mahinastarz

[mahinastarz]

this is my bad leg ☮️ i been trying to work on evening their flexibility out because when i was younger i overstretched one leg and apparently that can damage your spine. more wisdom to teach future students tho…

[mahinastarz]

[mahinastarz]

this is some black mirror shit like on god.

[mahinastarz]

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this mf is actually hitler

[mahinastarz]

yoga practice 🧘🏻‍♀️☮️🕉️☯️

[mahinastarz]

[mahinastarz]

[mahinastarz]

when you take away someones connection to their culture and land they have nothing to live for as an indigenous person. you can see this in every indigenous culture because indigenous people everywhere are victims of not belonging in a white colonial society.

[mahinastarz]

i realized this when i found out i was a descendant of a kahuna for the ali’i, one who was not only present during the birth of king kamehameha but was the one who cut the cord and took care of the belongings of the ali’i. & what would i have become without my culture? an addict with nothing to live for because i was trapped in this european society. i still feel trapped and the only thing that keeps me alive is the connection to my ancestors and culture. to take that into consideration and think of everyone else trapped in this society, who they might have been.

[mahinastarz]

whenever you ask “why does nobody know how to use polynesian navigation in hawaii anymore” ask yourself who the homeless people in hawaii could’ve descended from. they could’ve been victims long ago of their kupuna being criminalized for our practices causing a generational curse amongst their bloodline or the damage of their lifestyle taken away, they knew nothing but their culture, when you take that away from people what do they have left but to succumb to a broken society that they know nothing of, and to be left behind like they aren’t important because they belong in a hawaiian society and not a capitalist european one. there’s thousands of people that could belong to bloodlines of navigators or kahuna. when those things were criminalized what do you think happened to all the bloodlines of these healers, kumu, and kahuna…

[mahinastarz]

im so happy about this getting 34k notes not because it’s just mindless notes and attention but because if i were to get attention for anything i am sooo beyond grateful it is for sharing the excellence of my people and the knowledge they have to change the narrative because our people are literally geniuses and we do not deserve to be a statistic of homeless in our own islands, we are one of the most intelligent peoples and things like this should really show us that foreign interference didn’t just dwindle our population and cause colonial oppression but also took away our connection to our traditions that are very important not just for preserving our culture but for our future, our community, the earth, and our knowledge. we need to honor and safeguard more kumu and kahuna that help bring together our community through knowledge because to us knowledge isn’t just about advancement it’s about life, survival, and things that truly grow instead of damage the growth of our people and planet. the homeless of our islands could’ve been descendants of kahuna and kumu and we wouldn’t know and their generational knowledge could’ve been taken away leaving them with nothing but the modern society that has no place in indigenous cultural practices because our people rely on our land and our culture to survive and those things were taken away from us, both the land and all things cultural including the criminalization of our spiritual and cultural practices. our land and society being stripped of any spiritual value becoming a capitalist money grab for them to destroy everything to gain more profit. all of our people had a place in hawaiian society and all the people who have no place in modern society are descendants of people that could have been important to hawaiian culture. we aren’t statistics and we are all important.

Austronesians did also rely on a form of a physical map called a stick chart, illustrating the specific wave and swell patterns surrounding different island chains. These were particularly helpful during cloudy conditions when the sun and stars were less useful. To navigate the Marshall Islands, the Marshallese represented ocean swell patterns using parts of coconut fronds and shells as islands. Like a subway map, they don’t so much represent distances as they do relationships. The complex and decorative stick charts were often only understood by the person who made them. They were memorised before a voyage by the pilot who would lie on the floor of a canoe to get a sense of swell movement and often lead a squadron of 15 or more boats.

[mahinastarz]

i spoke too soon …

ke ulu nei ka wela

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NEW SIGHTINGS OF THE DIAMOND STINGRAY IN CHILE: A HIDDEN SPECIES REVEALED WITH HELP FROM FISHERMEN

The diamond stingray is easily recognized by its diamond-shaped body, smooth skin with few spines, and long tail armed with a venomous barb. This species has a broad distribution, ranging from southern California to northern Peru, where it is relatively common. However, until recently, its presence in Chile was only known from a single record dating back to the 1980s.

Thanks to photographs shared by recreational shore fishermen, the presence of the diamond stingray has been confirmed along the entire Peruvian coast and the northernmost regions of Chile. Researchers used social media platforms to search for photographs of rays and sharks, identifying that this species had been regularly captured in the region. By combining these new sightings with historical distribution data, scientists employed ecological modeling tools to predict the potential habitats of the diamond stingray in its southern range.

While this discovery confirms the presence of the diamond stingray in Chile, it also raises new conservation concerns. This species is not currently protected by Chilean legislation and faces several threats, including habitat destruction, entanglement in fishing gear, and overfishing due to its slow growth and low reproductive rates. The species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, highlighting the need for increased conservation efforts. Fishermen and divers who contribute photographs through social media serve as valuable sentinels, providing critical data for researchers, but much about the ray’s ecology and the specific threats it faces in Chile remains unknown. Further research and targeted conservation strategies are needed to safeguard this species and its newly identified habitats.

Photo: Oceanfreaks Dive Center

Reference: Almendras et al., 2024. New evidence confirms the presence of the diamond stingray Hypanus dipterurus (Jordan & Gilbert 1880) in Chile and extends its southern range. Journal of Fish Biology

[mahinastarz]

planets

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"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

[mahinastarz]

Haunani Kay Trask ft. My Doodles