"We are Mauna Kea"

Am I Mauna Kea?

In the social media war of links, hashtags, and sexy celebrity photos that we're all becoming accustomed to, nuance and neutrality don't exist. We have no choice but to leap off the irreconcilable precipice: on one side there are 237 years of cultural genocide, dispossession, and disenfranchisement and, on the other is the future of astronomy. Am I Mauna Kea? Or do I support science? Do I click "like" on the article that explains why astronomy is sacred to the Hawaiians? Or do I click "like" on the powerful protest videos of hula blocking the summit road? Do I sign the petition to protect Mauna Kea (43,432 signatures), or the petition supporting TMT (666 signatures)? And, then do I show my support by hash-tagging #wearemaunakea (14,903 photos) and #aoleTMT (13,191 photos)?

Does proclaiming "we are Mauna Kea" on Facebook allow me to jump the barrier of my genealogical divide? Or, does announcing my support for the Thirty Meter Telescope prove that I am the oppressor described by Haunani Kay-Trask in Lovely Hula Hands?

Hawai'i itself is the female object of degraded and victimized sexual value. Our 'aina, or lands, are not any longer the source of food and shelter, but the source of money. Land is now called real estate; rather than our mother, Papa. The American relationship to land is that of exploiter to exploited. Beautiful areas, once sacred to my people, are now expensive resorts... The point, of course, is that everything in Hawai'i can be yours, that is, you the tourist, the non-native, the visitor. The place, the people, the culture, even our identity as a 'Native' people is for sale. Thus Hawai'i, like a lovely woman, is there for the taking... The State and counties will give tax breaks, build infrastructure, and have the governor personally welcome tourists to ensure they keep coming. Just as the pimp regulates prices and guards the commodity of the prostitute, so the State bargains with developers for access to Hawaiian land and culture... 

Hawaiians, meanwhile, have little choice in all this. We can fill up the unemployment lines, enter the military, work in the tourist industry, or leave Hawai'i.

No. I am not Mauna Kea. No matter how much I want to, or how many 'olelo Hawai'i classes I've taken, or how much I paddle outrigger canoe, there is a genealogical divide that can not be bridged with a hashtag. Papa and Wakea are not part of my family's history. I was born on Kaua'i. I love Hawai'i. I know no other home and will never leave. But, I am not Hawaiian. In the dialogue over the Thirty Meter Telescope, I have to recognize my own otherness because, as a resident of the State of Hawai'i, I am complicit in the colonization of Hawai'i.

While the Mauna Kea protests are about UH's failures as a steward of the mountain, state laws regarding conservation land, the overdevelopment of a unique and abused ecosystem, and the State's continuous steamrolling of Native Hawaiian rights and concerns-- the real issue is colonization. And, as conflicted and sympathetic as I am-- living in Hawai'i makes me a colonizer. As Trask wrote in 1993: "When awareness begins, then so too does de-colonization. Judging by the growing resistance to geothermal energy.. and to increases in the sheer number of tourists, I would say that de-colonization has begun..."

It's not about the TMT. It's about Native Hawaiians standing together and proclaiming their rights as indigenous peoples. As a non-Hawaiian, more important than saying "we are Mauna Kea" is to say "I am not Mauna Kea." The decision on whether or not to build the TMT should rest with Hawaiians. And, pretending that we're all Mauna Kea is just another form of colonial disempowerment.