Climate Crisis and Indigenous Well-being: Ancestral Land, Psychological & Ontological Impact, and Resilience in Fijian Communities

This study explores the impacts of the climate crisis (CC) on indigenous Fijians’ ancestral lands and the psychological and ontological elements associated with these impacts. Informed by an indigenous methodology, this study sheds light on the deep relationship between these indigenous communities and their ancestral lands, the extent to which CC has disrupted this bond, and their psychological responses to this disruption. It also explores how CC have disrupted communities’ ontological security and ultimately impacting their collective epistemic identity. This study introduces the concept of CC ‘pre-traumatic stress’ to describe the anxiety and distress individuals of these communities experience when anticipating potential relocation due to CC. Analyses of the data identified that alongside psychological impacts of the climate crisis such as eco-grief, eco-stress and solastalgia, the ontological foundation of these indigenous communities continues to be disrupted. Findings from this study provide important perspectives on climate-related pre-traumatic stresses on CC frontier indigenous communities and the ontological shifts associated with CC. While some of the elements of this study are specific to indigenous Fijians’ contexts, its findings will help develop policies that consider the psychological well-being of frontier indigenous communities, cultural preservation, and indigenous community resilience. Taking this approach will ensure the creation of adaptation strategies that are culturally sensitive, sustainable and equitable and acknowledge the role of Indigenous knowledge in global climate crisis responses. This approach expands the discourse on the climate crisis to include cultural and psychological aspects.