Whatever I may believe or understand about climate change, last night I met a group of people for whom it was an “ever present danger”.
Our community college last night put on a graduation show by the performing arts students. They danced and sang for two and a half hours (without much of a break), and their performance was truly breathtaking. The pieces came from Maori, Samoan, Tokelauan and Cook Island cultures. The Tokelauan s are watching their Islands vanish under rising sea levels. I quote from the programme:
“What happens when the Tokelau atolls no longer exist? When the next generation of Pacific peoples asks “where am I from?” What do we tell them? Oh, your island doesn’t actually exist anymore!”
I sat and cried as I watched a powerful contemporary piece showing children being taken through a museum, showing how their people used to live.
Most Tokelauans now live in New Zealand. They don’t have much choice. Makes you think.
Photos of the evening on Flikr (the quality isn’t good because of the stage lighting)
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