When we talk about climate change, we tend to use emotive words like “fight,” “combat,” and “crisis.” But there is one word that offers an alternative to these highly-charged terms, a word that shows us how we can help, and that word is Kaitiakitanga.
Kaitiakitanga means “human caretakers.” It highlights the cultivation of an intimate relationship with nature. The word is native to indigenous New Zealanders, the Maori.
Kaitiakitanga was publicly introduced to the English-speaking world in 2018, when New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered a keynote speech at the New York City Climate Week.
I’D LIKE TO BEGIN WITH A WORD OFTEN USED IN NEW ZEALAND THAT YOU MIGHT NOT UNTIL NOW HAVE HEARD. IT’S THE WORD KAITIAKITANGA AND IN MY MIND IT CATCHES THE SENTIMENT WHY WE ARE ALL HERE TODAY.
In Maori language, Kaitiaki means “caretaker,” and “tangata” -- “humans.” The combination, Kaitiakitanga, means “the guardianship of nature.”
So what’s an example of Kaitiakitanga? Well, okay, let’s say you care about the Los Angeles River.. and you join local environmental groups to clean it – you are practicing Kaitiakitanga.
Now, in the Maori’s perspective of the natural world, people’s ways of knowing, being, and doing are all connected with Papatuanuku, the earth mother, Ranginui, the sky father, and their many children. Kaitiakitanga means to safeguard and manage natural resources for present and future generations. The Maori considered this…. a duty of Earth’s inhabitants.
And maybe we’re catching on. Last month, the word was officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Dictionary editor Trish Steward wrote in a blog post that Kaitiakitanga “reminds us that we all have a part to play in creating a sustainable future.”
And maybe the Maori word Kaitiakitanga can help direct us away from an overly emotional reaction to climate change and help us focus more on what we can do to heal.