(Wailuku, Maui) Twenty protectors of Haleakalā were arrested Thursday night by Maui Police after the second blockade in just a month, of a construction convoy for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST.) The telescope is still in court after more than ten years of strong opposition from Kānaka Maoli, lineal descendants, cultural advisors and Maui residents, but that has not stopped DKIST from pursuing permanent damage to the mountain “for purely selfish research” (according to an astronomer who uses the scopes currently atop Haleakalā). The project has begun construction regardless of apparent violations of state laws on Haleakalā, Maui. The contested project, is still awaiting judgment in court and disregards environmental, cultural, archaeological and conservation laws with the support and approval of the Department of Land and Natural Resources. The court judgment could invalidate any work being done, however AURA and its project manager Joe McMullin are not waiting for the courts.
Trinette Furtado, an organizer of Thursday night’s overnight blockade of construction materials which lasted from 8PM until around 2AM said, “We are not anti-telescope, we are not anti-science; we are for the mountain, we are for preserving our culture. We stand for the conservation, desecration, archaeological and Hawaiian access laws which protect Haleakalā. If our legal system cannot stop an illegal project, what are we to do but place ourselves in the line of fire to protect our ʻāina?”
Protectors of the mauna willing to get arrested to save Haleakalā from more irreparable harm, laid down in front of the semi trucks charged with transporting a wide load up the mountain at the Central Maui Base Yard. “Fundamentally, we are asserting our human rights. Actions taken Thursday night were in direct response to the National Solar Observatories desire to further desecrate and unlawfully control our sacred mountaintop. As such, we had no choice but to resist and demonstrate our demands for our humanity to be recognized and for equal protection of human rights. All people, all ages, all walks of life, participated in this action of resistance through love for the land, love for the people and love for the truth. Aloha ʻĀina. ʻOiaiʻo. Kapu Aloha. This is just the beginning of things to come. The fact that MPD organized a huge police presence exposes the fact that they are fearful and threatened by an organized, educated Hawaiian movement.” said Kaleikoa Kaʻeo, Hawaiian Studies Professor at University of Hawaiʻi Maui College, who was one of the first to be arrested and was released after arraignment on Friday.
Fellow Hawaiian Studies Professor Kīʻope Raymond and his wife were also among those who were arrested and he had this to say about his decision to stand for Haleakalā: “Kilakila ʻo Haleakalā was proud to stand with those who are protecting Haleakalā. Kilakila ʻo Haleakalā believes that we will win the hearts and minds of those who do not yet understand what is an unwarranted U.S cultural supremacy over Hawaiians to make decisions over their own lands and their own future.”
One of the organizers of the event, Tiare Lawrence was one of the twenty who were arrested. After Fridayʻs arraignments of 8 of the protectors, she stated: “Thursday night we gathered to protect Haleakalā from futher desecration by the DKIST telescope. I am sick and tired of corporation interests influencing the decision makers of this fake state rather than the voice and the will of the Hawaiian people. What we love, we must protect. Our lāhui is rising and we will continue to fight for our sacred sites, our iwi kūpuna, our ʻāina, our resources and the future of our keiki.”
Kahele Dukelow, another event organizer and Hawaiian Studies Professor at UH Maui College stated, “Both Haleakalā and Mauna Kea, along with another 1.8 million acres under U.S. control are our Hawaiian National lands. The State of Hawaiʻi, the University of Hawaiʻi, the Institute for Astronomy, the National Science Foundation and the National Solar Observatory all work in concert to perpetuate the historical fiction that our Hawaiian Kingdom lands were “ceded” or transferred legally from our Kingdom to the United States of America. We stand for our ʻāina because we remember that it is ours and we will never relinquish our rights, kuleana and relationship to it. Our humanity demands our continued action and we are preparing for the next convoy in September.”