{"id":141901,"date":"2019-09-02T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2019-09-02T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=141901"},"modified":"2019-09-09T09:45:06","modified_gmt":"2019-09-09T08:45:06","slug":"protectors-of-mauna-kea-are-fighting-colonialism-not-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2019\/09\/protectors-of-mauna-kea-are-fighting-colonialism-not-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Protectors of Mauna Kea Are Fighting Colonialism, Not Science"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

27 Aug 2019 – <\/em>Thousands of Native Hawaiians and their supporters have been congregating since July 15 at the base of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano and mountain on the island of Hawaii. Known in Hawaiian as the kia\u2019i<\/em>, the protectors\u2014a term the group prefers to \u201cprotesters\u201d\u2014seek to deter construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere. Business owners<\/a> and state officials<\/a> promise the telescope will provide jobs, educational opportunities and high-resolution astronomical imagery.<\/p>\n

The protectors\u2019 mobilization stems from a number of concerns about the vulnerability of the mountain to the effects of a new, 18-story telescope, as well as a fight for Indigenous self-determination in the face of colonialist control. Mauna Kea is an environmentally sensitive conservation district<\/a>; it\u2019s also sacred in Native Hawaiian traditions and religions, remaining one of the few bastions of Indigenous cultural preservation and sovereignty in the state.<\/p>\n

The current demonstrations at Mauna Kea are the culmination of decades of state land mismanagement<\/a> and broken promises<\/a> over the mountain, dating back to 1968<\/a>, when the state leased the mountain to the University of Hawaii. Since then, Mauna Kea has been prized by astronomers for its high altitude and lack of atmospheric pollution, leading to the construction of 21 telescopes within 13 observatories<\/a>. The TMT would be the 22nd telescope<\/a>; the Washington Post <\/strong>(7\/18\/19<\/a>), Associated Press <\/strong>(7\/16\/19<\/a>) and other outlets have erroneously tallied the telescopes at 13.<\/p>\n

National media coverage of the protectors\u2019 struggle accelerated around 2014 and 2015, when the kia\u2019i<\/em> first assembled<\/a> at Mauna Kea in opposition to the TMT, preventing its construction. Yet this reporting fell woefully short.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2014 and 2015,\u201d corporate media outlets \u201cwere obsessed with this idea of science versus culture, as if our kupuna <\/em>[elders] haven\u2019t practiced applied science,\u201d Kaniela Ing, a Mauna Kea protector and Hawaii Community Bail Fund<\/a> manager, told FAIR. At that time, as Marisa Peryer recently noted for the Columbia Journalism Review <\/strong>(7\/29\/19<\/a>), CNN<\/strong> (8\/27\/15<\/a>) published an article headlined \u201cScience and Religion Fight Over Hawaii\u2019s Highest Point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A New York Times<\/strong> piece headlined \u201cSeeking Stars, Finding Creationism\u201d (10\/20\/14<\/a>) called opposition to the Mauna Kea telescope a \u201cturn back toward the dark ages.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Other coverage was outright condescending. In 2014, the New York<\/strong> Times<\/strong> (10\/20\/14<\/a>) called the protectors\u2019 movement \u201ccreationism,\u201d ridiculing activists\u2019 claims that the telescope was a profit-seeking venture, omitting the TMT\u2019s status as an LLC<\/a> funded largely<\/a> by multibillionaire Intel founder Gordon Moore\u2019s philanthropic organization. The article dismissed the cooperation between Native Hawaiians and environmentalists as a \u201cmarriage of convenience,\u201d condemning the protectors for \u201cwaging skirmishes against science.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peryer also cited a New York Times<\/strong> editorial (5\/2\/15<\/a>) portraying the TMT as an innocent scapegoat caught in the middle of a battle dating back to the US\u2019s 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. The piece lamented that \u201ccoexistence may never satisfy the core group of protesters who have been demanding the total erasure of technology from Mauna Kea\u2019s peak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many kia\u2019i <\/em>agree that media outlets have been more careful in recent months to avoid such facile binaries. Still, protectors face the challenges of specious narratives.<\/p>\n

