{"id":11499,"date":"2026-05-22T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/?p=11499"},"modified":"2026-05-14T18:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T17:29:10","slug":"advocacy-people-brianna-fruean-the-wisdom-of-va","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/05\/22\/advocacy-people-brianna-fruean-the-wisdom-of-va\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocacy & People. Brianna Fruean. The Wisdom of v\u0101."},"content":{"rendered":"

She is an advocate for climate justice and a member of the Council of Elders for the Pacific Climate Warriors, or 350 Pacific. She explains why it is so important to listen to the Earth. <\/em><\/p>\n

While the world searches for solutions in carbon credits, experimental energy and piling on pledges, beneath all this noise, a quieter truth has always existed. The answers to our planet\u2019s issues already live within the wisdom of those who never forgot how to live in reciprocal harmony with the Earth and those who call her home.<\/p>\n

Many Indigenous peoples across the world have been practising sustainability long before the word existed. Many of our elders\u2019 teachings are rooted not in ownership, but in kinship. Not in dominance, but in care. For us in Samoa, this balance is guided by the sacred understanding of v\u0101. What to us is the \u201cspace between.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Western thinking, space often separates. But in our world, space connects. The v\u0101 is the invisible thread between people, land, ocean, ancestors and future generations. It is the pulse of a relationship and our responsibility is to teu le v\u0101, to tend to it with care.<\/p>\n

When we talk about healing the planet, what we\u2019re really talking about is healing the v\u0101. The first v\u0101 we are often taught about as children is the relationship with each other. The v\u0101 between human and human. We are taught to respect our elders, be kind to our peers and live in service to our community.<\/p>\n

The first word I learned in Samoan was tulou<\/em>, which means \u201cexcuse me.\u201d I was taught to say this when walking in front of someone or invading another person\u2019s personal space. Respect for others was taught to me by my culture in the little things. \u201cTulou<\/em>\u201d may seem small, but it symbolizes the consideration we should always have for others.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re living in a time where basic decency and morality for others is becoming harder to find. In this period of history, our devices are livestreaming some of the most graphic crimes against humanity, whether in Palestine or West Papua.<\/p>\n

This is the most heartbreaking example of a broken human-to-human v\u0101. How do we begin to save our planet when our humanity is becoming as scarce as the resources that begin wars in the first place? Restoring the human-to-human v\u0101 means remembering that our peace is bound together.<\/p>\n

After our bond with each other, there is a living bond between us and the natural world. In Samoa, we have a rich culture of traditional tattooing. The tatau<\/em> (Samoan tattooing) is done by a master tattooist, called a tufuga<\/em>, who inherits their skill through generations. Traditionally the ink used for tatau<\/em> is made out of the soot of the lama nut (Aleurites moluccanus<\/em>) grown in Samoa.<\/p>\n

These traditional markings are literally embedding the land into our skin, both in pattern and in ink. When our time on Earth is done, we will return to the soil and the ink will return to the Earth that birthed it. This is one of the many ways we are connected through culture to our land.<\/p>\n

Indigenous knowledge has safeguarded much of the world\u2019s remaining biodiversity. We belong to land and ocean; therefore, we feel a responsibility to them. When you love the Earth as kin, you act differently. As Robin Wall Kimmerer, professor of environmental biology at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, reminds us: \u201cKnowing that you love the Earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is what we all must remember: Climate change is not just a carbon problem. It is a relationship problem. We have forgotten how to be in the right relationship with the planet. Healing begins when we relearn how to listen, how to love and how to live in reciprocity again.<\/p>\n

Pacific navigators once crossed vast oceans guided only by the stars, waves and wind. They did not see themselves as conquering the sea, but as moving within it. Every decision was made in conversation with nature, the position of the stars, the language of the clouds and the spotting of birds in the sky.<\/p>\n

To navigate was to be humble and recognize our smallness within something infinite. Today\u2019s systems are built on domination. We extract from the deep sea, carve up mountains and pollute our skies, all in the name of ideals of \u201cprogress.\u201d We have forgotten that the universe and higher powers do not revolve around us.<\/p>\n

Relearning this v\u0101 between us and whatever higher power we believe in or look to means reclaiming humility. Understanding we are a part of creation and not the creator means honouring the rhythm of life rather than trying to control it. It means remembering that every act of care, from planting a tree to teaching a child to respect the ocean ripples across the fabric of existence.<\/p>\n

And finally, there is the v\u0101 within ourselves. The relationship between ourselves and our sense of self. The weight of the world is heavy. Many of us carry grief for what is lost and anxiety for what is to come. I was invited to a gathering this year that dealt with the theme \u201cthe only way out is in.\u201d I\u2019ve been reflecting on this sentence since I read it. It pushed me to remember that we can\u2019t heal what\u2019s around us if we are not grounded within ourselves.<\/p>\n

If we lose that inner connection, our activism becomes hollow and reactive rather than rooted. When we nurture our spirit and bones, our work becomes an offering and not a burden. Healing ourselves is not selfish; in fact, it\u2019s our only way out. A grounded heart can hold the world more gently.<\/p>\n

The wisdom of v\u0101 reminds us that healing the Earth is not just about invention, but remembrance. Many Indigenous knowledge systems, from the Pacific to the Amazon, already hold the principles of balance, reciprocity and care that our world so desperately needs.<\/p>\n

It has been said many times before, and I continue to echo it, that we cannot solve this crisis with the same mindset that caused it. The path forward is not only paved with innovation, but with a return to watering and feeding our relationships.<\/p>\n

If the world can learn to teu le v\u0101, to tend to the spaces between all living things, then perhaps we can restore what has been broken. When we care for those spaces, we protect the life that flows through them. (Mongabay)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

She is an advocate for climate justice and a member of the Council of Elders for the Pacific Climate Warriors, or 350 Pacific. She explains why it is so important to listen to the Earth. While the world searches for solutions in carbon credits, experimental energy and piling on pledges, beneath all this noise, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}