From Blue Pacific to Indo-Pacific: how politics and language define our ‘Indigenous ocean’

This is an edited extract from An Indigenous Ocean: Pacific Essays by Damon Salesa (Bridget Williams Books)

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In September 2017, at the 48th meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum, the political leaders of the Pacific agreed a new regional approach. They announced the way forward as the “Blue Pacific – Our Sea of Islands, Our Livelihoods, Our Oceania”. It was a remarkable moment of solidarity and ambition, charting a vision towards 2050.