ABOUT US >

My name is Kaiya, and I am a 17-year old Okinawan-American high school student from Portland, Oregon. I recently went back to Henoko this spring because I was frustrated with the silence of the media around this crisis. 

 

I wanted to make a documentary to show the world what's happening. My documentary, "Our Island's Treasure," focuses on the current destruction of the beautiful Okinawan ocean in Henoko and the fight by native Uchinanchu people to protect it. Please help spread awareness.

 

In addition, as a youth member of the Global Uchinanchu Alliance, we organized our first National Week of Action for Henoko on 5/26 - 6/1 and will continue to call on collective action from within the U.S. The information on all of the action ideas are listed in detail on this website. Please join us and share with all of your networks. 

 

This is an emergency. Let's rise for Henoko!

© 2019 Created by Kaiya Yonamine.

ACTION IDEA #3:

SPREAD DOCUMENTARY

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOCUMENTARY

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CLICK HERE FOR THE TRAILER

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ABOUT "OUR ISLAND'S TREASURE":

The concrete began to crush the  beautiful ocean of Okinawa back in December. But even when I was feeling devastated about what's happening in Henoko, there was no media in the U.S. about it. Nothing in the textbooks. Nothing in my classes. Nothing anywhere. But I knew my family is hurting and I knew my mom's island and ocean are being destroyed. I also knew that people are fighting with their lives on the line for the ocean, for us, for all of us. So I decided I needed to take a camera and bridge us across the ocean. With the help of my family, I fundraised to fly back to Okinawa just this past March and April. People in my high school bought a lot of cookies for my bake sale and my friends came over to help me make thousands of paper cranes that I sold. Spending 3 weeks there, listening to the stories of people on the ground, I made this documentary to tell the world their story and show their fight -- our fight. The documentary is the result of interviewing Uchinanchu elders and student activists who are doing everything to protect our sacred ocean, even when the media ignores what's happening. Please help spread it to people around the country and around the world. 

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Action #1: Please help spread the documentary widely!

  • TIME NEEDED FOR ACTION: 5 minutes

  • DO:

    • POST AND SHARE THE LINK TO THE DOCUMENTARY.

    • Tag environmental organizations, human rights and indigenous rights groups, local organizations, media and teacher groups. 

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Action #2: Host a film screening of "Our Island's Treasure" documentary at your home, school or office. 

  • TIME NEEDED FOR ACTION: 1 hour

  • DO:

    • Gather a large group to watch the documentary together.

    • Ask participants to write a solidarity message starting with "Rise for Henoko" or "I rise because..." Take a photo of yourself with it.

    • Post and add "#riseforhenoko" and tag Global Uchinanchu Alliance so that we can help collect and share your messages from across the nation. Click here for GUA's social media pages. 

 

 

Action #3: Contact local and national organizations with the film link.

  • TIME NEEDED FOR ACTION: 15 minutes

  • DO:

    • Write/Email local and national organizations/groups who are advocating for environmental rights, human rights and indigenous rights, community advocacy and youth empowerment. 

    • Share the link to the documentary.

 

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Action #4: Teachers: Please check on Zinn Education Project website later in the summer for Henoko curriculum you can use with this documentary!

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