Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 7, 1 July 2013 — Modern exploration is consistent with past practices [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Modern exploration is consistent with past practices

am Chad Kālepa Baybayan. I have served as captain and navigator of the Hawaiian deepsea voyaging canoes Hōkūle'a, Hawai'iloa and Hōkūalaka'i. My relationship with Maunakea is grounded

in the many occasions that this sacred mountain has led me back to my home and my family as a navigator aboard Hawai'i's deep-sea voyaging canoes. At night as you approach the Big

Island, Mau- ; nakea rises ; out of the sea, its summit framed and ; warmed by . a blanket of stars. At sea, on a cloudless | night, when I peering at the awesome sight I of Maunakea, the stars reach

down out of the sky and touch the surface of the mountain and you recognize that they are all the same, Maunakea and the sky. Maunakea is the celestial portal into the universe. As explorers, Hawaiians utilized island resources to sustain their communities. The slopes of Maunakea contain a record of how, for generations, a very adaptive and intelligent people utilized the mountain as a vital resource. They excavated the thin-aired slopes of Maunakea for high quality durable stone to produce the best set of liīhie tools in the Paeihe. The Maunakea adze quarry, the largest in the world, offers conclusive evidence that the ancients recognized the importance of Maunakea's rich resources and its ability to serve its community by producing the tools to sustain daily life. They ventured to Maunakea, reshaped the environment by quarrying rock, left behind evidence of their work, and took materials off the

mountain to serve their communities, with the full consent and in the presence of their gods. Using the resources on Maunakea as a tool to serve and benefit the community through astronomy

is consistent with the example of the adze quarry. To value astronomy and its work on Maunakea, you have to value the importance of " 'ike," knowledge, and its quest for a greater understanding of the universe we live in. Our ancestors were no different; they sought knowledge from their environment, including the stars, to guide them and to give them a greater perspective of the universe that surrounded them. The science of astronomy helps us to advance human knowledge to the benefit of the community. Its impact has been positive, introducing the young to the process of modern exploration and discovery, a process consistent with past traditional practices. My perspective of Maunakea is based on the tradition of the oeeanie explorers. As a Hawaiian, I recognize that I am a descendant of some of the best nakedeye astronomers the world has known. It is culturally consistent to advocate for Hawaiian participation in a field of scienee that continues to enahle that tradition and a field in whieh we ought to lead. I firmly believe that the highest level of desecration rests in actions that remove the opportunity and choices from the kind of future our youth ean aspire to. When it is completed, the Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea will with greater accuracy and speed, vastly increase the capacity for the kind of scientific research that is vital to the quest for mankind's future. Maunakea, like life, is sacred, and we need to proceed with the important work of ensuring our future. Let's look to Maunakea and eontinue a synergy of mountain, exploration and the stars. ■

By Chad Kālepa Baybayan