FOR THE WILD

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PUA CASE on the Heart of a Mountain ⌠ENCORE⌡ /130

For The Wild

photo @protectmaunakea

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Pua Case Ayana Young

This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Pua Case, initially aired in December of 2017. In the past two and a half weeks we have seen the powerful swelling of protectors across the globe in reverence for Mauna a Wākea. On July 15, 2019 construction for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was scheduled to begin. In response, eight protectors chained themselves to a cattle guard in the early morning to prevent equipment vehicles from accessing the Mauna. No arrests were made until July 17, 2019, when DLNR officers arrested 38 people, most of whom were elders. Following the arrests, the Governor of Hawaii declared a state of emergency, allowing for the deployment of the National Guard. Since then, the National Guard has been called off and interisland police troops have been sent home, but Governor Ige and TMT International Observatory have both stated that they have no intent to halt the construction.

What is taking place on Mauna a Wākea is about so much more than the construction of the TMT. It is in response to the 50 years of serious mismanagement of Mauna a Wākea by its occupiers. It is in response to the proposed two 5,000 gallon tanks of chemical and human waste that would be stored below ground, above waters aquifers and on ancestral burial grounds, should the TMT be built. It is about the ways in which colonial science condones the use of police force in the name of research and the grave impacts that research protocol and infrastructure have on communities. And most importantly, it is in response to decades of colonial rule where Kanaka ‘Ōiwi have been silenced while settler-colonists and U.S. interests have exploited people, culture, and resources for private profit.

We do not need to “understand the advent of the universe” through an 18-foot story tall telescope. In fact, when it comes to the TMT, our personal opinions do not matter. We simply must recognize Indigenous sovereignty in action. This week we rebroadcast Pua Case’s interview in honor of the heart of a mountain and the rising of a Nation.

photo @nevaehjeaan


Pualani Case, born and raised on the Island of Hawai’i surrounded by the high mountains of Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, Hualalai and Kohala, the fresh waters of Kohakohau and Waikoloa and the plains of Waimea. Pua’s life path and purpose has led her to become a Kumu Hula, a teacher of traditional dance and chant, and a teacher of the ways, culture, and traditions of the Kanaka Maoli or native peoples of Hawai’i. With a degree in Hawaiian Language and culture and a teaching degree in Social Studies, interwoven with the traditional teachings, philosophies, and expectations from her kupuna or elders, Pua has integrated ‘Ike Hawai’i or Hawaiian knowledge and lessons into the public school system for over 30 years. Pua and her ‘ohana, her family are active as spiritual and cultural leaders in and beyond their community. As a representative of the Mauna Kea ‘Ohana Na Kia’I Mauna, Idle No More Hawai’i Warriors Rising and Idle No More Mauna, Kea she and her family have traveled throughout the continent, to Europe and various places across the Pacific to network, support and address the issues and challenges facing sacred places and lifeways of the people of Hawaiʻi.

♫ Music by Hawane Rios & Mike Wall

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