The Mauna Kea Summit in winter
By Will Falk
I am preparing to leave for Hawai’i to offer myself in support of resistance to the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project that would place a large telescope and stadium-sized structure on the peak of native Hawaiians’ most sacred place – Mauna Kea.
The project, funded by a partnership including the University of California, the California Institute of Technology, and the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy among others, would also place a 5,000 gallon chemical waste container above the largest freshwater aquifer on Hawai’i Island.
I first heard about this struggle from the brilliant documentary film-maker Anne Keala Kelly when she spoke at the Earth at Risk conference in San Francisco organized by the Fertile Ground Environmental Institute last fall. I was beyond excited when a friend recently put me in touch with Keala explaining that the Mauna Kea protectors seek more support from the mainland.
It’s been over a year, since I gave up on the possibility that – as a white settler – I will ever truly be able to call stolen native land “home.” Instead of settling into one place, I believe I can be more effective traveling in support of indigenous sovereignty. So, after a wonderfully encouraging conversation with Keala, I am resolved to go.
The first practical step towards getting to Hawai’i is finding the funding. After some donations from friends and a generous offer from the organization that originally introduced me to the struggle at Mauna Kea – Fertile Ground – it looks like I will be set to leave in the next couple weeks.
Before I go, however, it is important to articulate exactly why I am going. Why is stopping the construction of a telescope on top of a mountain thousands of miles away so important? Why, with all the social ills in the world, are you headed to Hawai’i, Will? Or, to borrow the phrase forming the title of Keala’s current documentary film project, “Why the Mountain?”
One essay is insufficient to articulate why, but I will start with this:
The dominant culture currently threatens the ability of the planet to support life itself. No where else is this more apparent, perhaps, than in Hawai’i. Hawai’i is widely known in ecological circles as the extinction and endangered species capital of the world for the staggering rate of extinction decimating Hawai’i’s largely endemic plant and animal populations. Bird populations are the famous example.
According to Dr. Les Beletsky, a wildlife biologist formerly of the University of Washington and now a full-time writer, at the first arrival of Europeans in Hawai’i 200 years ago, 59 known bird species existed in Hawai’i. 21 currently survive and more than half of those are endangered. One of the important connections to make here is that colonization – the theft of indigenous land and destruction of indigenous peoples – precedes ecological collapse. It is a pattern that has played out around the world for centuries. With every species wiped off the face of the planet, every indigenous culture destroyed, every acre of old-growth forest lost, we move closer to total annihilation.
I’ve spent the last year traveling in support of indigenous sovereignty and environmental protection. Before that, I spent a year as a public defender and three years as a law student volunteering in prisons trying to use the system to fight institutional racism. My experiences lead me to believe we will never see a mass movement to save the world. If we’re going to save the world, we’ll have to do it ourselves. And, because we must do it ourselves, we need to be armed with an analysis that allows us to strategically maximize our effectiveness. To maximize our effectiveness we need to recognize the root processes fueling the destruction of the world. Then, we must attack and defeat those processes.
Over the next few weeks, my essays will attempt to point out the processes at work in Hawai’i that even make the desecration of a place as sacred as Mauna Kea possible.
***
I want to back up, though, and get back to answering why I personally feel so strongly about protecting Mauna Kea. One of the first reasons, I am going to Hawai’i is because I am sick of those in power – whether they are men, astronomers, or the American government – refusing to take no for an answer.
My experiences that follow are an attempt to show just how deeply this refusal to take no for an answer runs. I share these experiences because I want the attacks on those I love to stop. And, the first step involves all of us recognizing that these attacks are happening.
In the last few months, I’ve sat with four different women – all of them close friends – as they’ve told me they’ve been raped or severely beaten by men. I have heard similar stories from other women, but never at this rate. Of course, this will come as no shock to women, but the conversations have become commonplace. Writing the word “commonplace” to describe conversations about the rape and battery of my friends makes me feel physically ill.
Sometimes, I know the man who did it. Sometimes, I can only picture him and then feel disturbed by how easily it is to imagine a man doing this. Sometimes, I watch as pain pools in a friend’s eyes. Sometimes, I want to reach out as a distance seems to open in a friend’s mind.
Sometimes, she seems to be struggling with a presence I only vaguely detect. Sometimes, there are tears. Sometimes, there is only an icy determination to recite the story. Every time, though, I feel an overwhelming desire to take the pain away. And, in those moments listening, I know I can’t. I know I can’t stop violence that’s already happened.
