Two men dressed in malo (loincloths) chained themselves to the Queen Liliuokalani statue at the state Capitol Wednesday, saying they were protesting subtle yet widespread racism against Native Hawaiians, including the kind that led to approvals of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea.
Kaipo Hanakahi, 28, of Maili and Kainoa Keana‘aina, 23, of Waipahu said they wanted to bring awareness to the fact that Native Hawaiians are treated unfairly and don’t have any political power.
Hanakahi said racism has plagued Hawaii’s indigenous population since the illegal annexation of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1898.
“That’s why we chained ourselves to the queen. It all started with her,” he said.
A deputy sheriff who was watching the spectacle Wednesday afternoon said the men were not breaking any laws and were free to protest as long as they didn’t damage the statue.
The men, who described themselves as taro farmers, were speaking Hawaiian among themselves while a handful of onlookers kept their distance. A handwritten sign at the base of the statue read: “Education ≠ Desecration.”
Asked about the standoff on Mauna Kea, Hanakahi said that protesters wouldn’t have to block the planned $1.4 billion TMT if racism hadn’t led to the loss of native lands.
Later in the afternoon, a couple of dozen TMT protesters showed up and waved signs around the Capitol.
In a related matter, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said Wednesday it would continue to allow telescope protesters to camp on state land near the Mauna Kea visitors center. The group of mostly young Native Hawaiians has been camping there for more than two months.
DLNR spokeswoman Deborah Ward said in an email that the department is “in frequent communication with the protesters to ensure that impacts to the surrounding natural resources are minimized and that public safety is a priority.”
“At this time, we have allowed them to remain and peacefully express their right of free speech while we assess the situation,” she said.
In 2013, DLNR officers arrested 11 protesters who had been camping at a Hilo recreation area for four months.
On Mauna Kea, protesters say they’ve been removing trash daily, recycling, composting and even pulling weeds. Organizer Kahookahi Kanuha told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that the group is trying to keep the area cleaner than they found it.
Meanwhile, the TMT announced that it would commit to increasing educational opportunities as requested by Gov. David Ige.
Henry Yang, chairman of the TMT International Observatory Board, said in a statement that the TMT and its partner universities would establish scholarships, summer internships, graduate program fellowships and research assistantships in the areas of science and technology for Hawaii’s students.
In a speech on May 26, Ige emphasized that science and technology are critical to Hawaii’s economy and asked the TMT to significantly increase its support of Native Hawaiian students interested in science and technology through admission to and scholarships at its partner institutions, with priority given to Hawaii island students and then to students statewide.
“TMT and our partners support the governor’s vision,” Yang said. “In the past two weeks, Caltech and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences have pledged their support, and we will work within each university’s curriculum and requirements to establish educational programs that fulfill the governor’s vision.
“More of our partner universities are considering establishing similar programs to host Native Hawaiian students from Hawaii island and elsewhere in the state.”
Yang noted that the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan’s Subaru Telescope also has been offering job and internship opportunities to University of Hawaii students and has agreed to collaborate with UH-Hilo on its graduate program in astronomy.
“As our plan evolves and develops over the next few weeks and months, we anticipate and foresee that within a few years, a significant number of Native Hawaiians will not only gain educational experiences at prominent universities in our partner countries, but also return to Hawaii to carry on the Hawaiian tradition of scientific exploration, technological innovation and environmental sustainability, for the betterment of Hawaii and all of humanity on Earth,” Yang said.
CORRECTION: The annexation of Hawaii happened in 1898. An earlier version of this story and the story in the paper said it happened in 1893, which is the year the monarchy was overthrown.
