Rise (2016) s01e06 Episode Script
Hawaiian Sovereignty
1 PUA: No one ever thought, here in paradise, that a Native people were restless, that a Native people were saying, "Not this time.
" This mountain means that we are still Hawaiian, and we will stand, unshakable.
In us are still the gods, the goddesses, the guardians, and the warriors, and nobody saw that coming.
(Drum beating) Today, at this spot, we're given the honour to take down the American flag, and we can continue that every year until our government is restored.
The Hawaiian flag should always be at the top.
(Conch shell blowing) SARAIN: When people think about Hawaii, they imagine an American tropical tourist haven, but I'm here to understand a different history.
The recent fight to protect Mauna Kea, Hawaii's largest and most sacred mountain, from the construction of a billion-dollar telescope, has mobilized mass protests and reignited a fight for land that's taking place on many levels.
Located on Hawaii's Big Island, Mauna Kea contains ancient burial grounds and is considered sacred to Native Hawaiians, as it's home to their divine deities.
Near the summit is a cluster of enormous telescopes.
These, as well as a plan to build a new Thirty Meter Telescope, the TMT, are the source of great tension.
Local protesters are rallying against the project in an attempt to reclaim this sacred mountain - for the Hawaiian people.
- (Singing) We have a word in our culture, it's called maha oi.
It's when you overstay.
And not only do you overstay your welcome, but you move in, and not only do you move in, but you push the original owners out.
Do not judge us when you see us standing on this mountain.
We are a young movement against armed officers, construction workers, corporations.
It's new to us.
(Singing) But this fight for land is taking place across the islands in many ways.
All over Hawaii, there are Native Hawaiians who have been pushed off their lands through colonization and military occupation.
While some fight for sacred spaces, others are simply looking for stability and a place to live.
We're not trying to break bridges, we try to build bridges here.
Because in the government's eyes, we're trespassers because that's state land.
The suppression of living in occupied lands has created a loss of language and culture.
But a renewed interest in the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement is helping to revitalize these aspects of Native Hawaiian life.
There s not only one nation here, there s two nations here.
There's a lawful one, and there's an illegal one.
That's really the crux of our problem, is people not realizing that they're Hawaiians, yeah? To understand where Hawaii is today, you have to understand how the United States came to overthrow the Hawaiian kingdom in the first place.
I'm on my way to meet Kyle.
Kyle is an expert in the military presence here in Hawaii, and he's gonna take me on a tour of some of the sights so I can understand the culture and the history.
So, the first stop here is the Iolani Palace.
- Okay.
- The reason we start our tour here usually is this was the seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and also the scene of the crime.
Ninety-eight years after King Kamehameha united Hawaii and placed the kingdom on the map internationally, a group of mostly wealthy US businessmen, backed by the US military, conspired to overthrow the Hawaiian kingdom.
Fuelled by capitalist greed and the desire for military expansion, they dethroned the monarchy and claimed the kingdom as an American territory.
In 1893, this was where US troops helped to overthrow the Queen.
They got off the ships a few blocks away, marched up this very street here where we're walking, and they posted their Gatling guns, aimed at the palace.
These were the most advanced weapons that were used to just cut down any sort of Indigenous resistance, right? - SARAIN: Okay.
- So Hawaii becomes the stepping stone, or the pivot point, for the US to extend its empire from a continental So the genocide of Native peoples across North America, they hit the Pacific and they need a stepping stone to get across the seas in order to reach Asia.
So Hawaii becomes that first sort of pivot point - to become an oceanic empire.
- SARAIN: Okay.
In 1993, 100 years after the overthrow, this was the site of a large rally.
I think there were about 20,000 people, came to to commemorate that event.
We are not American! We will die as Hawaiians! - We will never be Americans! - (Cheering) Today, this is one of two public buildings where only the Hawaiian kingdom flag flies.
So it's still sort of a little a little pocket of Hawaiian sovereignty that exists, and people defend that as part of the you know, the future vision of a restored Hawaiian nation.
One of the things we talk about in our tour is just how the military in Hawaii is everywhere, but it's hidden in plain sight.
This freeway connects military bases.
It destroyed a number of sacred sites, but it still went through.
- Alright.
- Yeah, so Yeah, check out this view.
We're looking at Ke Awalau o Pu'uloa.
Today most people might know it as Pearl Harbor.
We like to imagine, in 1872, General John Schofield did a sort of secret scouting mission of the Hawaiian Islands.
