This is the first of a two-part interview with Mikilani Young on the movement to protect Mauna Kea, the tallest volcano on the island of Hawai’i, a sacred site to the Native peoples, from a massive Thirty-Meter Telescope constructed for space research. For Part 2, Click Here – Photo Credit: Aerial view of Mauna Kea with Gemini North at center of foreground ridge | Gemini Observatory | Dr. Richard Wainscoat.
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Ku Kia’i Mauna: The Mauna Kea Movement to Protect Sacred Sites
Part 1 of 2
Kumu Mikilani Young discusses with Carry Kim from EcoJustice Radio about the proposed, highly controversial 30-meter TMT telescope which would be built atop “ceded” conservation lands on Mauna Kea, considered the most sacred mountain for native Hawaiians or Kanaka Ma’oli. The TMT telescope would be the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere and is being spearheaded by the University of California, the California Institute of Technology as well as: Japan, China, India and Canada.
In Hawaiian mythology, the five peaks of the island of Hawaii are sacred. An ancient law (kapu) allowed only high-ranking ali’i to visit its peak. In Hawaiian, Mauna Kea is a shortened form of Mauna a Wakea which denotes the mountain’s connection to the sky father Wakea; however, the English translation of Mauna Kea is “white mountain” in reference to its seasonally snow-capped summit.
Ancient Hawaiians living on the slopes of Mauna Kea relied on its extensive forests for food, and quarried the dense volcano-glacial basalts on its flanks for tool production. When Europeans arrived in the late 18th century, settlers introduced cattle, sheep and game animals, many of which became feral and began to damage the volcano’s ecological balance. — Wikipedia
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Mikilani also speaks on her aims and actions to unite First Nations of California as well as indigenous peoples globally to protect sacred ancestral territories, living waters and the heritage of indigenous peoples for future generations. In this episode, Kumu Mikilani shares the meaning of oli (prayerful chants of Hawai’i), intricacies and origins of the Hawaiian language, the sovereignty and “occupation” of Hawai’i, cultural appreciation vs. appropriation and a conversation about who is “indigenous.” Learn more about the culture of “Aloha Aina,” the “birthright” of Kanaka Ma’oli (native Hawaiians) and their living relationship to Ke Akua (Creator), Na Kupuna (Ancestors) and Na Aumakua (deified Ancestors) — their gods and Ancestors.
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“This is not the state of Hawai’i. This in fact continues to be the Kingdom of Hawai’i under International law.. and so all of these contracts that the state of Hawai’i has negotiated with the TMT and other affiliated companies are in fact void, because the state does not exist under law.” — Dexter Kaiama
Interview by Carry Kim from EcoJustice Radio.
Host and Engineer: JP Morris
Executive Producer: Mark Morris
Updated 27 September 2024
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Pingback: Mauna Kea Movement to Protect Sacred Sites - Part II | WilderUtopia.com
I’m part Hawaiian, yet I don’t stand behind the protect Mauna Kea movement because of the spiritual beliefs behind it. It’s contrary to biblical teachings in which I stand on the foundation of Jesus Christ.Na Aumakua: deified ancestors? Our ancestors became gods? That’s goes against God’s Living Word out of the Bible whim the Hawaiians acknowledges as “Akua”….
Isaiah 43:10
You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.“
And Jesus said himself in…
Matthew 22:30
“For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.“
The Bible is clear that we do not become “gods”. And also I don’t serve “gods” because my God is a jealous God and He said that there shall be no other gods before him.
Jeremiah 25:6
Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’
It’s “Mauna Kea”. Not Mauna Jea! It won’t let me edit my postings like most comments allows.
your picture is of a mexican volcano, NOT Mauna Kea. lol.
nice try… try google images ‘mauna kea’ lol
Fixed. Thanks for the heads up.