Events

Sacred Landscapes: 'Awa Circle + Talk Story

Created by KAHEA (See other events)
  • Jul 25, 2008 all day
  • Location: Studio Be (Beretania & Smith St., Chinatown)
  • Latest Activity: Jul 30, 2021
A night for share `awa and talk story with Mauna Kea conservation and cultural rights activist, Kealoha Pisciotta.We will also screen excerpts from the Na Maka o ka `Aina film Mauna Kea: Temple Under Siege.For more information see our blogWHAT IS HAPPENING ON MAUNA KEA?Mauna Kea, on the island of Hawai'i, is sacred as an elder ancestor and kinolau (physical embodiment) of spiritual deities. The summit area is also ecologically unique.On a summit long untroubled by humans, today thirteen telescopes and related facilities crowd the sacred landscape of Mauna Kea. Even after 30 years of community opposition, a consortium of institutions led by the UH Institute for Astronomy (IFA) continues to propose even more new telescope construction. Currently, over 1,000 IFA employees regularly drive to the summit, leaving behind some 500,000 gallons of human waste annually and reported spills of toxic chemicals such as ethylene glycol and liquid mercury over Hawaii Island's only aquifer. The University of Hawaii currently pays only $1 per year for their mis-use of this sacred summit, while profiting from charging 13 of the world's wealthiest nations to use these facilitiesConstruction has damaged and leveled the sacred mountain peaks, spewing dust and facilitating more human intrusion that is wreaking havoc on this fragile and unique Hawaiian ecosystem. These impacts, coupled with the introduction of invasive predatory insects, are decimating populations of the rare Wekiu beetle, one of 11 endemic and imperiled species that call the mountain home."In our worldview, we cannot support de-creation. It is against the law of the universe and creator to eliminate a species. Mauna Kea is vast, but it is also a finite resource. You cannot keep abusing it." -Kealoha PisciottaKealoha Pisciotta, who dat? Our hero. A Hilo kupa'aina, cultural practitioner and former telescope tech, Kealoha's tireless activism has helped to protect Mauna Kea's sacred summit from unmitigated telescope development. She is the president of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou.With Aloha, a hui hou,Us Guys at KAHEA: The Hawaiian Environmental Alliancewww.kahea.orgblog.kahea.orgtoll-free phone/fax: 888-528-6288E ho`omalu kakou i ka pono, ke `ano o ka nohona a me ka `aina mai na kupuna maiProtecting Native Hawaiian Traditional and Customary Rights and Our Fragile Environment
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