If you can imagine him coming upon this view and sort of seeing its military potential and writing back that Pearl Lagoon is the key to the central Pacific Ocean.
However, this place was very much occupied and in use with many, many sacred places, many stories, and very economically productive.
This is one of the highest concentration of fish ponds in the islands, so you could say it was like the food basket of Oahu.
See, the thing about Hawaii, even with some of our friends who have good politics, when they think about Hawaii, immediately something switches in their head and they see palm trees and surf and sun, and so they become blind to some of the violence that's in the landscape and the violence that's in the history of this place.
What would Pearl Harbor look like if it was not a war memorial, but a peace memorial? What policy does the memorial perpetuate? The exhibit really foregrounds the patriotic story of America, and they include Hawaiians as background colour.
There's this one line in a small plaque: "The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893.
" So it's like nobody did it, it just sort of happened.
And we were told that that was the most controversial line to include in the whole exhibit.
Admitting it destabilizes this whole thing, right? (Helicopter whirring) The military is, you know, arguably the largest polluter in the world, the US military.
And here in Hawaii they have thousands of contaminated sites.
Toxic cocktail, everything from petroleum and oil, and those sorts of things, to solvents.
There's radioactive Cobalt-60 in the ship yard.
This is when they take out the nuclear core from the submarine.
Some of that stuff leaks out and gets in the sediment.
And I'm looking out here, even there's even signs saying that there's contaminated fish and shellfish.
Once a food basket of Oahu is now a giant toxic site.
We're crossing over this ridge right now, it's called Kapukaki in Hawaiian.
We're gonna pass some a bunch of Navy housing.
Military families would get a housing allowance on top of their regular pay, maybe two to $4,000, and that money could go towards paying rent or paying a mortgage.
And so it artificially inflates the cost of housing.
And if you're a local resident that doesn't have that, you're often out-competed in the housing market.
So we have a lot of people either moving out or ending up, you know, houseless on the beaches, right? Living in cars, living in tents.
It's really It's really tough, and so you see the houselessness is just an exploding problem.
And some of these are recent immigrants, and many of them, the majority I think of the houseless, are Native Hawaiian.
The military presence in Hawaii, along with high import costs, has increased the cost of living and contributed to a ballooning rate of homelessness, the highest rate per capita in the United States, with over 5,000 people living in open or temporary shelters.
The Waianae Homeless Camp is Oahu's oldest and largest encampment.
I'm heading to meet Adam.
Having lived in the camp for four years, Adam is part of a growing resistance movement of Hawaiians who are literally fighting for the land they sleep on.
These tent-lined streets represent their daily resistance against the occupied state.
There's a lot of streets here.
- Does that say donation tent? - Yeah, it's where people come by and they drop off stuffs that they want to donate for the people here.
All kinds of clothes, dishes.
So, how many people live here? - About 300 people.
- 300 people? When the people come, they come from all over.
Like we had some from the civic centre, some from town.
We do help people when they first come, if they want to go into shelters.
See, like, a lot of people from other places used to ask, "Oh, do you guys live in grass huts and stuff?" And I was like, "No, it's not like that right now, but it could be.
" It would be nice if it was back to normal like that.
So, is this community a step towards that, going back to the old kinds of communities? - ADAM: Somewhat.
- So can anyone come here? Yeah, anyone can come here.
Usually people find it out through the news, or through friends and family that they know.
So they see it on the news, but why do people choose to come here? I think it's because we're more self-sustained.
Here, everybody knows each other, everybody says hi to each other.
It feels like home.
We're houseless, we're not homeless.
- SARAIN: Is housing expensive in Hawaii? - ADAM: Yes, it is.
This is our home, but you live under a tent.
So, like, you live in a house, you can just flip on your light, turn off your light.
And then you can just go straight to your kitchen, turn on your water, turn off your water.
But here, you work twice as hard.
You gotta go all the way out to some place, grab clean water, fill up your bottles and stuffs like that, then bring it all back into your area so you can have water.
When you wash dishes, you can wash them at home or you can wash them by the water spigot, wherever you go.
And as for rubbishes, you gotta go and take your own rubbish out, so you do twice the work.
SARAIN: Totally off the grid.
ADAM: I just want to be here, just at home, with everybody, my family.
Adam's home is vulnerable to being dismantled at a moment's notice.
Regular police sweeps of tent cities are the government's way of controlling the growing houseless population.
