Mayor Harry Kim has released a proposal for moving forward on Maunakea that includes pledges from state and University of Hawaii officials promising to improve Native Hawaiian relations.
The 15-page booklet, titled “Heart of Aloha — Maunakea: A Way Forward,” enumerates ways in which the state has improved upon Hawaiian relations in the past 40 years and addresses specific criticisms regarding how the state and UH has handled management of Maunakea.
The booklet was produced as the conclusion of Kim’s work to find common ground between supporters and opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope, a task he was assigned by Gov. David Ige in July. According to the proposal itself, it was written as “a result of many conversations and meetings over the past years with government leaders, guardians of the mountain, community, spiritual leaders, and scientists.”
Included at the end of the proposal are pledges from Kim, Ige, UH President David Lassner, TMT Executive Director Ed Stone, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Interim Director William Aila, and the directors of the Maunakea Observatories, each one promising to commit to improve management and stewardship of the mountain.
Ige promised to “administratively restructure the management of Maunakea to include representation by the Hawaiian community and by county government, while working with the Legislature for permanent restructuring of management,” and also committed to seek resources to increase housing on DHHL land. Aila agreed with the latter point in his own pledge.
Lassner pledged to restructure the management of the mountain, establish a Hawaiian cultural facility at Halepohaku below the Maunakea summit, set aside lands at the summit for the sole use of cultural practitioners, and incorporate Hawaiian cultural education into the teaching activities at the observatories.
The proposal concludes with Kim’s vision for Maunakea, wherein the mountain is hailed as “a symbol of nations working together for the pursuit of peace and harmony,” with a cultural center that preserves Hawaiian culture while also celebrating scientific progress.
In his pledge, Kim wrote that the next step forward is to “convene a core group of community members who believe and support the vision” whose responsibilities would be “to provide direction and guidance in bringing this vision to life.”
See Tuesday’s Tribune-Herald for more on this story.