{"id":140862,"date":"2019-08-19T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T11:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=140862"},"modified":"2019-08-26T11:15:32","modified_gmt":"2019-08-26T10:15:32","slug":"a-new-hawaiian-renaissance-how-a-telescope-protest-became-a-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/08\/a-new-hawaiian-renaissance-how-a-telescope-protest-became-a-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A New Hawaiian Renaissance’: How a Telescope Protest Became a Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demonstrators opposed to the building of a telescope on Mauna Kea, the state\u2019s highest peak, have forged a community.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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The actor Jason Momoa exchanges a traditional greeting with an elder while visiting protesters last month. Photograph: Hollyn Johnson\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

17 Aug 2019 – <\/em>On Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, a protest against a $1.4bn observatory on Mauna Kea, a mountain considered sacred by many Native Hawaiians, is entering a second month. In that time, the protest site has swelled from a few hundred to several thousands, attracted celebrity visitors, and built a community of Native Hawaiians who see it as a pivotal moment.<\/p>\n

The protest site<\/a> sits at an elevation of 6,632ft, where the cold wind whips across hardened lava fields. But amid this inhospitable environment, weeks of demonstration have given rise to a sense of permanence.<\/p>\n

The site stretches across a two-lane highway, where trucks flying a Native Hawaiian flag and the upside-down state flag line both sides of the road. A \u201cK\u016bpuna tent\u201d, where the elders of the community gather, is strategically placed to block an access road up the mountain in order to stop construction vehicles from reaching the summit.<\/p>\n

New arrivals are encouraged to sign in at an orientation station. There is a tented cafeteria providing free meals, and a community-run medic station, daycare and school. Along the barren roadside, tropical flowers have been casually stuck in traffic cones. People pound taro, a Hawaiian crop, in the traditional way on wooden boards to make poi, a local dish.<\/p>\n

The protest stems from controversy over the fate of Mauna Kea, the tallest peak in Hawaii<\/a> and the proposed site of an enormous observatory known as the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The summit, 13,796ft above sea level, is said to be an ideal location to look into deep space. TMT is expected to capture images \u2018that look back to the beginning of the universe. Protesters, who call themselves kia\u2018i, or \u201cprotectors\u201d, argue the construction will further desecrate Mauna Kea, which is already home to about a dozen telescopes.<\/p>\n

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The sun sets behind telescopes at the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
Photograph: Caleb Jones\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the protest leaders and a spokesperson for Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, a Native Hawaiian group, says the movement is \u201cpushing back on corporate culture\u201d through Hawaiian concepts of \u201cKapu Aloha\u201d, which emphasizes compassionate responses, especially towards opponents, and \u201cAloha \u02bb\u0100ina\u201d, a saying that translates to \u201clove of the land\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just joining the world\u2019s indigenous movements,\u201d Pisciotta says. \u201cWe need Kapu Aloha … to bring back the balance from the insanity and destruction of our earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pisciotta said that the protesters were showing the world a way \u201cto really live differently\u201d while protecting the land.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Native Hawaiians, there is a question of our right to self-determination as defined by international law, but I think it\u2019s so much bigger than that,\u201d said Pisciotta. \u201cIt\u2019s about us learning to live and be interdependent.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Protesters continue their vigil, on 19 July. Photograph: Bruce Asato\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

Why Are the Protests Happening?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hawaiians consider Mauna Kea sacred for numerous reasons. The mountain is known as the home to W\u0101kea, the sky god, who partnered with Papah\u0101naumoku, the earth goddess. Protesters hope to protect and help restore the native ecosystem on Mauna Kea.<\/p>\n

But the protests are also part of a legacy for Native Hawaiians that goes back to 1893, when the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown. Hawaiians lost their land as well as their culture, as the latter was suppressed through law and religion. It wasn\u2019t until the 1970s, during a period of cultural flourishing known as the Hawaiian Renaissance, that the Hawaiian language was allowed to be spoken in school and that the hula was revived.<\/p>\n

