It has been over a month since the current standoff over the Thirty Meter Telescope began at Pu‘uhuluhulu. Since the initial confrontation, during which dozens of kupuna were arrested and cited, the population of the encampment and the global outpouring of support for the protectors has grown exponentially. In response, TMT proponents have launched what is reported to be a six-figure media campaign to sway public opinion in support of TMT’s construction. Lacking the TMT’s deep pockets, the mauna’s protectors have turned to a medium that has long served to amplify the Native Hawaiian voice: music.

The movement now known as the second Hawaiian renaissance has its origins in the 1960s (and arguably earlier) and is one of the best examples of the power of music to fuel social change mankind has ever witnessed. The resurgence in Hawaiian music, language revitalization, traditional seafaring and other aspects of Hawaiian culture that began then continues to this day. Many of the kupuna who now guard the road to Maunakea’s summit are the children of that era.

Haku mele is the Hawaiian term for composers of Hawaiian poetry and song. Haku mele don’t simply write mele, we write them for people and things so significant to us — as individuals and a society — we must document their importance and preserve those memories for future generations. One simply has to look at the corpus of mele — many of them part of the oral tradition and first set to print in the early 1800s — to recognize the significance of Maunakea. The mauna was also the subject of mele written through the 19th and 20th centuries, and this practice continues today.

Indeed, since it became clear that the state was going to ignore the overwhelming opposition by Hawaiian cultural practitioners and push for the construction of TMT, a plethora of new mele have been composed, performed, recorded and choreographed for hula. Many have been released on YouTube, Facebook or are available for purchase on other services. In these mele, future generations will find the truth.

Earlier this month, an estimated 5,000 people marched from War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku to the University of Hawaii Maui College campus. Thousands more marched on other islands, on the U.S. mainland, and countless others joined in around the world. On Aug. 11, thousands gathered at Pu‘u Huluhulu and thousands more in locations around the world to participate in “Jam4Maunakea.” All contributed to an unprecedented global collaboration by performing two preselected mele, with each site streaming on Facebook Live or submitting a prerecorded track. Maunakea’s protectors have mastered the power of these technologies to amplify our voices even more.

We respond to TMT’s well-funded propaganda by setting pencil to paper (or fingers to computer keyboard), create powerful expressions of language and culture, raising our voices, and moving our bodies to sing the praises of Maunakea and its protectors. We will continue to do so until TMT officials face the music and realize that their money may hold sway over our state officials, but it is no match for the mana of those who have joined in solidarity of voice and purpose to protect the mauna.

Wailuku resident Joseph “Keola” Donaghy, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of music at UH-Maui College, and is a Na Hoku Hanohano Award-winning producer and composer of Hawaiian music.