Without water, we'd be nothing.
It's something environmental writer David Young, is on a mission to remind us, through his new book Wai Pasifika.
It's an exploration of how water has been revered and understood by indigenous cultures across the wider Pacific region.
He's drawn upon decades of exchanges with indigenous elders and experts from Aotearoa and Australia, to Hawai'i and Oregon, looking at the customary uses, traditions and myths of life-sustaining freshwater - or wai.
He argues that Western culture is at risk of getting stuck in its current wasteful trend of how we use and regard our water - a different approach is needed.
Photo: Supplied