With each successive story, I find myself wondering how these almost unspeakable horrors continue to be possible. I cannot call the stories “unspeakable” because these women have been so brave speaking about what has happened to them. They have shown incredible courage revisiting traumatic memories to name the abuse they’ve suffered. My pain, simply listening to their stories, is nothing compared to the pain they’ve felt and continue to feel.
I know I cannot take their pain away, but I can work to make sure this shit stops happening.
***
Abuse is essentially a refusal to take no for an answer. Rape happens when a woman tells a man no and he refuses to respect that. The degradation of natural communities happens when humans refuse to respect boundaries set by other beings.
Mauna Kea and the Hawaiian people are being abused by the TMT project. It started in 1898 when Hawaiians wrote to Congress after they were forcibly annexed to the United States explaining that they did not want to be Americans. It continues as Hawaiians say no to the desecration of Mauna Kea.
What allows men to decide that rape is acceptable? What is it about the American government that allows it to decide that the occupation of a land that does not want it is acceptable? What is it about the TMT project that allows them to decide they can desecrate Mauna Kea?
In each case, it’s a culture of entitlement. I’ve heard culture defined simply as the stories we tell ourselves. Men are told through the media, through pornography, and through centuries of institutionalized hatred towards women that women are objects to be used. Hearing these stories, men feel entitled to take from women what they want.
The American people are told that the American government is the best possible government in this scary world and as such the government is entitled to take the land and lives of other peoples. Meanwhile, a steady rain of American bombs falls around the world.
The scientists, astronomers, and corporations backing the TMT are told that science is going to save the world, that spending billions of dollars to make sense of planets lightyears away while the planet we’re on burns is justified because science is the highest form of knowledge the universe has ever seen. As a result, one of the world’s most sacred places is under attack.
I, for one, am ready for some new stories.
Comparing abuse of all kinds to the TMT project at Mauna Kea is more than just a passing connection. When we allow violations to occur over a whole culture’s protests, we normalize the abuse. We give the dominant culture another story of entitlement to add to a bloody list that’s already grown much, much too long.
So, why am I going to Mauna Kea? I am going because a people have clearly said no and I am sick of this violation imperative harming those I love while destroying the world.
Will Falk
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It might be nostalgic remembrance but to call it sacred is ludicrous. Which God or ancient, long gone, ancestor takes claim of this high ground? None, that is the answer as neither exist anymore in any form. To save it for the sheer beauty and irreplaceable grandeur is a different matter. Let’s not make it another religious symbol and start another holy war when it is the humanism and secular beauty that is in play here. Some things are irreplaceable and this pristine mount is another example of what should be saved and appreciated as a gift from Mother Nature and not some ethereal mumbo jumbo spouting deity in any form or context.
Uh…wow!!
The scaredness of Mauna a Wākea goes beyond religion or spirituality. It is the piko (or center) of the entire Archipelago. It’s a reminder of our place in THIS world and the connection we have to it as people. When you experience Aloha ‘Āina (love for not just the land but all things) then you understand your part in the intricate woven mat of our existence and to malama (take care of) it.
CAN YOU HEAR – THIS NOW?
TEDxMaui – Dr. Pualani Kanahele – Living the Myth and Unlocking the Metaphor
To say that our piko, where we connect, is such a ludacris thing then it should mean nothing when I say that your churches, located anywhere in the U.S., should also be called ludacris because it is sacred to you. I am pretty sure that you would all hate it if your church that you attend was being removed because the “government” is placing a Thirty Meter Telescope there. Same with the Native Hawaiians. Besides, you should stop making more churches anyway. We don’t want to make it another religious symbol or start a holy war with you now would we?
hi Dana, I appreciate that you support the preservation of Mauna Kea, but I think that it is dangerous, and unfair, to dismiss the cultural and religious importance of the site for native Hawaiians. I’d like to respectfully point out that the way in which you dismiss their reasons for preserving the site is the same way in which the TMT project could dismiss yours. To them, invoking Mother Nature and the ‘sheer beauty and irreplaceable grandeur’ of Mauna Kea could sound like ‘ethereal mumbo jumbo’ as well. Rather than insulting people with whom you share a goal with, perhaps you could take a moment to recognize that their reasoning is rooted in generations of people forging a relationship with the land and it’s ecology, and the desire to steward it for future generations. How they choose to frame that goal, to talk about it, and to pass that knowledge on to their children is valid even if they use words and concepts that you don’t relate to.
Religion and government are flashpoints, and the issue of putting technology on top of a magnificent mountain might be a particularly nasty source of conflict made nastier by invocations of a higher source of authority than… who?.. the University of California or … god, or clean water.
Mahalo JJ!
