Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 6, 1 June 2002 — Community thoughts on Mauna Kea [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Community thoughts on Mauna Kea

Editor's note: Trustee Cataluna has given his eolumn space this monīh to community groups who write on the subject of Mauna Kea. Aloha kākou, We would like to take this opportunity to extend our sincere gratitude and aloha to the trustees for their continued support for the protection, preservation and restoration of the sacred Mauna Kea, We are very thankful that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs has answered our prayers for some relief and intervention though the filing the lawsuit against NASA, We would especially like to thank Trustee Cataluna for extending his space to us to share our mana'o regarding the continued protection of Mauna Kea, The Mauna Kea issue has been a long and emotionally charged eontroversy, This is so because, throughout our deliberations, some very basic fundamental rights have been ignored and abridged, the right to freedom of religion, the right to continue our worship in the Temple of our Creator, and the right to have a spiritual relationship with the land of our birth, Despite the eommon view upheld

by the astronomy community and the media, the controversy does not lie in the merits of astronomy but rather in the questions of basic human respect, Astronomy is a noble endeavor and should be supported, However, is astronomy above the law or the criticisms by those that fund and support it? We don't believe so, Since the state issued the lease to the University and īnstitute for Astronomy over 30 years ago the following things have not been resolved: 1) The state and University has not completed comprehensive archeological surveys or produced a burial treatment plan for the summit of Mauna Kea, 2) No federal Environmental Impact Statement has ever been done by any of the observatories, ever, 3) The State issued permits allowing for over 104,000 tourists per year and there are no enforcement mechanisms to protect the sacred sites, from exposure, looting and destruction, 4) The Wēkiu bugs population has declined by 99.7 percent and the NASA project would further

destroy its principle habitat, 5) Hazardous and toxic materials used by the observatories have been spilled and emptied into the sewage systems, These materials include, but are not limited to, elemental mercury, ethylene glycol, hydraulic fluids and diesel fuel, NASA alone has recorded four mercury spills at the KECK/ NASA Project alone, 6) Thirteen of the richest nations in the world pay only $1,00 per year in lease rent, 7) NASA's budget is $12-14 billion per year, The list above names just a few of the problems that have not been addressed, Mauna Kea is the burial ground of our highest born and most sacred ancestors, īt is also the principle aquifer of Hawai'i īsland, Eaeh culture has its gifts to give mankind, so too the Native Hawaiian culture, We have asked Akua to allow us to continue on our path so we ean contribute the wisdom of our ancestors to the eolleetive knowledge of mankind, The University claims that their "new" master plan addresses the communities concerns, yet since implementing the plan, they have

closed access to the public on numerous occasions and have desecrated numerous religious sites, and failed again to conduct Section 106 consultations pursuant to Nahonal Historic Preservation law, For over 30 years, astronomy has had unencumbered access and exclusive use of Mauna Kea, Should astronomy continue to run rampant and be done at the expense of our culture, 'āina, or religious practices for the next 30 more years? When the observatories leases are up in 2040 the World Health Organization statistics say that there will be no more pure blooded Native Hawaiian people left in the world, Where is the compromise then we ask? īn Aloha we remain, Ali'i Sir Paul K, Neves, ali'i 'aimoku; Royal Order of Kamehameha ī, Heiau Māmalahoa, Helu 'Elua; Kealoha Pisciotta, president, Mauna Kea Anaina Hou; Vicky Holt-Takamine, president, 'īlio'ulaokalani Coalition; Cha Smith, executive director, KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Allianee, For more information please see the Mauna Kea report at www.kahea.org ■

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Donald Cataluna 7rustee, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau