Atop the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Kea mountain, a silent weeks-long battle has been raging between scientists and Natives over the highest ground in all of Hawaii. Astronomers have proposed building an 18-story telescope within the central crater of the dormant volcano, claiming that it would give unprecedented galactic views of stars as far as 13 billion light years away. For Native Hawaiians, the mountaintop is a burial ground and sanctuary, one of the holiest sites in all of Hawaii. Within weeks of the announcement, hundreds of protesters have been camped atop the mountain hoping to dissuade the construction of the telescope. Thirteen observatories already exist on the slopes of Mauna Kea — if built, the most recently proposed one will be the largest in Hawaii.
The plans to build a Mauna Kea observatory show blatant disrespect for the Native Americans, as well as how Native Americans are often exoticised rather than fully recognized in American culture. Often, when people imagine Hawaii, they visualize not only the beautiful beaches and lush forests but also the local people, hula dancing and other aspects of Native culture. The problem isn't so much that Native Americans aren’t recognized; instead, it’s about exoticisation — exotic representation of only certain aspects of the native islander “good life” — without truly caring or respecting Native American lands and culture.
Although the planned telescope could contribute a great deal of valuable astronomical data and observations, the religious and cultural sacrifices far outweigh the theoretical benefits of building such an edifice. For Native Hawaiians, the construction of the telescope would be a desecration of their holy land and signal to them the authorities don't truly care about Native culture. Kaho Okani Kanuha, a preschool teacher from a Native Hawaiian charter school, notes that Natives like him aren't opposed to the constructions of the telescope itself; after all, their Polynesian ancestors used these very skies studied by modern astronomy to navigate to Hawaii. But Kanuha also seeks to remind people that "curiosity should not supersede the values and the traditions of the host people and the host culture." In the quest to peer into the distant corners of the galaxy, we should not become blind to the native cultures around us. Building an observatory on Mauna Kea would be a farsighted endeavour, lessening the importance of a nearly extinct Native culture in favor of research that would have no immediate tangible effect on the local community.
The situation at Mauna Kea is part of a larger context of Native invisibility covertly practiced throughout this country. Contemporary America has tried very hard to ignore the horrific history of the centuries-long genocide against the Native American by the white man. While many may recognize the mythical stories about Pocahontas’ love for John Smith or the victory of the Sioux’s Sitting Bull at the battle of Little Bighorn, few would recognize modern Native American issues. In South Dakota, a series of unheard mistreatments against Native American children is underway; in Minnesota, a pipeline is threatening to cut through reservation land; and now in Hawaii, the construction of the telescope endangers holy burial ground of Hawaiian Natives. Here at the University, this form of exoticisation without true recognition was found in this paper’s April Fools’ print, an edition whose front page was dominated by an article saturated with cheap racial jokes about Native American culture. While the intent of the satirical article may have been to poke fun at the Alcoholic Beverage Control, the incorporation of Native American jokes was characteristic of the hollow representations of Natives as the exotic “other.” In the backlash response to the April Fools’ edition, Sustained Dialogue moderated a meeting on Apr. 9 at OpenGrounds between the Native American Student Union, The Cavalier Daily and the Black Student Alliance.
At the event, the words of one particular Native American gentleman moved me. With raw emotion in his voice, the elderly representative talked about the history of Native American invisibility and how Native Americans are rarely portrayed in the media outside of exaggerated historical caricatures. For him, the main issue presented by The Cavalier Daily wasn't just the offensive April Fools article, but more so the lack of other content about Native Americans. A student from NASU pointed to the lack of coverage of the recent NASU powwow that had occurred on Grounds weeks before the April Fools’ edition, giving a concrete on-Grounds example of Native invisibility.
All across America, Native Americans have continually been exoticised and disrespected. While we may not be able to do much to change the situation in Hawaii or other extreme instances of Native American erasure, we as a University should try harder to provide coverage to NASU and other minority-led events. Only by promoting awareness to counteract Native American invisibility will we be able to legitimately move on from blunders like the April Fools’ edition.
Hasan Khan is an Opinion columnist for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at h.khan@cavalierdaily.com.
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