NICELY STATED
Aloha Mai Will,
Mahalo for your wisdom and perspicacity regarding the issue of Mauna ‘a Wakea, and it’s intrinsic importance to The Hawaiian Nation. The wisdom and impact of your words really paint an accurate picture of the situation. I am moved by the depth of your compassion and concern for our sisters around the world. Your acknowledgement of their plight analogized with the ongoing rape and pillage of our beautiful little Hawaiian Islands we call home is brilliant. It is my belief that the magnificent summit of Mauna ‘a Wakea, will serve as a beacon to all humanity to unite for peace and for healing and for protection and preservation of our beautiful little planet Earth we all call home.
I can’t speak for all Kanaka Maoli (“Hawaiians”), but I believe most would concur in offering our sincere appreciation for you and your Kuleana (responsibility) as a messenger and brother to The Mountain and our people. I look forward with anticipation to your arrival and am excited about reading your upcoming essays.
Aloha ‘ahuihou, ’emalamapono,
Kamaki
I’ve told you this before, Dana, but I think your view is racist. Hawaiians have lived in Hawaii for centuries without wrecking their lands. Settlers come and they’re destroying the lands. When Hawaiians – who know far more about their lands than any of us will ever know – say Mauna Kea is sacred, then Mauna Kea is sacred. To deny the sacredness of their lands is to erase their culture. The erasure of culture is racist.
I also have a problem with the notion that lands should be preserved simply for their natural beauty. This objectifies other beings and grants them value only so far as a human beholder considers them beautiful. This is the same principle that patriarchy works on. Patriarchy says a woman is only as valuable as she can be used by men – for her reproductive capabilities, for her looks, for her emotional support. A mountain is valuable because “it” exists. A woman is valuable because she exists.
The failure to recognize these simple laws are why we’re in the mess we’re in.
You are showing your personal self righteous predilections and somewhat myopic ignorance again. I am not racist nor are my opinions, including this one. All religions, including all current and ancient ones are all clap trap delusional human creations that serve no good but to scare and guilt those who are exposed to them, whether Hawaiian or any other indigenous peoples. To pin ones hopes on the sacredness of anything is futile and sophomoric to succeed in an intelligent conversation. However, all the other reasons to preserve and glorify the awesomeness of this superb mountain in Hawaii are worthwhile endeavors. I don’t strive to diminish the importance of this noble effort to keep “progress” out and off this mount. To the contrary I commend the efforts but chide those seeking to thwart the government into doing the right thing by the inclusion of the religion as any reference or form.
You drum holiness but call your opponent a racist. You invoke a higher authority than yourself to defeat your opponent. You claim that “the notion that lands should be preserved simply for their natural beauty… objectifies other beings,” and then identify your opponent with a patriarchy, one that “says a woman is only as valuable as (sic) she can be used by men.”
The truth also exists, Will Falk, and no one of us can claim it is exclusively ours.
Thanks so much for your words, Kamaki. It is good to hear that you think my analysis of the situation gets close to the truth. I feel like it’s important to articulate my reasons for coming to Hawai’i before I arrive. I’m excited to get to Hawai’i and to offer support however it’s needed.
Will,
Thank you for your thoughtful words. So much of what you have written here rings true. I myself have just a drop of Hawaiian heritage, have lived on the mainland all my life, and have recently moved to Kona where my mother lives. So I know how you feel when it comes to being an outsider in a land where outsiders have done so much harm to the land and it’s people. I have been told that the Hawaiian Kingdom, as it existed (and still does!) before the overthrow and subsequent annexation, based it’s citizenship not on race but on nationality. Because of it’s worldly and in many ways progressive stance on citizenship, it’s citizens, though mostly Kanaka Maoli were also multicultural and came from many different countries of origin. Anyway, I would like to think that due to your deep respect for Hawaii and it’s people, the Kingdom would welcome you.
Your assessment of the power dynamics as they exist in the United States and in Hawaii is a powerful one. Patriarchal and colonial abuse is pervasive and devastating. I especially appreciated your celebration of the strength of the women in your lives who have experienced abuse at the hands of men. I wonder what your thoughts are on the framing of such dynamics as “colonizer vs. colonized” or “abuser vs. abused”. The power hierarchies are certainly real but I wonder if something of the agency of Native Hawaiians gets lost when we continue to speak of them as people who have things done “to them” instead people who are active in their own being, the creation of the world around them and the future they seek to protect for their keiki. I believe the current movement around Mauna Kea is a great example of this.
