Not every Native Hawaiian views the Thirty Meter Telescope through the same lens as those who are clamoring for the project’s demise.

An example is Richard Ha. When the Hawaii island banana farmer was appointed as a director of the Hawaii Island Economic Development Board in 2008, he jumped at the opportunity to volunteer on the board’s TMT committee, saying he wanted to make sure the proposed telescope on Mauna Kea was done right.

"I was very skeptical from the very start," remembered Ha, who is part Hawaiian. "I thought it was just another pig with a pretty dress."

But over time the TMT Corp. and the University of Hawaii won him over. Not only did the Office of Mauna Kea Management substantially improve its stewardship of the summit region, but the California-based nonprofit committed $1 million a year for Hawaii island education programs, plus another substantial sum for Hawaii island workforce development.

Ha said he was impressed when TMT officials took the time to listen to local folks and conduct extra environmental studies. They also pledged to use local workers and union labor.

By the time TMT selected Mauna Kea as its preferred site in 2009, scores of Hawaii island residents, many of them Native Hawaiians, took to the streets of Hilo to wave signs in support of the project.

Today, a year after he and others celebrated TMT’s final approval, Ha is astounded by the statewide uproar over the project. He said a lot of people apparently don’t know how much work he and others put into making sure the project honors the mountain and serves the people of Hawaii island.

"The telescope is going to be done right," he said.

Another TMT supporter is Paul Coleman, the only Native Hawaiian astronomer on the UH Institute of Astronomy faculty.

Coleman said he believes a silent majority of Native Hawaiians supports the project — and especially on Hawaii island, where many people are more familiar with the issues.

The Saint Louis School graduate said he’s proud to carry on the Hawaiian tradition of studying the stars. The ancient Hawaiians explored the Pacific and made early discoveries while putting to use a real-world application of astronomy.

The recent wave of TMT opposition has gained momentum in "a superficial way," he said, with opportunistic sovereignty activists using the $1.4 billion telescope as an easy target in a larger battle.

"It’s a lot easier to attack the TMT than a new hotel in Waikiki, I guess," he said.

But Coleman said that while mistakes have been made developing the mountain summit in the past, the TMT Corp. has done "everything right," including committing to paying a lease that will rise up to $1 million a year by first light in 2024.

Eighty percent of that lease money will go to the Office of Mauna Kea Management to safeguard the mountain and its cultural treasures, he said, while the remaining 20 percent will go to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

As for the education funds, those are already flowing, he said. They were recently distributed to more than 30 classrooms across the island. The Hawai‘i Community Foundation has also distributed $500,000 in science, technology, engineering and math learning grants to Hawaii island schools and nonprofits.

"They’re more neighbors than renters," Coleman said of TMT Corp.

Coleman said astronomy helps diversify Hawaii’s economy and generates more than $90 million a year, a high-tech, low-impact sector providing good jobs. The TMT project, he said, will ensure that Hawaii remains the premier locale for astronomy research for 50 years.

The astronomer is excited at the prospect of operating a telescope with a mirror nearly three times larger than any other on Earth. With that kind of power, the TMT could find signs of life in other solar systems and discover clues to the origins of the universe.

"Our alii would have said it was crazy (to block the TMT). They would have said to take advantage of this opportunity," he said. "To move into the modern world gives honor to our ancestors."

For Maui resident Bronson Kaahui, the uproar over the TMT telescope is a source of great frustration.

"I find it irritating," he said, "because if they’re going to spend this much energy and focus on something, it should be for something that matters, such as the DHHL (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands) wait list and getting people a piece of land."

Kaahui, 29, is a former Libertarian Party state Senate candidate from West Maui who is a science advocate and outspoken critic of the anti-GMO movement. He said it’s ironic that most Native Hawaiians are Christians, yet they are leaning hard on the ancient Hawaiian religion to support the sacredness of the mountaintop.

But ancient religions need to coexist with the modern world, he said.

"They’re drawing a line in the sand," he said of the protesters. "But the fact is it’s going to be built and they need to come to terms with it."

Kaahui said the anti-TMT movement is being driven by a desire for the social benefits derived from supporting a cause — the feeling of self-righteousness, social networking and sense of purpose. It’s the idea of being part of something, he said.

"I do believe most Hawaiians have been tricked into supporting it," he said.

Kaahui said the protesters on Mauna Kea represent only one aspect of Hawaiian culture while ignoring another: the tradition of scientific exploration that brought Polynesians to Hawaii in the first place. He said there are Hawaiians, such as himself, who identify more with the scientific heritage of the culture rather than the religious or superstitious aspect.

"But our views are often shouted down by the extremely vocal protesters," he said.

Kaahui has been told he’s "out of touch" with Hawaiian culture and that he needs to "consult my kupuna."

"I have, and my kupuna taught me to think independently, logically, and never to blindly follow the crowd," he wrote in his blog this week. "Therefore, I categorically reject the assertion that our ancestors would be opposed to the construction of the TMT. I believe our ancestors welcomed change and an end to the superstitious beliefs of the kapu system which kept them subjugated and oppressed for centuries."

Reached in Oregon on Wednesday, OHA trustee Peter Apo said he supports further examination of the issues on the mountain before construction is continued and is hopeful some kind of compromise can be reached to avoid a situation where there is a winner and a loser.

Nevertheless, Apo said, he would hope Native Hawaiians ultimately can view the new telescope not as a detriment to Mauna Kea but as an extension of their spirituality linking Hawaiians to the celestial bodies and the stars.

"For centuries, seeking such knowledge has been so fundamental to our cultural credentials as an enlightened people," Apo wrote on his blog recently. "As a matter of growing our body of native wisdom, it would seem compelling that we consider how we might play an active role in the opportunity of the century to see back to the origins of time and contribute to the world’s understanding of our global existence as the family of man."

Agreeing is Kalepa Baybayan, a master navigator with the Polynesian Voyaging Society and navigator-in-residence with Hilo’s Imiloa Astronomy Center, who recently wrote an essay published in West Hawaii Today that endorsed the TMT project.

Baybayan described how historically Native Hawaiians utilized the resources of the sacred Mauna Kea to benefit the community. He said mountaintop astronomy also benefits the community in helping to quench a thirst for knowledge long held by Native Hawaiians.

"When it is completed, the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea will, with greater accuracy and speed, vastly increase the capacity for the kind of scientific research vital to the quest for mankind’s future," he wrote. "It takes place on a sacred mountain; remains consistent with the work of our ancestral forebears; and is done to the benefit of tomorrow’s generations, here in Hawaii, and across the globe."

He added: "As a Hawaiian, I recognize I am a descendant of some of the best naked-eye astronomers the world has known. It is culturally consistent to advocate for Hawaiian participa­tion in a field of science that continues to enable that tradition and a field in which we ought to lead. I firmly believe the highest level of desecration rests in actions that remove the opportunity and choices from the kind of future our youth can own."