecosystem,” she says.
“As kaitiaki of the moana, it is important we come together to discuss what others have achieved with similar constraints, learn about what is working, what isn’t, and move forward together with purpose.”
The symposium also provided space for Indigenous leaders to raise pressing issues facing their moana.
Abúk Danielle Shaw, Chief Councillor of the Wuikinuxv Nation in British Columbia, says fossil fuel infrastructure poses serious risks to coastal communities.
“One of the issues is the potential for an oil pipeline, which would bring tankers to our coast and potentially lift the oil tanker moratorium.”
For Kanaka Maoli, Kaho’ohalahala says deep-sea mining remains a central concern.
“[The] entire area of ocean and seafloor is already subdivided by nation, says throughout the world, and they’re waiting for the rules and regulations to allow for the exploitation, and then they will begin to mine the deep sea,” says Uncle Sol.
He points to the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the eastern Pacific - adjacent to Hawai’i and stretching toward Mexico - as an area under increasing pressure.
Taiātea Lead Researcher Lisa Te Heuheu (Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Maniapoto) says the hui also centres on mātauranga Māori and taonga tuku iho, aligning with the Wai 262 ‘Tiaki Taonga’ framework.
“The knowledge held by our hau kāinga is at the heart of this kaupapa. These exchanges create space for people to share their lived experiences, learn from one another and strengthen our relationships to the ocean,” she says.
Examples of Indigenous-led solutions were also shared.
Waitai highlighted work by Indigenous communities in British Columbia who transitioned to high-end eco-tourism while protecting marine resources. In Aotearoa, she says Ngāti Kuri face ongoing challenges in their own moana.
“It’s the over-extraction of kaimoana. [If] we follow our tikanga and traditional law, that actually we’ll see a comeback in wellbeing and prosperity.”
Kaho’ohalahala says the strength of Taiātea lies in bringing together Indigenous knowledge from across Oceania.
“What is clear is that we’re coming from different parts of Oceania, and the work that we are all doing is complementing.”
He also draws inspiration from Princess Kaʻiulani and the foresight of Hawaiian leadership.
“That vision really comes from a Queen who, when dethroned from her stand in the Hawaiian Kingdom by the United States, she decided that she would translate our moʻokūʻauhau, our genealogy from the Hawaiian language into English.”
“That inspiration was done 130 years ago by a queen under the most horrendous conditions, but nonetheless to have that kind of vision and hope for the future is what’s important.”
Mā wai ngā take taiao e hāpai
With the 2026 elections approaching, Waitai says politicians have a critical role to play in climate action.
“I think it’s about resetting [to] actually say, we’re gonna change that legislation, it doesn’t work. And actually do it with us, not to us.”
Taiātea will continue this week with visits to hau kāinga in the Taupō and Whanganui regions.
