Hundreds of people rallied on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus Friday in solidarity with the "protectors" trying to block construction of the $1.4 billion telescope on Mauna Kea.
The demonstrators — mostly Native Hawaiian youngsters, students and community members of all ages — formed a line that stretched several blocks along Dole Street, from the taro patches near the Hawaiian-studies building to the lawn next to Bachman Hall and University Avenue.
The group passed rocks from person to person and then lugged them onto the lawn — site of many demonstrations over the years — and there young men wearing malo built a shrine of boulders that symbolized the mana of the people and the mountain on which the giant Thirty Meter Telescope is planned to view the heavens.
Among the key participants in Friday’s ceremony was Office of Hawaiian Affairs CEO Kamana‘o Crabbe, who urged the throng at one point to stand together.
"This is only the beginning of our fight," Crabbe said, alternating between English and Hawaiian as he addressed the rally.
The OHA board of trustees is on record supporting the TMT project in a resolution approved six years ago. The trustees also declined to challenge it in a contested-case hearing last year.
But after telescope foes urged OHA to join them in opposition in Honolulu on Thursday, trustees promised to re-examine the issues and reconsider the question, possibly as early as the board’s next meeting, April 23.
Crabbe, who didn’t attend Thursday’s OHA board meeting, declined to take questions after the rally.
Molokai Native Hawaiian activist Walter Ritte said he was ecstatic about the turnout at the event, which featured speeches, chants, songs and hula, plus ceremonial offerings to the newly constructed shrine that rose up to perhaps 7 feet tall.
Ritte said the university, which is subleasing the land on which TMT will be built, needs to take notice and change course.
"They can’t call themselves a Hawaiian institution without listening to what is happening out here today," he said.
UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl responded, "We absolutely respect the rights of the protesters and everyone’s voice has to be heard. This is an essential part of our mission as an institution of higher education."
Meisenzahl added that there are "ongoing discussions at the highest levels of the university and government to find the best path forward."
He added that he didn’t have any timetable for the discussions.
The UH Board of Regents, meanwhile, is expected to receive an update on the Mauna Kea situation from university administrators at Thursday’s special meeting at UH-Hilo, he said.
The telescope, expected to be one of the largest in the world when it is completed in 10 years, won government approvals following a seven-year environmental review process that featured more than 20 public hearings and a formal contested-case proceeding.
But 31 protesters were arrested on the mountain April 2 trying to prevent workers from reaching the summit construction site. The arrests generated outrage within the Hawaiian community and helped galvanize anti-TMT sentiment, triggering protests across the state.
On Tuesday, Gov. David Ige announced that California-based nonprofit TMT Observatory Corp. agreed to a one-week delay in construction to allow further discussions about the project.
On Friday morning Dakota Torres, an 18-year-old UH student from Waianae, watched the rally from a distance. He admitted he wasn’t well versed about the issues regarding the telescope. Nevertheless, the Native Hawaiian was inspired by the solemn display.
"As a Hawaiian it empowers you," he said. "It makes you want to learn more and get in touch with the culture. It makes you proud to be a Hawaiian."
Ku‘ikeokalani Kamakea-Ohelo, 28, traveled to the Manoa campus from Waimanalo, saying he wanted to make sure his family is represented in a show of support "for the aina."
He urged the TMT developer to respect the legal process and to stand down until the courtroom appeals brought by telescope foes are completed.
"This feels like it’s just another Superferry trying to fast-track and get around the EIS," he said.
UH political science major Tori Pezario, 20, said her Hawaiian-language teacher urged her to attend Friday’s rally, and she was more than happy to comply.
"It’s amazing what everyone’s doing, coming together. It’s awesome," she said, holding a sign that said, "A‘ole TMT" (with "TMT" crossed out).
Pezario said she and her friends are disappointed the university is supporting the 180-foot-tall observatory on a mountaintop where there are already 13 of them. She said she believes most UH students are against it.
Nearby was Shawn Agustin, a 22-year-old UH architecture major from Waipahu, who held a Hawaii state flag.
"It’s such a big event, and I want to do my part to be part of it," the Native Hawaiian said. "It’s impossible for me to get to Mauna Kea with my classes, so this is what I can do."
