We stand with Mauna Kea

The people of Molokai support Palestine; they planted over 300 olive trees in Palestine this last year. Now the Native Hawaiians are protecting their sacred mountain from construction. We remember the history in Hawaii of colonialism and the usurpation of Indigenous land that continues today. Palestinian farmers share this experience with the kia’i (protectors).

Native Hawaiians have a state constitutional right to ascend Mauna Kea mountain for subsistence, cultural and religious purposes. They are gathering to protect this significant cultural and religious site from the construction of a thirty meter (18 story) telescope on top of it. There are already 21 telescopes in 13 observatories on the mountain and a history of state land mismanagement and broken promises since the state leased the mountain in 1968.

Enough! say the protectors. On top of environmental concerns they are gathering for Indigenous self-determination in the face of colonialist control. Mauna Kea is an environmentally sensitive conservation district, is sacred in Native Hawaiian traditions and religions, and is one of the few remaining areas of Indigenous cultural preservation and sovereignty in the state. The kia’i (protectors) action challenges industrial growth at any cost versus the disenfranchisement of an unjustly marginalized group. We stand with Mauna Kea!