Some of the commentors here clearly want to discredit the sanctity of Mauna Kea as a spiritual place. I can understand their perspective as one that sees the world through atheistic or perhaps agnostic eyes. Dana, I respect your opinion and recognize that your secular humanitarian outlook is not one that is racist in intent. I have to respectfully disagree with the assumption you make that Hawaiian religion and spirituality no longer exists, but is rather a “nostalgic remembrance”. The current protests of TMT are the most visible example of a continued Native Hawaiian existence. Is it possible that given the visibility of the movement, this is the first that you’ve seen of the existence Native Hawaiians who have been actively practicing their culture and spirituality even since the overthrow and annexation? It took me a long while to see that indigenous cultures have not ceased to exist as a result of “modernity” but that they’ve simply been drowned out by the noise of dominant narratives of assimilation. I would also humbly disagree with your outright dismissal of religion as a whole. I say this as someone who used to lock himself in the bathroom to avoid going to church (and I still don’t actively practice any religion). You say that “All religions, including all current and ancient ones are all clap trap delusional human creations that serve no good but to scare and guilt those who are exposed to them, whether Hawaiian or any other indigenous peoples.” Without speaking with any authority, I would venture to guess that many of those who hold Mauna Kea sacred would not subscribe to your secular humanist perspective (I hope I have not identified you as such in error, please correct me if I’m wrong) but I would no more defend them if they were to attempt to discredit your worldview. I recognize that your perspective is grounded in moral desire to do what is right and as such I believe it deserves my respect.
As Kamakia rightly pointed out, the important thing is that we all stand for the protection of the mountain; a cause worthy of our voices, our support and above all our Aloha.
-Geoff
see here how you can support the TMT, and why:
Mahalo Will, thank you so much!
My partner, a Kanaka Maoli man who has been actively defending Mauna Kea for many years, is the person who passed this link on to me. I am very happy you are going to help protect the mountain. Your analysis is right on and I am glad you were inspired by Keala Kelly’s talk. She is a filmmaker of penetrating insight. Know too that Kanaka Maoli are fighting not just on this front, but are constantly responding to numerous attacks and challenges to their individual and collective well-being, cultural well being, land rights, social justice, economic situation, etc. etc. etc., and this has been the situation ever since Queen Lili’uokalani was forced from her throne with the help of the U.S. military in 1893. Since then, people from elsewhere think nothing of stealing from and commodifying anything they can grab in Hawai’i – land, culture, water, fish – you name it. This is a daily and even hourly experience of individual and collective trauma, over and over again with no respite. However, these are people who generally find ways to actively nurture resilience through cultural practices, loving their family and community, and fostering environmental and spiritual connection – so, hardly “victims” though subjected to quite a lot (much more than many of us can imagine).
Unfortunately, those who seek to diminish the importance of Kanaka Maoli spiritual connection to all aspects of their ‘aina (land) (and other living elements of Hawai’i) are simply not admitting that “other” people may have values, experiences, traditions, ancestry, and connections that are just as important as our own and which deserve respect. Real, true, deep respect – like listening to and respecting “no,” as you’ve pointed out! Mauna Kea is an ancestor to Kanaka Maoli. People assimilated into Western consumer culture may not understand this, but genealogical relationships to land features or other living beings is not an uncommon thing in many cultures. We do well to remember this. So when Mauna Kea is desecrated, it’s not just a place, but a cherished member of the family who is in danger.
I am disturbed that Dana uses “mumbo jumbo” (a racist phrase if I ever heard one) to describe deeply real experiences dear to those of another culture. Earlier this week, a pro-TMT astronomer, Sandy Faber, wrote an email to her colleagues referring to “hordes of native Hawaiians who are lying about TMT” and claiming the protectors are “threatening” TMT personnel (untrue). There is a Hawaiian proverb,” i ka olelo no ke ola, i ka olelo no ka make,” which means (roughly translated), “in the word there is life, in the word there is death.” While apologies can be made after the fact (and Faber has apologized), the words still have done their work – hurting and damaging, diminishing and distorting.
When you go to the mountain, you will meet many wonderful people. And the place itself, a living presence, will be much more than you can imagine. I go in May…
Malama pono,
Amy
Eloquently said, Amy. Mahalo to you and Will for your
mana‘o and the grace in which you share it.
Aloha mai e Kealoha,
He mea iki!
I am glad Will and I have both managed to express feelings and thoughts which convey striving toward support and understanding for the cause. For me, it is a continual learning process, as an outsider who loves an insider, to appreciate without appropriation; to learn to be supportive without the foolishness of “rushing in where angels fear to tread;” and to try very hard to understand when my enthusiasm might actually be maha’oi or appear as grabby. It’s kind of tough for a product of California’s “the world is my multi-cultural oyster” culture, but I hope I am learning. I am grateful to those who have had great, generous patience with me as I learn and make mistakes, as I really do want to be an effective accomplice and ally. I yearn for a truly free Hawai’i.