Read more: Dozens arrested as Hawaiians protest $1.4bn telescope on sacred mountain<\/a> <\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The period was defined by its own resistance movement, as activists focused on stopping the US military from using Kaho\u02bbolawe, one of the eight main Hawaiian Islands, as a target for bombing practice. After more than a decade of peaceful protests and occupations of the island, the US government ended the live-fire training in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

Some see the latest protest action as a new Hawaiian Renaissance. Days are punctuated by the blowing of the conch shell to announce ceremonies that include chanting, hula, and ho\u02bbokupu (offerings). Several celebrities with Hawaii ties have travelled here to participate, including Dwayne \u201cThe Rock\u201d Johnson, Jason Momoa, and Jack Johnson.<\/p>\n

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Hawaii\u2019s governor, David Ige, right, watches a performance during a visit to the ninth day of protests against the Thirty Meter Telescope, on 23 July.
\u00a0Photograph: Jamm Aquino\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe atmosphere here is incredible. We\u2019re all here protecting our \u02bb\u0101ina [land]\u201d, said Kamuela Park, a protester at the site. He added that it had been \u201cawesome to see people from all spectrums coming here in support\u201d.<\/p>\n

Peaceful demonstrators have faced one major confrontation with police. Three days into the protest, 38 k\u016bpuna (revered elders) were arrested for blocking the road that leads to the construction site. That same day, Hawaii\u2019s governor, David Ige, signed an emergency proclamation<\/a> giving law enforcement more control over the area and allowed them to bring in National Guard troops. Images of the elderly being arrested quickly spread, garnering sympathy for the movement and attracting more people to the site.<\/p>\n

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Demonstrators block a road at the base of Hawaii\u2019s tallest mountain, on 15 July. Photograph: Caleb Jones\/AP<\/p><\/div>\n

What Comes Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Negotiations between government officials and protesters have slowed since the arrests. On 30 July, the governor rescinded his emergency proclamation. He also extended the window during which construction could begin from 60 days to two years, meaning the protesters would theoretically need to block the road until September 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to assure everyone that we are committed. Our law enforcement officers will remain at the site to ensure the safety of all of those involved,\u201d said Ige at a press conference. \u201cWe continue to seek and find a peaceful solution to move this project forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

While tensions may have eased, protesters have said they will stay until they stop TMT from being built. Demonstrators proved their endurance in early August as many of them stayed at the protest site while two consecutive storms passed by the islands.<\/p>\n

Pisciotta, who used to work at the Mauna Kea observatories as a telescope systems specialist, says the movement has been especially \u201chuge\u201d for young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the elders, they lived through the time it was prohibited to speak the language,\u201d she says. Now younger Hawaiians grow up speaking it in school and with strong cultural affiliations. Hawaiian youth who are camping out are helping to organize donations, teaching some of the courses at the community-led school, and spreading the word on social media.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our philosophy, the land and the people are one,\u201d said Pisciotta, about Aloha \u02bb\u0100ina. \u201cSo it was a rallying point for the renaissance and now this is a kind of new renaissance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

17 Aug 2019 – On Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, a protest against a $1.4bn observatory on Mauna Kea, a mountain considered sacred by many Native Hawaiians, is entering a second month. In that time, the protest site has swelled from a few hundred to several thousands, attracted celebrity visitors, and built a community of Native Hawaiians who see it as a pivotal moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":140865,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,56,45,221,183],"tags":[229,1149,120,290,331,401,1312,1313,260,487,866,651,444,86,109,287,103,107,985,380,70,126,172],"class_list":["post-140862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-asia-pacific","category-activism","category-indigenous-rights","category-religion-2","tag-activism","tag-asia-and-the-pacific","tag-conflict","tag-culture","tag-development","tag-environment","tag-hawaiian-culture","tag-hawaiian-religion","tag-history","tag-human-rights","tag-indigenous-rights","tag-justice","tag-nonviolence","tag-occupation","tag-politics","tag-power","tag-racism","tag-religion","tag-social-justice","tag-solutions","tag-usa","tag-violence","tag-west"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}