How does it make you feel when you hear that people in the government want to take this away? Why would you want to break down something that's working? And if this place was to ever shut down, I would be so hurt.
Don't mind me, I'm crying.
But, uh yeah.
I wouldn't be able to handle it if we was to lose this place.
It's my home.
I'm just gonna believe that we're still gonna stay, and we are gonna stay.
I will literally stand and fight for this place.
All the way, to the end.
(Dog barking) Do you live close to your mom? - I live with my mom.
- With your mom, okay.
Twinkle, you'll love her.
She's the one who made that mother figure for us.
SARAIN: Twinkle, the godmother of the camp, is one of the leaders.
She's a surrogate mother to Adam and many others in the camp.
She's also the driving force behind the camp's organization.
This is our place.
So, how many people live here? Thirteen.
Thirteen of us lives here.
They said he's only about six months.
Oh, he's just a puppy! Hi! (Laughing) - That's Tutu - Hi, Tutu! Wylema and Tatch.
So the dogs stay inside and they protect the house? - Yeah.
- Hey! Auntie Twinkle, can you tell me how you first came here, and how this community first came to be? I actually had a two-bedroom.
I was working two full-time jobs, and drugs was taking place.
I ended up wandering into a depression, ended up losing my job because I fell in my depression was so just too much for me.
We ended up living in our cars first, and then we came here.
Ended up dealing, lost my son.
My mom took care of him, and that's my emotional part because my son was my everything, you know.
Instead of group grouping myself back together, I went even more nuts.
I found myself being sick and tired of what I was doing, and my niece was sitting out in the park waiting for her daughter to finish school.
You know, she said, "Auntie, I always see I see you running these streets.
I see you do what you gotta do, but you look tired.
" So, I would tell her, "Well, you gonna be here tomorrow?" She said, "Yes.
" And she started coming every day, and I started helping her watch her son, raise her son.
And as long as she gave me that opportunity to raise her son, my promise to her was I was gonna stay sober.
This little boy would look at me as if I was the most perfect person to him, and he didn't even realize I was the most toxic person.
He gave me back my love.
He gave me back my inspiration.
Started with one, and then now I have about 12 of them that lives with me.
SARAIN: And do you don't ever turn anyone away? TWINKLE: No, that I cannot do, that's not in my nature.
I mean, this is one of my areas that I always keep open just in case someone come with a family, or whether they need to rest their head.
I put them in here.
SARAIN: So what else do you provide for the people who come here? TWINKLE: If they come, some of them, no food, I give them.
Some that comes, no clothings, no shoes, - we have a donation tent.
- We just keep adding on.
The state had asked us to stop taking in people, - but I will not.
- SARAIN: How do you keep this community running? Obviously, it's huge.
TWINKLE: So this community, it's 20 acres.
In our 20 acres we have 16 sections.
In each section they have their own captains.
With our captains, we do have our own securities in-house.
When problem arise, I expect all my securities there.
I'm here just to make it a little bit easier for us.
My biggest fear is having a sweep.
Auntie, what is a sweep? - What does that mean? - A sweep is when the state come in and they wipe you right out.
They will give you maybe a 24-hour window to grab your things and go.
SARAIN: If they do a sweep and you're not prepared, - do they take everything that you own? - And they destroy it.
- Could that happen here? - It can happen at any time.
What I'm going for is a piece of land, and take the people there.
You know, I can see them learning our culture a little bit even.
I can see that so clearly, I know it's gonna happen.
This our land.
Even though the houseless camp has become a home to over 300 residents, there are some people who believe that it should not exist.
While in office, former State Representative Jo Jordan pushed to have the camps cleared.
When I was researching different parts of the island, I noticed that there was actually a travel advisory for Waianae.
It wasn't directly related to Waianae, but in terms of Oahu in general is the houseless crisis.
Could you speak to me a little bit about that crisis? I started working on these issues back in 1999, because at that point in time we had almost 3,000 individuals living on our public beaches.
Now I'm not talking about one man or one woman, I'm talking about some with families of up to 12 individuals.
Our numbers had dropped from about 3,000 at a peak, to roughly maybe of about 400, 500.
Those numbers in the last I would say maybe four years have kind of crept up to closer to 7 or 800 again.
They've adapted to where they're going to areas where they know they won't be bothered by enforcement as much.
Many of them do remain in public spaces though.
Now we've got our hardcore ones that might have multiple mental health issues.
A lot of people lay blame on our housing situation here in Hawaii.
