I am not native hawai'ian nor would i define myself as a local, but I live in the islands as well and thought I'd share what I see and hear from here as a UH affiliated scientist myself.
As you said, native Hawai'ians (or kānaka maoli or kānaka 'oiwi—NOT the same as locals/kama'aina) have always had a connection to science such as astronomy, ecology, and sustainable practices long before western contact. This protest is not against science, it is about always being subjected to outside interests whether it is diluting and selling the local culture for tourism, determining who or what entity has stewardship over the land, and simply, to have their voices heard. Some have said the kia'i/protectors of Maunakea do not have a joint goal or purpose, but they are all reacting to the same thing: pain and powerlessness.
Maunakea has always been a piko (center of the universe) for the kānaka. Back in the day no one lived up there, and they rarely went up there—it was the domain of the gods, not of humans. Regardless of the religious connection, it essentially was deemed a protected area/natural reserve to be left to its own devices. Unfortunately, since the 1960's the local government (which is always more locals than kanaka) and UH have taken the reins of what to do with this land and have proposed observatories on Maunakea, which kanaka AND locals have been opposing since. These are the same people that protested using the hawai'ian island of kaho'olawe as a bomb testing range by the US military in the 70s, and they are the same exact kupuna/elderly that are refusing to leave Maunakea. These kupuna, who were beaten by Americans as children for speaking their native tongue, inadvertently started a cultural renaissance for the kanaka language and culture, which has materialized into this protest.
There are already 13 observatories on Maunakea, 5 of which are supposed to be decommissioned and taken down. In the past, both the government and the UH system have been held accountable for misuse of those lands and leaving them worse than they were: damaging the local ecosystem, and at times even illegally building more observatories. How can the kanaka trust this won't be more of the same? It's been breached too many times. People have told me "not building the TMT means Hawai'ians shooting themselves on the foot," but to me it appears it's either shooting themselves on the foot or getting stabbed in the heart once again, except this time you made your voice even louder. It is not about the science or the telescope, it's about having a say on what is happening in THEIR land and to THEIR culture. Oh so they thrash their land while they ride their boosted pickups? So what? People do that elsewhere too, in THEIR lands. The solution there is that they have to (and want to!) restore the aloha 'aina/love for the land in the local community through education and outreach—furthering this cultural renaissance. It's the same when people compare Kamehameha uniting the islands through war to the American takeover: this is THEIR history, not outsiders calling the shots.
As some friends and colleagues have told me, this is the very same land and culture that everyone wants to come see on vacation. You know, get their fake leis, drink their mai tais, surf in Waikīkī, and have locals perform luaus for entertainment. All of which is now spilling towards residential areas as well (thanks AirBnB!). It is this very culture that makes living here magical. Personally, moving from my home country to the US was hard in many ways, but moving from the mainland to Hawai'i has done wonders for my mental health and my "soul" (or "spirit" or whatever that means to you personally). To me it's not a hyperbole when I say that you can feel the aloha in the air, and that is solely because of the kanaka culture that has managed to weave itself into the social fabric of the state of hawai'i. The kanaka have given so much, whether by generosity or force, and the US and local government (and as you say, even international governments) take and give a tenth in return. The same goes for us transplants. If you move here, I believe there is a duty to learn the history, respect the culture, and give back to Hawai'i and its people in order to stop this more than century old exploitation, and work towards reducing or ending our colonialist impact.
Sure, there might be millions of dollars through the THINK fund coming into local schools, but can that make reparations for continued and sustained heartbreak? Can multigenerational heartbreak and the suppression of a culture even be quantified? Obviously people have different answers at this junction, but I personally think it doesn't. Any other cause could have rallied the kanaka to provide a stand against this source of pain—but this is it, and here we are. I admire the TMT and think it is an amazing feat of science and of humanity. In some way, I would love for it to belong to Hawai'i and its people. But not at this cost. Especially when a secondary location in the Canary Islands has been pre-approved.
Plenty of UH scientists, both kanaka and otherwise, oppose the building of the TMT for a multitude of reasons. The protesters/protectors at Maunakea have been incredibly peaceful. Everyone that joins them must go through an orientation and adhere to kapu aloha: acting only with kindness and love. No drugs allowed, no smoking allowed, trash is taken down from Maunakea every day, volunteers feed and care for the kupuna, and they run workshops on hawai'ian culture. Yet Governor Ige blatantly lied and said it was a haven for violence and lawlessness, and declared a state of emergency sending law enforcement from neighboring islands to Maunakea, making kanaka arrest kanaka in a visibly painful event. Yet when he finally made an appearance at Pu'u Huluhulu, he was received with hugs and leis—nothing but aloha. Here there are a lot of people who try to show respect and maintain things civil, but it is true that (particularly in social media) there are pretty awful things being said from both sides, such as disavowing other's heritages solely based on their opinion on this. There's pain to go around twice over.
That's all I have rn. Thank you.
Also h00man, if you have been able to find the statistics of those star advertiser polls, i'd appreciate them. What I have heard is that most of those have been of relatively small sample sizes, and have polled more white and/or local people than kanaka. However, I have not been able to actually find the metadata about it to verify this.
Some readings:
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https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/identities/2019/7/24/20706930/mauna-kea-hawaii?__twitter_impression=true-
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02304-1?fbclid=IwAR22mqShy13LyTBnaOA2mg32qWeiriWWFdiMhr4jM5Yf4zqbM7tfn-vpYh4-
https://psmag.com/news/scientists-voice-their-support-for-native-hawaiians-protesting-the-thirty-meter-telescope-
https://medium.com/@chanda/an-urgent-plea-to-astronomers-d193d7c0eabe-
https://medium.com/@akkagawa/maunakea-redirecting-the-lens-onto-the-culture-of-mainstream-science-5d3a5a12376a-
https://massivesci.com/notes/mauna-kea-thirty-meter-telescope-colonialism-astronomy/-
https://hehiale.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/we-live-in-the-future-come-join-us/-
https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/101135/1/Salazar_Joseph_r.pdf-
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/staff-profiles/data/docs/fjcollins.pdfIf you feel like supporting the kia'i:
DonateKAHEA:
http://bit.ly/2JT2bTaHUI:
www.protectmaunakea.netHULI:
www.paypal.com/paypalme2/hulinvdaBAIL:
www.hawaiicommunitybailfund.orgDonate airfare miles (2 forms)http://bit.ly/2Y0LrTWhttp://bit.ly/2Z38WI9PetitionsMoore Foundation:
http://bit.ly/30GHTCWStop TMT:
http://bit.ly/2M5IwSsSocial Media@protectmaunakea
@kakoohaleakala
@hawanemusic
@puuhuluhulu
Topic: This telescope on Mauna Kea shouldn't be built. (Read 1505 times)