Mixed Feelings On The Role Of Tradition

Apologies for the blog silence, but such is the up and down reality of internet service in American Samoa (or at least Sadie's by the Sea Hotel). With limited bandwidth, apologies also for the lack of images for this post.

The Coral Reef Task Force has been devoting a lot of discussion time to the role of traditional knowledge and practices in informing and assisting marine protected area management. It's a topic of considerable significance to my own work in coral reef conservation. We had an opportunity in several sessions on Monday and Wednesday to hear speakers from throughout the Pacific Islands discuss how traditional knowledge has been incorporated into management structures and community support for conservation.

Since this meeting is being hosted by American Samoa, there is (not surprisingly) a heavy presence of god-talk going on. It all got kicked-off on Monday during the ava ceremony when Governor Tulafono started channeling the pope in offering profuse blessings to all the delegates. He thanked god for coral reefs, thanked god for the task force, thanked god for the USA. Then this morning (Wednesday) we had a Samoan reverend from a local pentecostal church provide a benediction and blessing. He remarked that he knew that we participants, as christians, understood that we were stewards for god's creation. His benediction, blessings, and the accompanying full choir hymns (amazingly beautiful Pacific island harmonies) took 45 minutes.

In another presentation by a local village elder, we heard how the foundation of MPA management should be fa'a Samoa (the Samoan way of life) and christianity. Let's forget for the moment that christianity in the Pacific Islands is merely an historical artifact of the rabidly conversion-crazed (though not necessarily pious) missionaries who swept through the Pacific basin throughout the 19th century. Was pre-conversion fa'a Samoa a less sound basis for resource management? I don't suppose anyone can answer that question. But all this does underscore the somewhat uneasy relationship I have as an athiest working towards conservation objectives in the Pacific.

I'm a pragmatist in my approaches, so if religious belief demonstrates any utility in reducing biodiversity loss then I'll be the first to leverage it. But it does trouble me to see the absolute control that an imposed, non-indigenous religion has over free inquiry in many Pacific cultures. As a queer man, what perhaps troubles me the most is the Pacific Islands brand of christian intolerance regarding homosexuality. In almost every small Pacific island culture where I've inquired about the status of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered residents, I often hear the same response from locals, "Oh, we don't have gay people here."

As much as I'd hate to be an athiest living in some Pacific cultures, I cannot even fathom the absolute isolation of growing up gay here. I certainly know what it was like to grow up gay and isolated in the states. But what about in a place like American Samoa where, at least to my cursory investigation, there are zero support mechanisms? Here in American Samoa, gender expectations and roles are very clearly defined. And in a culture where the church carries such intense sway not just on individual lives but also on government operations, it's alarming to imagine how many men and women are living lives and roles imposed upon them for fear of rejection, ridicule, or violence.

Of course there are always exceptions and instances of tolerance. From what I've seen from blogs in Micronesia, some support groups have formed in places like the CNMI and one can assume tolerance is building in other locations. But what sort of existence is it to just be tolerated by your family or community? Sorry, but tolerance is "don't ask, don't tell," separate and not necessarily equal, or similar monikers of second class citizenship.

With all this talk this week of preserving tradition, I can't help but have a visceral aversion to what, for me at least, is the dark side of tradition. In the states, I've come to recognize talk of traditional values as code for such things as homophobia, anti-women's right to choose, christian fundamentalism, anti-science, zenophobia, and other less attractive aspects of human nature. With similar calls that I've heard this week for American Samoa to return to traditional reliance on village customs and church authority, I fear for the future of skepticism, free thought, and human rights in this small tropical paradise.