Set on a stage of international environmental politics, this study explores the intimate features of cultural identity in the context of small-scale global migration. Research situates itself between anthropological inquiry and real world application as the nation of Kiribati stands on the frontlines of climate change. A multi-sited approach was utilized to create a more complete picture of migration through the development of a closed comparative study. Though diaspora populations contributed to and detracted from the maintenance of the Kiribati identity, it was found that widely dispersed populations were able to maintain a virtual global homeland abroad even as their real one was being destroyed by global climate change.