“Noshi why do we have to move? I don’t want to leave our Island; the whole family has grown up here and I want to as well.” 

“oh, my little Jaya I don’t think that anyone wants to move from Isle de Jean Charles, but our island is disappearing. We are running out of land and our tribe is having to move because they don’t have anywhere to live.” 

Jaya and her Noshi are in a Native American Tribe located in Louissiana, and they live on an island called Isle da Jean Charles. There is only one road that connects the island to the main land, and before that road was built, they had to travel back and forth by boat. Jaya’s ancestors have lived on this land for years, but as time passed, the island started to disappear before their eyes. 

“Noshi why has our land disappeared, is there any way you can get it back, or will it be gone forever?”

“Well Jaya that is a good question."

"The sea levels are rising, which means the ocean is getting deeper and the island is staying at the same height. We also have had a lot of storms come to our area, which adds water to our island. These storms cause a lot of damage to all of the land and the water does not drain well. The water stays on the island and becomes little bodies of water. The land is also eroding, which means that little pieces of the land is being picked up and moved somewhere else. As this keeps happening, the land becomes covered by water and then some of it moves somewhere else on earth. The land isn’t actually disappearing, it is still here, but not in the same way. Eventually this island will be completely underwater, and nobody will live here. All of this is due to climate change.”

Jaya starts to cry as she realizes that one day her home will be completely underwater one day and she won’t be able to visit anymore.