In solidarity,
Amy
wow…. Mahalo Will for your heartfelt article I enjoyed reading it. I am born and raised on Molokai island and you are welcome here anytime.
Will I applaud your work and thank you for expressing your views. It seems we have much in common, I too have a great desire to take off for the BI and offer myself in the protection of Mauna Kia. In 3 months I will be able to afford to go on an adventure. I’m retired, single and free to help and that’s just what I will do. I look forward to watching how you do this and I will copy your success. Mahalo Brother.
I thought it might be helpful to add this link to the comments section.
This testimony from law professor, Dr. Williamson Chang, provides important cultural, legal, and political context. http://hawaiiankingdom.org/blog/hawaii-law-professor-provides-clarity-of-dispute-on-mauna-kea-to-uh-board-of-regents/
Thanks!
Wow- powerful testimony. Thanks for the link.
Very informative re the history of Hawaiian culture and law.
Thanks everyone for the kind words of encouragement. I am humbled by the response to this essay and am grateful I will gave the opportunity to visit Hawai’i and offer my support.
Will- thanks for working in support of sacred places and being a warrior for the planet. I wish you and your colleagues success. If there are websites available for contributions and updates on the efforts, please share them.
I will follow the link to the documentary, but for those who are reading these comments: Can you describe the form(s) of protection and/or resistance you and others are planning, and/or are currently doing? Is it direct action (e.g., blocking access roads), legal filings, requests for additional environmental reviews and project design modifications, or some combination of all these things?
(In the 80s and 90s I travelled to New Mexico, Arizona and Northern California to attend hearings and participate in protests and direct action, such as blockades of logging roads. These actions often slowed things down, but more importantly, brought media and public attention to the practices that were harming public lands and forests. Over time these protests helped force negotiations between various interests, resulting in changes to state and federal laws, land use policies, etc. )
If you are able to share more information, I’m curious what tactics activists in Maui have been using, and what you plan to do to add support to these ongoing efforts.
Thanks – wishing you success in protecting the island.
Thanks for the questions, Lori. I am not in a very good position to answer your questions because I’m not in Hawai’i yet. When I am in Hawai’i, my role will simply be to offer help wherever the Mauna Kea protectors tell me they need it. If that’s writing certain types of essays, I’ll write certain types of essays and if that’s washing a lot of dishes, I’ll wash a lot of dishes!
Here are some links for contributions and to support the protectors:
Keala Kelly’s documentary project “Why The Mountain” If you haven’t seen her award-winning film “Noho Hewa” I highly recommend it. It’s a brilliant analysis of American imperialism in Hawaii:
Fund for those engaged in direct action – Mauna Kea ‘Ohana:
Bail fund for those arrested on Mauna Kea:http://www.gofundme.com/mkbailfund
General legal defense fund: http://kahea.org/donate/mauna-kea-legal-defense-fund
I will read/watch the info on these sites. Thank you for links. (+ edit to my 1st comment: this is on island of Hawaii, not Maui.) I feel a certain connection to these islands and their wild nature. Over 30 years ago I spent time there, when it was a much different place: much less development, and many fewer people.
In the early 80s I met up with friends who had sailed to Oahu after cruising to the Marquesas islands, and we did inter-island sailing from Oahu to Maui via Molokai, and also north to Kauai. We visited small towns, some only accessible by boat, that most visitors to the islands didn’t see in those years.
I returned to work in a summer camp on the north shore of Kauai- very isolated and rural. After camp ended, I took time to hike the Na Pali coast, then rode my bike around the big island.
Much of the island of Hawaii, outside of Hilo and Kona, was very rural and undeveloped then. I saw few people while riding my bike on the road, the entire time I travelled from Hilo to Kona. I spooked a herd of cattle while crossing thru a huge ranch on the northern part of the island- they were unaccustomed to seeing a person on a bike vs. Sugar cane trucks.
My travel and camping in local parks was the source of much curiosity from the residents, and I had many memorable conversations and interactions on that trip.
It’s difficult to go back now, and see that so many places I enjoyed then are now developed and cleared of their native plants and animals- many unique to each island- contributing to the high extinction rate you describe.
For all these reasons, and many more, I wish you and the others success in protecting and preserving the mountain.
For background on the Hawaiian relationship to Mauna Kea, here is a documentary we made for PBS broadcast, Mauna Kea – Temple Under Siege (2006).
http://oiwi.tv/oiwitv/mauna-kea-temple-under-siege/
We are very much looking forward to Keala Kelly and Mary Alice Milham’s new film.