Papali’i is a Polynesian traditional leader from the Samoan Islands with extensive genealogical ties throughout the island cultures of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia; and a culturally based regenerative development advocate of Oceania. He promotes the weave of traditional wisdom, cultural values and spiritualism with modern science, knowledge, and technology. He is also a Suli Matua (senior heir) to the Sa Malietoa Talavou warrior King line of Samoa and was conferred the Papali’i title in 1980 recognizing him as such. He was raised in a social-cultural and spiritual context that views the earth as his Earth Mother accentuated by the ritual burial of his umbilical cord wrapped in lau ti leaves into the sacred ground as an infant. His i’ike (ability to attune to the rhymes, patterns, and currents of mana) aligns with the wisdoms of regeneration, symbiosis, and synergy inherited from his open ocean voyaging ancestors. He cherishes the wisdoms of his ancestor, Salamasina, the last and only queen of the Samoan Islands. Though an heir of a warrior line, the wisdoms of Salamasina have reframed the values of conquest and war, to Tofa’s (wisdoms) and healing that guide the definition of leadership to this day.

Tonu Eagleton his son Koa are the founders of humanatree, an artistic partnership dedicated to raising awareness for environmental, social, and ecological issues. Tonu is an internationally acclaimed and collected artist and teacher at many universities. His extraordinary work, is found in the private collections of many high-profile musicians and world statesmen. His life-long mission is to draw attention to, and help protect, the many endangered species of the planet–be they indigenous peoples, trees, plants, or animals. Tonu is regarded as a major “thought leader”, who has foreseen, and has tirelessly advocated for, many of the world’s pressing environmental issues for over forty years now.

He has carved healing poles around the world. His work can be seen locally at the Shoreline amphitheater, Strybing Arboretum, San Francisco Zoo, and at the Native Plant Nursery in the Presidio. Tonu’s work has been received by some of the world’s leading environmental and spiritual minds, including Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan and Dr. David Suzuki.

With canoe carving deep in his heritage, Tonu was given a penknife by his grandmother when he was 8, and he began a life-long love of carving wood. Using a variety of chain saws, grinders, and chisels he carves environmentally conscious themes from any discarded wood and uses recycled wood to make statements for the environment. Recycling trees into art gives them a second life of dignity, is symbolic of treating the whole planet and its endangered lifeforms with more aloha, care and respect. He is committed to and guided by his Polynesian ancestors and living Elders. Their notion of the “Mana” guides his work - the spiritual energy that interconnects with all life in the Universe.