Me ka naʻau kūpaʻa wiwoʻole nō e kahua ana i ke aloha me ka pono e mau nei ka ʻimi ʻana o nā kiaʻi kū mauna i ka puka lanakila ma kēia. (These Protectors, grounded in aloha and respect, are resolved to succeed.)
“We need the solutions. I say this over and over… a firm commitment to be examples to the wider world of how we mālama,” said long-time Aloha ʻĀina activist Luana Busby-Neff.
Ua kuʻi nō ka lono a pā ana ko ka paeʻāina e kū alu like mai mai nā nuʻu o Haleakalā me Kamakou o Molokaʻi, nā one o Kākuhihewa a hiki loa aku i Kaleponi. A ua iho ko Maunakea kiaʻi a i ke kahua kulanui o Hawaiʻi ma Hilo e kūkulu ai i wahi e kākoʻo ana i kēia ʻiʻini o ke kaiāulu e alu like mai. (And the message is being felt and inspiring fellow protectors to join in arms from Molokaʻi all the way to San Diego. And protectors gathered at UH Hilo to create a space for even more to join in.)
“The mauna is definely the first place and the best place to be to stand for our ʻāina and to protect her. So our 2nd best place would be here at the university and we wanted to make it available for our communities, our hālaus that are coming in for Merrie Monarch, and our students that cannot make it up there. We are moving forward and we are glad that the UH is slowly catching on and moving forward with us. So, that’s what today’s mahalo is for, that 1st step,” said Laʻakea Caravalho.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Interim Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs Gail Makuakāne-Lundin said, “We realize at the university that this is not only an important matter, but this is a very personal matter for many of us as Native Hawaiians. So, I think we just need to come to a place where everybody understands that, that yes there is the science, but there is the culture, there is the economics, but there is also to the social aspects and I think again that the university is a place where all those different opinions can come together in a real positive way.”