![]() ![]() “It’s the functional equivalent of a long cloudy period,” says Simons. “We will keep protesting until the TMT moves.”Ĭiting concern for the safety of observatory staff, the directors of the 10 operating telescopes on Mauna Kea have closed their facilities. A history of mountain mismanagement and broken promises has led to a feeling of “enough is enough,” he says. Their numbers haven’t dipped below 1000, Mangauil says, and sometimes grow to 4000 or so. The peaceful protesters-or protectors of the mountain-are holding strong. “It would be by far the largest building on the island, and it would disrupt a unique ecosystem that lives in the pahoehoe lava flow.” “What we oppose is the massive earth-moving that the TMT requires,” he says. “It’s not culture against astronomy,” says Lanakila Mangauil, who grew up on the slopes of Mauna Kea and is another leader of the diffuse opposition movement. Astronomy graduate students circulated a letter questioning “the methods by which we are getting the telescope on the mountain” and calling on the astronomy community “to recognize the broader historical context of this conflict, and to denounce the criminalization of the protectors on Maunakea.” Quoting Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, an assistant professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire, the letter asks astronomers to “think of the lasting consequences for us of being a community that partners with the military and the police on indigenous land and then publicly brands itself as being about wonder and the majestic.” As of this writing, 947 people, mostly young astronomers from across the US, have signed the letter. ![]() The governor of Hawaii declared a state of emergency, opening the door to police and military involvement, and 38 Hawaiian elders were arrested. In the days that followed, the quiet blockade continued. Astronomers in Hawaii say that the TMT has become a symbol of broader issues of concern to the local indigenous community some also note that there are Native Hawaiians who support the TMT. “At some level, it’s a test of wills,” says Doug Simons, director of the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and a member of the Mauna Kea management board. She says she was dismayed in late July when the TMT board turned down an invitation to meet with her and other leaders of the movement to protect the mountain. The planned site of the TMT would decimate the “ring of shrines,” where Native Hawaiians practice equinox and solstice rituals, says Kealoha Pisciotta, who for many years worked as a technician on Mauna Kea telescopes and now is a cultural practitioner. Still, no one was surprised by the protesters, who oppose further building on a mountain that they consider sacred for its ties to their creation traditions and to water deities. But they stopped about 15–20 kilometers short of the turnoff that leads up the mountain several hundred Native Hawaiians and other opponents of the project blocked the junction.Īfter years of protests, negotiations, and legal battles, the TMT has the necessary permits to go forward on Mauna Kea. Trucks carrying construction materials for the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) rolled toward the summit of Mauna Kea on 17 July. Protesters demonstrate on a road that leads to Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
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