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Protests in Hawaii against Mauna Kea’s new telescope mark one week

Protesters demand respect for Indigenous beliefs of volcano’s sanctity

 
Roda de premsa de portaveus del moviment. A la gorra de la dona es llegeix el mot "Kia'i", en llengua hawaiana "protector" o "protectora", el nom amb què es refeixen a si mateixos els manifestants
Roda de premsa de portaveus del moviment. A la gorra de la dona es llegeix el mot "Kia'i", en llengua hawaiana "protector" o "protectora", el nom amb què es refeixen a si mateixos els manifestants Author: Khon2 News screenshot
Protests by the Hawaiian Indigenous movement against the construction of a telescope at the top of a volcano marked one week as no indications appear so far that the conflict may soon enter the road to resolution. Protesters in their thousands refuse the installation of yet another telescope in the existing observatory complex atop of Mauna Kea, which according to Hawaiian traditional beliefs is a sacred place.

The Hawaiian protest movement believes that continued building on the top of the volcano is an attack on the beliefs of the Indigenous people of the archipelago and on their identity. A makeshift camp has been built by protesters, who rather regard themselves as “protectors”.

Protests have also taken place in Hawaii’s capital Honolulu’s Waikiki neighbourhood.

Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige has declared the state of emergency in the mountain in order to guarantee “security” and allow the construction of the telescope.

Protests began five years ago, when construction works began, which were paralyzed after a few months.