By Riss Banuelos
The Talanoa Dialogue is an Asian-Pacific-inspired storytelling process used in conflict mitigation, “Tala-” meaning story and “-noa” meaning without concealment or blame. This process was brought to the world of climate work as a “gift” from the Fijian President of COP23. The Colorado College delegation hosted two Talanoa-spirited dialogues, one amongst ourselves in Professor Sarah Hautzinger’s room, and one at COP28. Both dialogues were extremely moving, inviting all to witness and hold each other’s stories intimately and sincerely.
Talanoa tellers shed tears at both dialogues. These Talanoa dialogues allow people to bring their whole selves, to be seen by each other in a vulnerable and empowering way. In witnessing these dialogues, I was exploring what it means to listen deeply and be changed by a story. While I worry, I cannot be changed enough to honor the weight of these stories, I listen as deeply as I can – a process that involves the whole body. To listen is to become aware of what is being shared and to hold it. Awareness breeds agency. It is through holding these stories that we can act in a way that honors them.
Stories make the impacts of climate change and war real, increasing our ability to feel deeply for our global community. Through our Talanoa dialogue, lives lost to the 70-year civil war in Myanmar or the floods in Afghanistan aren’t statistics but classmates, friends, or family. Each life becomes connected by a shared planet on fire. Through stories, rising waters are beaches where communities are no longer able to come play games on weekends. Shorelines swallowed mean little sisters won’t get to know family time, culture, and place in the same way as big sisters. When shedding tears for lives lost and for the fear and acknowledgment of not being able to do enough, we allow ourselves to honor life and loss.
Through the Talanoa dialogues, the importance of stories has been reiterated to me. Even when I feel like I can’t do anything, I can ask myself if I can listen. Sometimes, I am saturated and that is okay. But, I won’t let myself forget – and I hope we won’t let the world forget—the stories of those most impacted. The only thing that could be any more heart breaking is letting these stories be forgotten. Let us read the stories of the Afghan women subject to the same floods that ran through Pakistan (without media coverage) and listen to the people in Gaza. Let us learn the stories of our communities, local and global. Let us be moved by them.
On a shared planet, it is important to share grief. It is important to hear stories, to not only understand them but feel them. We can let our hearts break open together. In the weight of the climate call, we can respond by echoing the stories of humanity. As one Fijian man said after our Talanoa dialogue at the COP, “These stories unlock human resilience.”
