The coral reefs, fisheries, and forests of the Pacific Islands are areas of extraordinary biological diversity. For the communities of people living on these islands, these are spaces for securing livelihoods and affirming identities as people of the place. From the earliest days of island settlement through the ecological and cultural violence and erasure brought by western colonialism to contemporary impositions of capitalism and transnational “projects,” the people of these island communities have confronted and often overcome challenges of sustainable adaptation.