Canada, one TMT partner, is particularly concerned because of its own checkered history with Indigenous people, Canadian astronomers say. TMT officials have said they can't condone the use of force to get the telescope built. 'Arresting elders really changed people's minds,' says TMT opponent Rosie Alegado, an oceanographer at UH Manoa. Over a few chaotic days, police arrested 38 people, many of them community elders, or kupuna-which only hardened the opposition on the mountainside and attracted wider interest, including from actors and celebrities who joined the protests. When police arrived intending to ensure the safe passage of construction traffic, kia'i had already chained themselves to a cattle grid on the access road. In July 2019, after surmounting legal challenges, TMT officials were finally ready to begin construction. 'It's a land rights issue, and a power and decision-making issue,' says co-author Shelley Muneoka, a sociologist at the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. The mountain and other land throughout the islands that once belonged to the Hawaiian monarchy was seized after its overthrow in 1893 and became state land when Hawaii was granted U.S. One paper charts the decades of resistance-both legal and direct action-to telescopes on Mauna Kea. The white papers describe the cultural significance of Mauna Kea and the negative impact of the observatories on Indigenous people and their ability to carry out cultural practices on the mountain. In a joint pitch to Astro2020 with one of its two rivals, the U.S.-led Giant Magellan Telescope in Chile, the projects are asking for money that would fill budget holes and provide observing time for U.S. And federal money is just what the TMT needs. They want Astro2020 to ensure that no federal money is used to build on state land without the consent of local Indigenous people. In a press conference outside the annual meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Honolulu last week, a group of Hawaiian researchers announced the submission of eight white papers to the decadal survey in astronomy, known as Astro2020, a priority-setting exercise that influences U.S. TMT opponents-including some astronomers-are seeking to win over the wider astronomy community to stop its construction. 'If we put out a call, 1000 people would be here in an hour.'Īnd now, the $1.4 billion TMT, backed by six nations and wealthy universities, is facing another front in its battle to be one of three new giant telescopes-and the only one in the Northern Hemisphere. Few can predict what might happen when the truce ends in late February, but no one doubts that kia'i would return in force if the TMT consortium tries to start construction, says a longtime kia'i known as Uncle Sparky. 'I don't know what will come of it.'īehind the scenes, TMT board members and funders are meeting with Native Hawaiian leaders-some of whom support the project-but this has yet to yield any solutions. 'A de-escalation of emotions is a good thing,' says Gregory Chun, a psychologist at the University of Hawaii (UH), Hilo, who is advising the university leadership on the management of Mauna Kea.

Like medieval armies calling a halt to war in winter, the two sides contesting the soul of Mauna Kea agreed last month to a 2-month truce: The consortium that wants to build the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) here will not attempt to start construction, and the camp residents-who see themselves as the mountain's protectors, or kia'i-moved their tents from the road, allowing unimpeded access up and down the mountain. They seem happy to wait as long as it takes for astronomers to give up on their plan to build a giant telescope on their sacred mountaintop. Many of the tents scattered across this lava field are unoccupied during this winter lull, but the current residents take good care of the site, which includes tents for food, medical care, and classes. Under a canopy, dozens of people celebrate their connection to the mountain with Native Hawaiian songs, chants, and dances, as they have been doing three times daily for the past 7 months. HONOLULU AND THE SLOPES OF MAUNA KEA IN HAWAII-On the rain-lashed road leading to the peak of Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island, the sounds of singing and drumming can be heard above a roaring wind.

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