My mountain, too
Passion for a cause does not validate it. It can limit exposure from diverse perspectives. It becomes unfair if not dangerous.
In the Thirty Meter Telescope protesting, I see regression. The aloha of a healthy inclusive and diverse future is stifled. A reversal in the Hawaiian legacy is at stake. No more exploring, discovering or wayfinding.
“This is desecration.” That perhaps is the most valid of all complaints.
Giving consideration and respect to all who may be offended by it, it is still kind of like the desecration of the lot your house was built on, the land you do your family shopping on, or the roads to get there.
But the mountain is “sacred.” The word has as many meanings as there are people. To whatever extent the sanctity of the mountain deserves special consideration, it is already being given. Recognize it, work with it, and contribute.
Protester passion seems so finely tuned and tightly wound. They have said flat out “TMT will not be built” and even “I am willing to die for this.”
Mayor Harry Kim and others have respectfully listened and tried to expand Hawaiian cultural learning experiences. Educational opportunities and even a museum have been proposed. But coexistence is dismissed.
Having been born and raised here, I am as much a part of this land as anybody.
While away for a few of my younger years, there was a moment I remember listening to a song, “The Snows of Mauna Kea.” The moment was pivotal, and I was going back home. I missed my mountain and what it symbolized.
I am as invested in my mauna as anyone can claim. I am proud of it for what it can contribute to humanity, and what it can represent for everyone. Don’t take it from me.
Tom Forbes
Hilo
A lot at stake
I am hoping the community and the government will work together to protect a veritable treasure (makamae) in our midst: the coastline from Hawaiian Shores, all the way to Kapoho.
Therein lies cultural, biological and even spiritual features that will need close watching, especially when Highway 132 is reopened.
A former planning director and major landowner in this immediate area, Lono Lyman, said it will be like opening a floodgate. Sure, everyone wants to see the new flow, and I do, also, but this will funnel a huge amount of traffic onto the hilly and narrow one-lane Government Beach Road, making for both danger and traffic congestion.
In the Waa Waa to Kapoho area are the largest intact stone remains of the ancient Hawaiian people in all of Hawaii, according to one archaeologist. There are two temples (heiau) at Kahuwai and the famous temple Pu‘u Kuki‘i in Kapoho, where Kalakaua got the footing stones for Iolani Palace. And, yes, there are many, many burials in this area.
Also, there are both rare pockets of coastal native forest replete with ohia and lama trees and also cultural forests with literally hundreds, if not thousands, of breadfruit, coconut and kamani trees.
Some of the names of the ancient families of this area are Kalawe, Keikipi, Kanahele, Elderts, Kamoku and Maunakea. Please, powers that be, protect this treasured are. Let us have an environmental assessment!
Gregory Paul Owen
Pahoa