For Tongans, the ocean isn't just a resource – it's family. Their creation stories reveal the sea as ancestral home, where deities like the guardian shark Hēʻimoana embody sacred ecological duties. This think piece explores how tauhi fonua (caretaking practice) and tā-vā philosophy turn kinship into conservation action – offering urgent wisdom against threats like deep-sea mining. When the ocean is ancestor, protection becomes fatongia: sacred responsibility.
