Stand with NIWRC and our Pouhana O Na Wahine (Pillars of Women) in solidarity with the Mauna Kea supporters against the TMT.

The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project, a $1.4 billion astronomical observatory, had a planned construction launch date of July 15. The project was scheduled to be built on Mauna Kea, which is among the most sacred sites in Hawaiian cosmology.

To Indigenous Native Hawaiians who called Hawaii home before Hawaii became the last state of the U.S., the tallest mountain in Hawaii, Mauna Kea, represents a sacred site - the realm of the Earth's creator and the birthplace of the Hawaiian people. But pro-business groups interested in boosting Hawaii's tech industry want the summit to house what would be the largest telescope in the Northern Hemisphere.

This project has faced stiff opposition from Native Hawaiians and allies due to its planned construction site, a decision that disrespects Native Hawaiian sovereignty, desecrates a sacred site, and seriously highlights who gets to decide what happens on ancestral indigenous lands.

The fight to protect Mauna Kea is 10 years running, with the Hawaii Supreme Court ruling in 2018 that construction for TMT can proceed. But this fight is not over -- since that first scheduled day, July 15, protectors have shown up everyday to save their most sacred land.

Native Hawaiian Kupuna (elders) and other activists have been arrested for peacefully protesting and are currently blocking the mountain's access road and have indefinitely halted the TMT project. They have stopped Native Hawaiians from accessing the Mauna where they go for religious purposes, cultural practices as well as gathering. Protectors say their current struggle is yet another chapter in a long history of genocide and the denial of recognizing Native Hawaiian nationhood and indigenous rights by the federal and state governments.

Show your solidarity with Native Hawaiians dedicated to preserving Mauna Kea.