Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 7, 1 July 2013 — Mauna a Wākea is our piko [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Mauna a Wākea is our piko

Whatisyour ancestral eonneetion to Mauna Kea? It is our piko eonnection to the expansive realm of Wākea. Our ancestors and the ancient

ones understood this divine connection and thus referred to this mountain as Mauna a Wākea (Mountain of the Sky Father). Mauna a Wākea is a sacred piko (portal) for all the islands of Hawai'i where the life forces and energies from Ke Akua (The Creator) flow down into the summit and throughout these islands. This piko is similar to the piko of the fontanel on top of our heads that is considered sacred as an opening where divine energies flow into and throughout our kino. This mountain is still the home and domain of those whom our ancestors connected with, those ancestral akua and kupua, such as Poliahu and Mo'oinanea, who regulate the weather, who serve as guardians of the cultural landscape or those who are manifested in the elements, such as the dew, the frost, the snow, the winds. It is this sacred mountain that is threatened onee again with further desecration on a colossal scale with the proposed construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) by the University of California and Caltech along with the University of Hawai'i and foreign partners from Canada, Japan, China and India. This massive observatory would be over 18 stories high with a dome over 216 feet in diameter (equal to 2/3 the length of a football field) along with nearly 9 acres of the cultural landscape excavated. If built, it would be the tallest building on Hawai'i Island. At over 180 feet, the TMT would considerably surpass the height limits for any commercial or resort buildings on this island. Why would we have Hawai'i County zoning codes to restrict the height of buildings to protect the cherished view planes within our island landscape, yet shrewdly disregard them when building on this mountain? To put it in perspective, the observatory would be almost twice as high as the State Capitol. More than 40 years of astronomy construction has already caused substantial and adverse impacts to the natural and cultural resources on the Mauna by excavating and shaving off the top of the summit. The proponents of the TMT

have stated that because there are already 13 other telescopes on the mountain, one more will not make mueh difference. This of course is not true due to its extremely massive size and height that would cause further imhalanee and disharmony on this summit. There are already

Too Many Telescopes! We have allowed too many concessions, too many eompromises. To the Kanaka Maoli, let us be aware, fully conscious and knowledgeable of what is occurring and impacting our Hawai'i and let us be Idle No More! Under the guise of scientific, eeonomie and educational opportunities, the pro-

posed TMT project will significantly contribute to the eumulative desecration and destruction of one the most sacred sites on this Earth. Many have been swayed with the promises of money and jobs with this project like with so many other adverse developments that others have brought to

these Islands. There is also considerable political pressure and business influences pushing this project through despite it not being able to meet the criteria for a conservation district use permit. So we move forward in our efforts to help our fellow kanaka (humanity) remember their ancestral and cultural connections to sacred places such as this and to continue to aloha 'āina i ka piko o ke aloha me ka lōkahi. Mauna a Wākea is our piko. Our Mauna is still sacred. ■

Submitted by E. Kalani. Fīores and B. Pualani Case on behalf of the FIores-Case 'Ohana, one ofsix petitioners, including Clarence Kukauakahi Ching, Paul K. Neves, Kealoha Pisciotta ofMauna Kea Anai.na Hou, Deborah J. Ward, and KAHEA: The Hawai.i.an-Environmental Allianee, who have submitted an appeal i.n the Third Circuit Court regarding the BLNR's decision to issue a conservation district use permitfor the TMT Project. For more information on this issue, please visit the website kahea.org/issues/sacred-summits.

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pOOl j| U\D nCR ATC The state Board of Land and Natural Resources in April granted a conservation district use permit for the Thirty Meter Telescope, known as TMT. I IUUI VI I Ul l ULUH I L The approval reignited debate over building the planned $1.3 hillion telescope on Mauna Kea. Here, Hawaiians weigh in on both sides of the issue.

By E. Kalani Flores and B. Pualani Case

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