Navigation heritage, weaving, and climate storytelling in the Pacific
The Marshall Islands, a Pacific nation of coral atolls and lagoons, is home to some of the world’s richest traditions of canoe voyaging, weaving, and oral storytelling. Its arts reflect deep respect for the ocean, winds, and stars that have guided generations. Today, the country faces one of the most urgent ecological crises: rising seas, saltwater intrusion, coastal erosion, and climate migration. In response, Marshallese artists, poets, and cultural leaders are using sustainability in the arts to preserve identity, advocate for climate justice, and reimagine resilience in the face of existential threats.
Marshallese culture is rooted in eco-conscious practices:
Canoe building: Walap and tipnol sailing canoes crafted from breadfruit wood, coconut fiber, and pandanus sails — renewable and ocean-adapted.
Stick charts: Navigation charts made of palm ribs and shells, encoding ocean currents and wave patterns.
Weaving: Mats, baskets, and fans made from pandanus and coconut leaves, essential in daily life and ceremonies.
Music & dance (bwebwenato storytelling, chant, and movement): Embedding knowledge of land, sea, and ancestors.
Oral traditions: Legends of spirits, stars, and the ocean that emphasize ecological harmony.
These practices reflect centuries of sustainable living with the ocean and atolls.
Artists and youth groups create murals, installations, and sculptures from marine debris and plastic waste, highlighting pollution and rising sea challenges.
Weaving traditions are being reimagined through fair-trade cooperatives and eco-fashion, connecting pandanus crafts to global sustainable design.
Marshallese musicians and poets, like Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, use spoken word, song, and performance to highlight sea-level rise, migration, and climate justice on global stages (UN, COP summits).
Community theatre and independent filmmakers document coastal erosion, nuclear legacies, and resilience, making storytelling central to environmental advocacy.
Events like the Jemenei Dance Festival and regional Pacific Arts Festivals feature eco-crafts, performances, and youth climate art.
Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner – poet and activist globally recognized for climate storytelling.
Canoe revival projects – sustaining navigation and boat building as eco-heritage.
Weaving cooperatives – linking pandanus crafts to fair-trade markets.
Youth climate-art groups – painting murals and creating installations about rising seas.
Marshallese diaspora artists – preserving identity and resilience abroad.
Sea-level rise, threatening homes and cultural spaces.
Saltwater intrusion, damaging pandanus, breadfruit, and weaving resources.
Migration & displacement, risking cultural continuity.
Limited infrastructure for arts and recycling.
Nuclear testing legacies, compounding ecological vulnerability.
Eco-tourism & cultural exchange: Linking canoe building, weaving, and navigation arts to heritage tourism.
Global climate advocacy through art: Positioning Marshallese poets and artists as cultural ambassadors at climate forums.
Diaspora networks: Preserving arts and identity for Marshallese communities in the U.S. and beyond.
Pacific collaboration: The Marshall Islands could anchor a Micronesian eco-arts alliance with Palau, Kiribati, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
In the Marshall Islands, sustainability in the arts is inseparable from cultural survival and climate justice. From pandanus weaving and canoe traditions to recycled murals, eco-fashion, and global climate poetry, Marshallese artists are transforming creativity into resilience. As rising seas threaten the nation’s future, the arts stand as both a guardian of identity and a voice to the world, reminding us that frontline communities can lead in reimagining sustainable futures.