The Continuing Struggle to Protect Mauna Kea

American Indian Airwaves

Liko Martin and Laulani Teale (Hawaiian Nations). Liko Martin, Haku Mele, is one of Hawai’i’s renowned songwriters and activist; founder and co-founder of many Indigenous organizations; a farmer, fisherman, cultural practitioner, peacemaker, and veteran; a Kupuna Advisor for Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more. Laulani Teale is a musician, artist, cultural practitioner, public health practitioner, web/social media developer, and coordinator for the Ho’opae Pono Peace Project, plus more. Liko Martin and Laulani Teale join us for today’s program to discuss their travels through the state of California as part of broader strategy of coalition and solidarity development is exerting pressure the University of California to formerly withdraw from the Thirty Meter Telescope Project. Mauna Kea, an Indigenous Hawaiian sacred site, is presently under threat from the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project – twenty stories high (below and above ground), which if constructed would be the largest telescope in the world adversely impacting the Indigenous peoples of Hawaii, land and waters. The University of California along with the California Institute of Technology (Cal-Tech), the National Institutes of Natural Sciences of Japan, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Science and Technology of India, and the National Research Council (Canada); the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy are members of The TMT International Observatory LLC (TIO), the non-profit organization responsible for the TMT Project threatening Mauna Kea.