Since the last week in June, navies and naval assets from 29 countries have been taking part the world’s largest naval exercises. The US-led Rimpac 2024 (Exercise Rim of the Pacific), the 29th such exercise to be held since 1971, claims to promote “a free and open Indo-Pacific”. But many of the Indigenous peoples of this region, which covers more than 50% of the Earth’s surface, don’t see it that way at all.
In June, Protecting Oceania, a group of Indigenous Pacific, environmental, and social justice organisations, released a statement, saying:
We stand together, in order to fulfil our sacred duty to be good ancestors, and firmly oppose the militarization of our islands and oceans… These exercises threaten our sovereignties and our communities, human and other-than-human alike, here in Hawaii, across Moananuiākea, and throughout the world.
