Our Genealogy.
The invitation was simple: Come together as One Oceania.
ONE OCEAN, ONE PEOPLE.
For generations, the people of Oceania lived as neighbors separated by invisible lines that pulled us apart. These divisions—political, cultural, linguistic—grew over time, etched deep into maps and minds. The colonial subdivisions of lands and seas shaped our realities, making it hard to relate, to share, to simply talk.
Now, a new movement is beginning to rise—not from a single island or voice, but from the collective pulse of the ocean’s people. We ask: Who are we, really? Not as divided Pacific islanders, but as children of the same ocean.
In June 2024, we came together in this first phase, the goal was not action, but reflection. People gathered in Honolulu—in person, in spirit—to speak their truths, to listen to one another, and to uncover a shared identity that had long been buried beneath boundaries
And in those conversations, one symbol emerged over and over again: the vaka.
The vaka—canoe, vessel, wayfinder. It was more than transportation; it was connection. Long before digital communication lines, it was the vaka that carried stories, songs, seeds, and people across the Pacific. It was the vaka that proved the ocean was not a barrier, but a bridge.
To honor the vaka was to acknowledge that the ocean never truly divided Oceania. It connected it.
This realization became the turning point. If the ocean was one, and they all traveled it through the same vessel, then weren’t they—at their core—one people?
With the vaka as our shared symbol, we the people of Oceania are now erasing old lines. And from this place of connection, a new question has emerged:
If we are one ocean, do we not share the responsibility to care for it together?
Our answer was yes.
Our movement has now progressed. Not just to reconnect, but to reimagine. We are reaching further—to other communities, other islands, other voices—to start a bigger conversation about stewardship, solidarity, and shared possibility. And we are taking action for the protection of our own ancestral places.
We can only reach the future if we paddle together.
Our Oli
From our gathering a commitment and a declaration was born. And a chant that defines who we are.
June 2024, Hui Pū Nā Leo o Moananuiākea, Hawai’i
In June 2014, 34 Pacific Island Indigenous and community and cultural leaders gathered in Hawaiʻi to discuss a shared responsibility to protect biocultural places for the people of Oceania.
our crew
We are a people-powered movement with participants throughout Oceania who are steering our work and vision.
Aotearoa
Tahiti
Samoa
American Samoa
Saipan
Tonga
Niue
Rapa Nui
Hawai‘i
New Caledonia
Guam
Pohnpei
Kiribati
Tuvalu
Cook Islands
Fiji
Papua New Guinea
Yap
Palau
Solomon Pili Kahoʻohalala
LĀNA‘I, HAWAI‘ISolomon Pili Kahoʻohalahala, affectionately known as “Uncle Sol,” is a seventh-generation Native Hawaiian from Lānaʻi and a lifelong advocate for Indigenous rights and environmental stewardship. A respected cultural practitioner and community leader, his work is rooted in the Hawaiian value of āina momona—abundance and well-being through harmony with land and sea. Most recently, he co-founded One Oceania, an initiative that brings the indigenous perspective forward at international decision-making arenas to protect our precious Earth, curb the climate crisis, and inspire the global community into a renewed relationship with the planet.
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He has served in the Maui County Council, Hawaiʻi State Legislature, and chaired the Hawaiʻi Sovereignty Commission. As Executive Director of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission, he led restoration efforts and co-founded the Lānaʻi chapter of Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana. He also established the Maunalei Ahupuaʻa Managed Area to empower youth and preserve ancestral lands. Internationally, Uncle Sol is an observer at the International Seabed Authority, chairs the advisory councils of the Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary and the Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. As a crewmember of the legendary double-hulled canoe Hōkūleʻa, he helps carry forward the legacy of Indigenous navigation and cultural revitalization.
Sheila Raha Sarhangi
HONOLULU, HAWAI‘ISheila Raha Sarhangi is a strategist, storyteller, and advocate with over 25 years of experience in grassroots organizing, environmental journalism, facilitation, and communications. Her work centers environmental justice and supports community-led change across Oceania. In 2024, she was named an Obama Foundation USA Leader for her community-centered approach to change.
Sheila is the founder and director of the Pacific Islands Heritage Coalition and the Expand Papahānaumokuākea Coalitions. In this role, she worked alongside Indigenous and community leaders to help create two of the largest marine protected areas on the planet and continues to support efforts to defend them through shifting political landscapes.
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As Vice President of Strategic Communications at the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Sheila led the Foundation’s communications during the response to the Maui wildfires, helping to raise $195 million to support the people and places affected by the devastating fires in one year. She also co-created an ethical storytelling guide to support anti-racist philanthropy and managed a grant portfolio focused on journalism as an essential lever for democracy and storytelling as a connector of community.
A former director at SeaWeb, she led NOAA-funded behavior change campaigns that became national models for island conservation. In this role, she trained and advised grassroots leaders, NGOs, and government agencies in Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Palau, Fiji, and Hawaiʻi in climate communications, organizational strategy, and strategic communications.
She spent more than a decade as an award-winning journalist, publishing over 500 features on science and culture in local, regional, and national publications.
She is grateful to live in Honolulu and stays connected to her Iranian roots through poetry and creative writing. Sheila has a BA in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara.