Science and Native Hawaiian culture can co-exist

The dispute over Mauna Kea forces everyone to confront important and stubborn issues. Personally, I have been watching this and thinking a lot about what is sacred and what is secular. And what is profane, disrespectful and abusive to land and people.

I don’t have perfect answers but I know this: For all of us, even among the most pious and spiritual of my friends, the sacred and secular cohabit our value systems. Heart, mind, spirit, body, land and the cultures that ground and surround us — they are all part of us individually and collectively.

Even though our discussions about these things get difficult and sometimes flounder, we need to have them. The tensions are a prism of long-running matters that cut to the core of who we are: an old, tall and iconic mountain; a deeply cherished Native Hawaiian place; telescopes, science and intellectual exploration; jobs, land and growth. All of this creates an opportunity if people of reasonable good will meet together and take care with their talk.

It is very possible to have that talk. It’s also possible to have an authentic and constructive dialogue, and also have good outcomes so that it isn’t just more talk.

In 1906, the American Museum of Natural History in New York acquired a 15.8-ton meteorite from the rain forests near Willamette, Ore. Almost 100 years later, the museum raised millions of dollars and erected a stunning glass-enclosed space center that housed the meteorite and many different written and visual explanations of the universe. The meteorite was so large, dense and heavy, they had to design and construct the building around it.

After the center’s grand opening, members of the Clackamas people came forward and demanded that their much-revered meteor called "Tomanoas" be returned to the rain forest in Oregon. It was sacred. Nobody disputed that it was not holy nor did anyone argue that it wasn’t a part of larger scientific quests. Still, there was a collision of worldviews and beliefs.

After arduous discussions, the tribe and the museum reached an accord. The meteor would be retained by the museum but scientific and cultural explanations of Tomanoas would sit coequally on each side of the meteorite with no primacy of one over the other. The tribe’s right to educate future generations and perform important ceremonies in the museum was preserved forever. So, too, scientists could continue to study it, if they did so respectfully.

I’ve visited the meteorite and read both explanations. They were artfully negotiated, sit comfortably side by side, and read beautifully.