Mauna Kea is the anchor for kanaka maoli, it is our collective mana, which is being stripped and disrespected. Our deities exist in its winds, its rains and mist and dew, and its snows. The elemental nature of the Mauna reaffirms from where we come and where we now stand.

This is not the first time that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) has failed to enforce constitutional and legal protections for conservation district lands, native Hawaiian cultural practices and the environmental resources upon which those practices depend. For two decades, a hui of Hawaiian cultural practitioners and environmental justice advocates have worked tirelessly to bring attention to these issues and to be voices of reason against unfettered development of our sacred Mauna Kea. In 2015, the Hawai'i Supreme Court invalidated BLNR's approval of the TMT permit. BLNR has missed another opportunity to do the right thing and KAHEA and other community petitioners are faced with the burden of fixing those failures, yet again.

The next step will be the court appeal. Both the Hearing Officer and the BLNR have committed some of the same procedural violations that the Hawai'i Supreme Court cautioned against. Both those for and against the TMT earlier sought to disqualify the Hearing Officer, and similarly, objected to participation by board members with conflicts of interest. We emphasize also that the TMT International Observatory Corporation does not have a sublease for its use of Mauna Kea lands. Construction should not begin before all legal processes have run their course. We've been here before, we are here now, and we are here in the days and years to come.

Mahalo to everyone who has lent their voice in support of Hawai`i’s traditional farmers! As Bryna likes to point out: “Without the right to protect our traditional food resources what will remain of our culture or our rights?”

From Bryna:

The shared kuleana to save kalo and traditional farming is not only historical or cultural–it is a political imperative for Hawaii’s survival on this rapidly changing planet.

Thousands of letters of personal testimony, expert opinions and petitions for protection speak to the importance of pure kalo and traditional farming techniques for Hawaii. This is a truly pono moment in the history of humanity- thousands and thousands of people of all backgrounds are joining together to protect a plant species from irreversible genetic modification- and honoring an ancient ancestor and endangered Hawaiian lifestyle.

The message from the people is simple and clear: Haloa is family, Kalo is life, being in the Lo`i is living! It is not appropriate, necessary nor acceptable to engineer kalo into a genetically modified organism. The observation of the kalo farmers is profound: the kalo plant is not what needs to be changed.