Kiribati Proverbs (18)

Tai ira te moan ang.

“Do not follow the first breeze.”

A caution against acting on a first impulse; wait and think before reacting.

Kateira ma rabakaura bon kinaakira.

“Our culture and knowledge are our identity.”

A people's customs and accumulated knowledge are what define who they are.

Te mauri bwa te tautau.

“Respecting the guiding hand brings spiritual protection.”

Honouring the guidance of elders and those who lead safeguards wellbeing.

Teimatoan te maiu raoi mani babaaire aika a nikoraoi.

“The maintenance of wellbeing comes from just and fair decision-making.”

A community stays healthy and at peace when its leaders decide matters justly and fairly.

E tabu te aomata.

“The person is sacred.”

Every individual carries an inherent dignity and worth that must be respected and protected.

Te Mauri, Te Raoi ao Te Tabomoa.

“Health, peace, and prosperity.”

Kiribati's national motto, borne on the Coat of Arms, expressing the nation's guiding aspiration for its people.

“Whatever is agreed within the United States today, with China, it will not have a bearing on our future, because already, it's too late for us.”

Spoken during a 2014 CNN interview, reflecting Tong's view that global climate negotiations, however important, could no longer reverse the sea-level rise already threatening Kiribati.

“We are that canary. But hopefully, that experience will send a very strong message that we might be on the front line today, but others will be on the front line next — and the next and the next.”

Tong compared Kiribati to a canary in a coal mine, warning that his nation's climate crisis was an early warning of what other countries would eventually face.

“Our fate has already been decided.”

Reflecting on scientific projections for low-lying Pacific nations like Kiribati, spoken years after leaving office.

“Sea level rise is turning our freshwater resources salty, rendering the land unable to grow staple crops such as coconut and taro, and eating away our shoreline.”

A description of the direct, visible effects of rising seas on daily life and food security in Kiribati.

“The islands are ants, and the industrialized nations are elephants.”

Tito's metaphor for how small island nations like Kiribati contribute almost nothing to global carbon emissions yet bear the disproportionate impact of climate change caused by large industrialized countries.

“In order to deal with climate change, there's got to be sacrifice. There's got to be commitment. We've got to tell people that the world has changed.”

Spoken in his TED Talk, urging that meaningful climate action requires real sacrifice and honest acknowledgment that conditions have permanently changed.

“I reject the terminology, the classification of our people as climate refugees. Because the last thing we wish to lose, after our land, is our dignity.”

Tong's rejection of the 'climate refugee' label, insisting that any future relocation of I-Kiribati people happen through his 'migration with dignity' policy rather than as stateless victims.

“I know that in the past there was a lot of focus on the polar bears. In my attempt to get attention on our own situation, I draw a comparison that what happens to the polar bears will also be happening to us in our part of the world.”

Tong compared the plight of his people to that of polar bears, a more familiar symbol of climate change in Western media, to draw attention to the human cost of rising seas in the Pacific.

“The one weakness in the force of our campaign for global climate action has been the lack of unity in purpose with the larger members of our Pacific family.”

Tong reflects on how disagreement among Pacific nations, including larger regional powers, has weakened the collective push for stronger international climate commitments.

“Most people don't know where Kiribati is. I want people to know more about us, so I use weightlifting, and my dancing, to show the world.”

Katoatau explains why he danced after his Olympic lifts at Rio 2016 — as a deliberate strategy to draw global media attention to Kiribati and the climate threats it faces.

“Climate change is indeed a serious problem. But we don't believe that Kiribati will sink like the Titanic ship.”

Maamau's defiant framing of his nation's future, rejecting fatalistic narratives of Kiribati's disappearance in favor of continued development and adaptation.

“There's no future for us when we go back to Kiribati.”

Teitiota's testimony to New Zealand's Immigration and Protection Tribunal, explaining why he sought asylum for his family rather than return to a home he believed climate change had made unsafe.