Welcome to Heritage

Written by Teurumereariki Teavai-Murphy, Cultural Director of Tetiaroa Society

In Polynesia, ocean heritage is the base of our culture. Polynesians feel that the ocean is us, that we are the ocean, and that this connection is ancient and genealogical. Our creation story tells of Tangaroa who alone existed for ages within a cosmic bivalve shell. When he emerged, he opened this shell to create our world – one half became the sky and the other the land with the ocean surrounding all. Our goddess Hina and her brother Ru sailed a canoe across the ocean fishing islands. When she was done with this she went to the moon where she controls our world with the tides.

The ocean is part of our cultural heritage in a tangible way; it and all the animals and plants are part of our genealogy. We are connected in an intangible way as well, with the songs, and chants, and stories, and artwork. Today, when Polynesians play and work, the ocean is central to all that we do. We think of the ocean, not as a resource to be exploited, but as a partner, as part of the genealogical family, as something that deserves to be respected and have rights.

The articles in this volume are wonderful versions of both tangible and intangible ocean heritage. They bring forth the history and cultural connection with the ocean from different places around the world. There are three articles on ships both active ones and those that are now part of our underwater cultural heritage.

Hanneke Boon writes about her partner and co-designer James Wharram’s designs which were inspired by the early Polynesian canoe craft. He studied the canoe designs of the Pacific and then built boats out of simple materials that captured their magic and utility. These creations which shaped the livelihoods of the past remain important in the present.

Some physical representations of underwater cultural heritage can be found in the shipwrecks and artifacts lost at sea, as described in the article by Carlos del Cairo about the San José Galleon. This is a ship with deep cultural connections to Colombian history which is now being recovered by Colombian researchers. Increasing their understanding of the 300 year-old-wreck allowed them to draw conclusions about the customs at the time, and how they might have shaped Colombian culture today. However, as we dive into the worlds lost below the water, other threats arise.

Ships and objects submerged underwater are susceptible to degradation, which can pollute their surrounding environments (Potentially Polluting Wrecks), so Iona Cargill explores how we work to protect the cultural heritage and ecosystems while also ensuring the health of our waters. These tangible forms of heritage are, however, susceptible to damage or treasure hunting activities. This was one problem prominent in the World Heritage site of Mozambique island, where marine archaeologist Cezar Mahumane has now worked to protect the site’s cultural heritage by actively involving the local community in its preservation and research.

In the Andaman Islands of Thailand, local fishermen use fish-traps to provide for their families and communities. Despite the threats of overfishing and reef fragility, the relationship between the fishermen and the reefs remains resilient and an unbreakable link between generations. Culture is therefore also driven by our relationships to our environment. This was made especially clear by the community of Juan Fernández, Chile, whose fishers spearheaded the move to protect 580,000 km2 of ocean. Not only did this protect the ecosystem, it saved their community whose ties to the sea are beyond its usefulness as a resource.

Connections between community and sea have a strong presence in today’s world, but such relationships are also complex. Our heritage in the sea is also strongly marked by loss, and Jessica Irwin explores these ever changing relationships and emotions. The dynamism of cultural heritage is evident in our everyday lives and manifests in places we might not expect. Vera Noon has dipped into many of these realms, from architecture, marine spatial planning and freediving, to creating art and reaching into the meaning of her subconscious which often featured the sea.

Acknowledging the emotional ties to our heritage is why initiatives to reconnect communities to their cultural ties to the ocean are so powerful. In Hull, UK, Katerina Valentza is part of a project using heritage mapping, storytelling, and creative workshops to reconnect residents with the city’s relationship to water. Art and storytelling has long been a method of communities and cultures to connect and communicate their relationship to the ocean. In Cornwall, UK, a history of fishing has now developed into a haven for surfers, divers, and cold-water swimmers. The Mor Poets, a collective of female poets, share their poetry with us, evoking the nostalgic moments by the Cornish beaches and taking us back in time to when villages along the rugged coast relied on the fish in the sea.

Our Polynesian understanding that the ocean is our ancestor is not just a cultural belief, it is a physical and ethical reality for all humanity. These stories of connection are not quaint folklore they are a mark for a relationship the world must urgently adopt. The ocean does not simply need us, it is calling us to remember our duty. As first voyagers and guardians, we sound the alarm – protecting the ocean is not an act of charity, but a defense of our shared genealogy and our collective future. The world must listen, not for the ocean's sake alone, but for the sake of every child, on every continent, who depends on its beating heart.