Corals by kukuh amaliawan from Noun Project (CC BY 3.0)

Ecological Storytelling + Indigenous Sovereignty

Indigenous-led Filmmaking in the Outer Islands of Micronesia

The remote Pacific outer islands of Yap State, Micronesia, have long sustained their complex ecological stewardship pathways rooted in oral tradition and autonomous governance through the Paramount Chief Tribute System. These traditional pathways—integral to decision-making in outer island communities such as Ulithi Atoll—have endured despite waves of external influence, from early missionary presence in the 1500s to postwar militarization in the 1940s. Today, climate change, military expansion, and youth migration present new disruptions and interferences, threatening the intergenerational transmission of ecological knowledge and continuity of Indigenous governance, thus the fabric of their cultural survivance. This research design and creation examines how Indigenous-led filmmaking, a form of participatory media, is used collaboratively with Ulithian elders, youth, and leaders, becoming a community-based method for documenting, activating, and revitalizing ecological knowledge within and beyond their islands. Rather than casting ecological knowledge as static or fading oral traditions, the project explores how visual storytelling supports the adaptation of relational ecological knowledge transmission and positions Indigenous voices in contemporary conservation policy dialogues. Media created through this work will circulate among local and diasporic communities and international forums alike, confronting the selective recognition of Indigenous governance in formal governance and environmental law. Participatory filmmaking emerges not only as a research tool but as a discourse strategy—bridging oral tradition, digital media, and geopolitical contexts. This doctoral project examines how Indigenous-led filmmaking recognizes sovereignty, negotiates representation and self-determination, and assists the amplification of community-based ecological knowledge amidst shifting ecological, political, and technological landscapes. Using participatory visual methods, community screenings, and thematic analysis, the research engages with questions of identity, authorship, legal recognition, and the politics of mediated knowledge. By positioning filmmaking as both method and theory, this work offers a model for decolonial visual anthropology rooted in Ulithian values of unity (hofag) and reciprocity (hateptep).

RESEARCH TEAM

PI: Kelsey C. Doyle (PhD Candidate, PI)

PhD Supervisor: Fiona P. McDonald, PhD (UBCO)

Community Collaborator: Magul John B. Rulmal Jr., Community Leader and Ulithian Representative holding responsibility and rights during this project

Committee Members:

Advisory Committee: