Micronesians consider the environment paramount to their existence. Their ancient traditions call upon their surroundings as protection. Their cultural habits are built within and around their environment in their daily lives, and they incorporate land and ocean stewardship against environmental harm and damage.

In Micronesian belief systems, the environment is connected both to animate and inanimate objects. The wisdom of the region’s creation stories and cultural values considers the environment as interwoven with the human experience. The idea that the past determines the future is also a commonly shared belief that teaches the importance of honoring sacred stories, traditions and history, respect for all planetary creation, and learning from the past to live in harmony in the present. The vast land and the ocean are treasures that sustain life and instill obligations to protect the environment to keep balance for a healthy planet. Micronesian languages even reflect these views, where the words for people are linked to the environment, such as Remathau, “people of the ocean” from the islands of Yap, and Taotao Tåno’, “the people of the land.”

This module focuses on Micronesian connection to—not domination of—the environment including the waters surrounding the atolls, the trees that provide protection, and the values of native Indigenous Oceania.

Organic relationships with natural and built environments are part and parcel of ongoing efforts to care and protect the land and sea in order to mobilize Indigenous peoples of Micronesia. Again, the matrilineal structure of the community means women are traditionally the producers of culture, values, and cultural paraphernalia, including native plant-based medicine and remedies, loom-woven lavalavas, and mats made from the pandanus tree or coconut tree. In Yap, women still weave the lavalava cloth, as it continues to be an essential component of cultural traditions and community building among Remathau.

In addition to Yap women’s role in textiles and weaving, the men also take on laborious roles typically connected to seafaring and navigation. Traditionally, men serve as caretakers of the land by cultivating trees such as breadfruit and coconut, but they equally manage and build boats and canoes in order to oversee their responsibilities related to the ocean. The organic process starting with the tropical plants and trees to weave, build, navigate and sell altogether serve Micronesians’ cultural, medicinal, infrastructural, and economic needs throughout the Pacific Rim.

Plants are named in various Micronesian native tongues in order to reflect the importance of the land and sea. The pandanus tree is also known as “bõb,” or “divine tree” in the Marshall Islands due to its key role it serves in everyday life. The coconut tree is known as “I Trongkon Na’lå’la,” or “the tree of life” in the Mariana Islands. These trees and other native plants are used to make traditional medicines, rope, body oils, and utilized in weaving baskets, blankets, mats, sails, and thatching. These trees, thus, serve cultural, industrial, and spiritual community needs. Stories about how the trees provided food, protection, and goods during times of famine and struggle highlight further the importance of continuing to protect the environment.