5 Gods, Spirits and Natural Hazards …
85
to prayer being the favoured method of achieving these in some societies (Jackson
2020; Jackson et al. 2020). While ‘Kastom’ and other traditional systems of religion
and political organisation are omnipresent in the Pacific Islands region, churches are
equally important institutions today (Tomlinson and McDougall 2012). For example,
although chiefs are still supreme leaders in chiefly societies, the pastor can be equally,
if not more, influential today in Pacific Island Countries or indeed be both simultaneously (White 2012). Yet elsewhere in the region there is a clear demarcation between
church and state as with the Urapmin in Papua New Guinea (Robbins 2012).
The influence of Indigenous religion and Christianity, complicated and intertwined as they are in the Pacific region, means for any external climate change
adaptation strategy to be successful it should understand and acknowledge unique
ontologies and traditional (non-western) power structures. Writing about Christianity
in the Pacific, Tomlinson and McDougall (2012: 12) provide the following perceptive
warning for external interventions throughout the Pacific:
While projects of political and social improvement that are not motivated by religion
are hardly doomed to failure, projects that do not recognize Pacific Islanders’ religious
aspirations probably are.
Beyond tokenistic involvement of the church, we suggest understanding what
Indigenous people believe (i.e., ontology) and how they know it to be true (i.e.,
epistemology) regarding both natural hazards and climate change is a crucial first step
in improving the effectiveness of external interventions in Pacific Island Countries.
This chapter provides examples from two very different cultures, one from Papua
New Guinea and the other from Kiribati, and will demonstrate that one uniform
secular approach to climate change adaptation will never work in the deeply religious
Pacific.
Methods
The data used in this study derives from extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the
authors respective study sites. In PNG, research was conducted over four months
in July through October 2018. In Kiribati, research took place over two months in
March through May 2017. Both authors had different original research aims, namely
Indigenous food system disaster vulnerability in PNG (see Jackson 2020; Jackson
et al. 2020) and the effectiveness of external climate change adaptation strategies in
Kiribati (see Piggott-McKellar et al. 2020). Nonetheless, significant data on people’s
ontological and epistemological understanding of hazards and climate change were
obtained during fieldwork. Indigenous epistemologies were foregrounded in these
studies using a variety of group and individual interviews and empathetic talanoa
discussions premised on local norms regarding knowledge and information sharing
(see Vaioleti 2006). All oral data was transcribed verbatim and along with extensive
notes was analysed using NVivo.
85
to prayer being the favoured method of achieving these in some societies (Jackson
2020; Jackson et al. 2020). While ‘Kastom’ and other traditional systems of religion
and political organisation are omnipresent in the Pacific Islands region, churches are
equally important institutions today (Tomlinson and McDougall 2012). For example,
although chiefs are still supreme leaders in chiefly societies, the pastor can be equally,
if not more, influential today in Pacific Island Countries or indeed be both simultaneously (White 2012). Yet elsewhere in the region there is a clear demarcation between
church and state as with the Urapmin in Papua New Guinea (Robbins 2012).
The influence of Indigenous religion and Christianity, complicated and intertwined as they are in the Pacific region, means for any external climate change
adaptation strategy to be successful it should understand and acknowledge unique
ontologies and traditional (non-western) power structures. Writing about Christianity
in the Pacific, Tomlinson and McDougall (2012: 12) provide the following perceptive
warning for external interventions throughout the Pacific:
While projects of political and social improvement that are not motivated by religion
are hardly doomed to failure, projects that do not recognize Pacific Islanders’ religious
aspirations probably are.
Beyond tokenistic involvement of the church, we suggest understanding what
Indigenous people believe (i.e., ontology) and how they know it to be true (i.e.,
epistemology) regarding both natural hazards and climate change is a crucial first step
in improving the effectiveness of external interventions in Pacific Island Countries.
This chapter provides examples from two very different cultures, one from Papua
New Guinea and the other from Kiribati, and will demonstrate that one uniform
secular approach to climate change adaptation will never work in the deeply religious
Pacific.
Methods
The data used in this study derives from extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the
authors respective study sites. In PNG, research was conducted over four months
in July through October 2018. In Kiribati, research took place over two months in
March through May 2017. Both authors had different original research aims, namely
Indigenous food system disaster vulnerability in PNG (see Jackson 2020; Jackson
et al. 2020) and the effectiveness of external climate change adaptation strategies in
Kiribati (see Piggott-McKellar et al. 2020). Nonetheless, significant data on people’s
ontological and epistemological understanding of hazards and climate change were
obtained during fieldwork. Indigenous epistemologies were foregrounded in these
studies using a variety of group and individual interviews and empathetic talanoa
discussions premised on local norms regarding knowledge and information sharing
(see Vaioleti 2006). All oral data was transcribed verbatim and along with extensive
notes was analysed using NVivo.