Stop The Construction the TMT Telescope on Mauna Kea and the Arrest of Mauna Kea Protectors

[ellisonz]

166. Of course the claim is minimal impact...

...and the astronomy zone designation is from those with the power to approve the management plan. UH will see a pretty penny from the project as will those paid to do the construction. How do you build something so big in a completely undeveloped area of the summit and not have impact? The construction activity will be significant.

Legal challenges are still in process and this would not be the first project to be subject to legal decision. They are moving ahead with the staging in spite of this. The last big proposed NASA project on Mauna Kea had tunnels. The project was contested and a judge declared that there was no debate as to the cumulative impact of the existing sites. This site is very big!

Source: http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/diversity/native-american-heritage-in-preservation/threatened-places/mauna-kea.html

I obviously don't think the State should be dissolved, but there should be a Hawaiian political entity and Hawaiian lands. This is not a new or radical proposal by any means. Like many political items, the Republicans have stopped all legislation.

The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2009 S1011/HR2314 was a bill before the 111th Congress. It is commonly known as the Akaka Bill after Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, who has proposed various forms of this bill since 2000.

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The stated purpose of the Akaka Bill is "to provide a process for the reorganization of the single Native Hawaiian governing entity and the reaffirmation of the special political and legal relationship between the United States and that Native Hawaiian governing entity for purposes of continuing a government-to-government relationship".[2]

The government that the Akaka Bill intends to reorganize is identified as the Kingdom of Hawaii in the first paragraphs of Indian Affairs Committee Report 108-85.[3]

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Section 8 defers any settlement of issues such as the transfer of lands, the exercise of governmental authority, civil and criminal jurisdiction, and "grievances regarding assertions of historical wrongs committed against Native Hawaiians by the United States or by the State of Hawaii" to future negotiations between the newly organized Native Hawaiian Government and the United States and the State of Hawaii.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akaka_Bill

This legislation has been supported by President Obama btw - a son of Hawai'i.