One of these relates to portrayals of public support of the TMT. A 2018 poll from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser<\/strong> indicated that 77 percent<\/a> of respondents, and 72 percent of Native Hawaiian respondents, supported the construction of the TMT. The poll was referenced in various local and national media outlets, in addition to the Star-Advertiser<\/strong>: Hawaii News Now<\/strong> (7\/21\/19<\/a>; 7\/22\/19<\/a>), Hawaii Public Radio <\/strong>(7\/29\/19<\/a>), AP<\/strong> (3\/26\/18<\/a>), HuffPost<\/strong> (10\/31\/18<\/a>) and the New York Times<\/strong> (7\/10\/19<\/a>).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s imperative, however, to consider whose opinion was sought. The Star-Advertiser<\/strong> surveyed a total of 800 registered voters, only 78 of whom were Native Hawaiian; notably, Native Hawaiians have historically been subjected<\/a> to voter suppression<\/a>. \u201cThere were all these internally invalid measures of how this poll could really have any weight,\u201d Uahikea Maile, a Mauna Kea protector and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, told FAIR. \u201cI\u2019m fearful of the misrepresentation, because it\u2019s obviously disproportionate to the reality of the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>The Washington Post<\/strong> (7\/17\/19<\/a>) adapted an AP<\/strong> story for its \u201cKidsPost\u201d feature by adding a more propagandistic headline.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mischaracterization of the protectors took other forms. The Associated Press<\/strong> (7\/16\/19<\/a>), for example, reported that protesters were \u201cbullying\u201d supporters of the telescope, a claim that the protest\u2019s organizational structure and tactics<\/a> directly contradict. The story was republished on NBC News<\/strong> (7\/17\/19<\/a>) and in the Washington Post<\/strong><\/a>, under the headline \u201cNative Hawaiians\u2019 Protests Stop Researchers From Studying the Skies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Associated Press <\/strong>(8\/10\/19<\/a>) propagated a similar narrative in an article headlined \u201cAmid Protest, Astronomers Lose Observation Time.\u201d The story bemoaned astronomers\u2019 reported loss of some 2,000 hours of viewing time at Mauna Kea\u2019s existing telescopes in light of the protests. It also paraphrased astronomers\u2019 statements that the resistance had denied them \u201cregular, guaranteed access to their facilities, which puts their staff and equipment at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to veteran Mauna Kea protector Kealoha Pisciotta, who was quoted in the Associated Press<\/strong> article, astronomers weren\u2019t blocked by the kia\u2019i<\/em>; rather, their employers ordered them to descend the mountain. Astronomers \u201chaven\u2019t been blocked from the beginning. When they were allegedly blocked, it was really their own choice, because the observatories made their staffs stay down\u201d amid the demonstrations, Pisciotta told FAIR. \u201cThey tried to argue that they were losing science because of us. How can you say it\u2019s because of us? You\u2019re the ones who ordered your people down. Not us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pisciotta also noted that media coverage has muted the cultural and religious significance of Mauna Kea. \u201cFor a long time, the Associated Press <\/strong>[7\/16\/19<\/a>, <\/strong>7\/18\/19<\/a>], everybody,\u201d including USA Today<\/strong> (8\/21\/19<\/a>), \u201ckept using the words \u2018some Hawaiians\u2019\u201d in reference to who holds the mountain sacred. \u201cAt one point, we said, \u2018It\u2019s not \u2018some Hawaiians.\u2019 We are the majority.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

She added that Native Hawaiians\u2019 right to ascend the mountain for \u201csubsistence, cultural and religious purposes\u201d is enshrined in the Hawaii State Constitution<\/a>. Despite this, state government temporarily denied cultural practitioners access to the mountain in mid-July, later permitting them one vehicle to ascend the mountain per day (Big Island Video News<\/strong>, (8\/9\/19<\/a>).<\/p>\n

As the protests continue, outlets report that the kia\u2019i<\/em> and TMT supporters are at an impasse, and suggest that negotiations might allow the project to proceed on Mauna Kea (Hawaii News Now<\/strong>, 7\/25\/19<\/a>; NBC News<\/strong>, 8\/18\/19<\/a>; Honolulu Civil Beat<\/strong>, 7\/31\/19<\/a>). \u201cWhat is tragic,\u201d the aforementioned 2015 New York Times<\/strong> editorial cried, \u201cis the missed opportunity for shared understanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

While proposals to compromise might appear fair, protectors say, they dismiss the historical context in Hawaii of colonialism and the usurpation of Indigenous land that continues today. Thus, these suggestions elide the stark power asymmetry between historically disenfranchised and marginalized Native Hawaiians and the billion-dollar, state-backed TMT project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe point that that misses is there\u2019s not anything to negotiate. Either the Mauna is sacred or it\u2019s not. When you talk about these issues, how do you compromise that?\u201d said Kenneth Lawson, a Mauna Kea protector and law professor at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have shared the mountain since 1968,\u201d said Pisciotta. \u201cIt\u2019s our temple, it\u2019s our church, it\u2019s our house of worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the heart of the Mauna Kea action is thus a challenge not only to a telescope, but to capital and the pursuit of unmitigated industrial growth at any cost. It\u2019s no wonder, then, that when corporate-owned media are tasked with examining this movement, their limitations rear their heads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs the advancement of a certain field of science worth the further disenfranchisement, the pain of a marginalized group?\u201d asked the Bail Fund\u2019s Ing. \u201cI think that\u2019s a valid question for the media, but [the media] scrapes the surface of what this is really about.\u201d<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Julianne Tveten\u2019s work has appeared in<\/em> In These Times, The Nation, The New Republic, Pacifica Radio and elsewhere<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

27 Aug 2019 – Thousands of Native Hawaiians and their supporters have been congregating since July 15 at the base of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano and mountain on the island of Hawaii\u2026 While proposals to compromise might appear fair, protectors say, they dismiss the historical context in Hawaii of colonialism and the usurpation of Indigenous land that continues today. Thus, these suggestions elide the stark power asymmetry between historically disenfranchised and marginalized Native Hawaiians and the billion-dollar, state-backed TMT project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":141904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,59,65,56,45,221,148,183,145],"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-141901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","category-nonviolence","category-anglo-america","category-asia-pacific","category-activism","category-indigenous-rights","category-history","category-religion-2","category-science","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\/141901","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=141901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}