Fighting desecration
For the past two months I’ve been reading the “Your Views” section of the Tribune-Herald, and a lot of what I’ve been reading is that there are a lot of people who are ignorant folk who seem unwilling to do any sort of basic research on Maunakea and its historical, religious and spiritual significance.
If a person has the comprehension and understanding of the culture, people and the mythology, they still may not grasp the raw emotion of wanting to stand up against the indignation Hawaiians endured for over 100 years.
It is empowering to stand up for your people and cultural heritage. This movement isn’t something that just started. This movement to protect the mountain started with the very first telescope in 1968. There was backlash, and there were people protesting, but there was no news coverage like there is with social media today.
Being able to explain why we’re upset is very difficult. From my point of view, I would say it would be like blowing up and bulldozing the Notre Dame to build a city morgue. It’s unthinkable to destroy something that’s sacred and cherished by many, but the morgue could be used to solve murders and is helpful to health and science.
What is happening now is something akin to Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers and donning the number 42, or Martin Luther King marching against racism. But in place of racism, we are standing against desecration and injustice of a people and a culture that was almost erased from the Earth.
Instead of donning a number 42, we brandish the symbol of our mauna and proudly bellow out “Ku Kia‘i Mauna.” We march in hopes that we’ll make a better future that doesn’t require forgetting our history and the desecration of our islands.
Maiola Manuel
Volcano
‘Hostile takeover’
The Thirty Meter Telescope should not be built.
To build this telescope on conservation land is not right in the first place. People who hold a sacred and profound love of Maunakea should have their say.
Sacred places throughout the world have been desecrated for no other reason then monetary gain, national pride and entitlement. The money is coming from rich people, corporations and money from other countries without any thought for the people.
The mere size of this project is enough to cause concern. The State Building would fit in the crater dug deep into the mountain for its massive foundation, then add 18 stories. Ordinances have long been in place that would prohibit such a structure. The Big Island has rules on how tall a building can be, how we build our houses, and even how big we can make our signs.
Just the presence of the existing observatories are for many a distraction from the natural beauty of the mountain. TMT would dominate the whole sky from many parts of the island.
Our island culture has its first priority in the protection of the land and ocean.
The Hawaiian culture is reclaiming its rightful place for its future and deserves the respect Hawaiians are demanding. My hope is that we will get past this planned desecration and do things that will upgrade our lives here at home, and not the promise of jobs that are at best temporary.
Arrogant entitlement is what fuels this idea that because they feel bigger and better, richer and more powerful, that they are entitled to launch a hostile takeover of our Maunakea.
Bruce Cate
Hilo