Kautaha in island hermeneutics, governance and leadership

This article proposes kautaha for consideration among the models for island hermeneutics, and for effective governance and responsible leadership in Oceania. Kautaha is a Tongan word meaning 'cooperation,' and used to identify village day-workers. Kautaha is the local unincorporated workforce in villages. In calling attention to kautaha i take a proverbial step away from the buzzing sophisticated mindsets of island towns, to the setting of village life. Kautaha as hermeneutical model urges use to interpret scriptures in solidarity with the unincorporated work-force, male and female, whose wellbeing is necessary for the security of villages, and health of creation. Based on kautaha as hermeneutical model, effective governance and responsible leadership in Oceania need to be communal, attentive to the local workforce, sensitive to the gender politics of our patriarchal societies, as well as to the link between ecology and the wellbeing of society in kautaha with creation.