I think our medium household price for purchase is closer to 7, $800,000, and I'm talking maybe only a two-bedroom unit.
SARAIN: Can you tell me what you think of the homeless or houseless encampment at the Waianae Boat Harbor? JO: Yeah People tend to go to places where you're not gonna be pushed so much, you're not gonna have enforcement in front of your face all the time.
Now some people will say, "Well, these are great people here.
They do nothing wrong, but trying to get by and raise their family," and that could be true.
They have this unique situation over there with somebody that helps keep law and order over there.
But unfortunately there's rules in society, and nobody can self-state that "I'm the person who's in charge over here.
" Now, if there's an individual that would like to live in their cultural way, they might have lived in in a rural setting in huts or mats.
That's not exactly what you see out there.
And they may say, "Well, you know, I'm a descendent of this land, so I have ownership to all of it.
" You know, unfortunately, as long as this is a state, and as long as we have private property, that might not be an accurate statement.
You wanna do it now? Wait, you wanna do your your tongue or your lip? Stick your Be right there.
(Murmuring) Leave it out.
- Is it done? - Yeah.
Oh, wow.
You ready? One, two, three.
Yep, it was a bleeder.
(Groaning) There you go! Gargle, gargle, gargle, gargle.
Good.
Let's get ready to go to the beach.
(Chattering) Can you tell me how Auntie Twinkle became your mom? It was only supposed to be temporary.
I wasn't supposed to stay there.
We moved out of a house.
My biological mother came down and asked her if we could move in.
Then my parents went split.
They broke up because my biological mom cheated.
And from then on, Twinkle never let me go.
I started to call her Mom because she took the mother figure.
Because my biological mom was just too busy on a rampage doing other things.
If it wasn't for her, I would literally be on the streets selling myself or something like that, smoking drugs I guess, I don't know.
I was leading towards that before I met Twinkle.
SARAIN: Five hundred and sixty-six American-Indian tribes have a federally recognized form of self-governance, a special political status that Native Hawaiians have never been offered while under United States rule.
The Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement has spanned decades, but the Mauna Kea protests have ignited renewed support.
La and Kepa are two Mauna Kea protectors who have taken the fight for sovereignty inside the university.
So, can you tell me where we are right now? We're in occupied Hawaii at the University at Hawai'i Hilo, sharing with you guys our two lovely flag poles.
As you see, our Hawai'i flying very hard right now, and the American one is still, so A few of our students got together with our community members to exercise the documents that we have been provided with, and it states of occupation laws that flags shall not be on top of each other, but yet on equal footing on separate poles, yeah? This is identifying as a nation.
To see our flag, our national symbol, yeah? Hanging below the flag of our oppressor every single day when we come to this place, it represents the injustice, it represents the anger that we're still dealing with today as Indigenous people, as Aboriginal people of this place.
We're not Americans.
After we pulled down the American flag, there was a period where they were constructing the two flag poles, and so there was no flags flying on this campus other than our flag here at our Ahu.
It felt like we were playing capture the flag - for a little bit.
(Laughing) - But we captured the flag, right? And these poles are connected to Mauna Kea as well.
I mean, all of these issues were kind of coming out all at once.
Lakea Trask is not only involved in the sovereignty movement, but also in other struggles, like protecting Mauna Kea, and demonstrations against the military presence on the island.
I'm on my way to a protest of the military's Rim of the Pacific Exercises.
Known as RIMPAC, these are the largest warfare training exercises in the world.
La is going to bring an Indigenous convoy here to help draw attention to the impact the military has had on the islands.
So we're just arriving here at the training centre.
It's actually directly to my left.
And then just up the hill on the right is Mauna Kea, and I can see ahead some protesters are already here and getting set up, so we're just arriving at the event.
- Aloha.
- Hey, aloha.
- How are you? - Oh, I'm good, Maika i.
- You, how are you? - I'm pretty good, pretty good.
- You should have a mask on.
- Why should I have a mask? Because there's a lot of DU, depleted uranium, up here.
So what's happened is there are 27 nations that are in here for war games right now.
If you live over on the other side, you hear them bombing, bombing.
They bombing our mama.
SARAIN: Can you tell me what brought you here? It's about educating the people to the dangers of depleted uranium and all the other radiation that's still up here.
Depleted uranium gets into your genetics, and it's passed on generation to generation to generation.
What do you think the Indigenous role is for protecting Mauna Kea? Obviously there's been a lot of things in the news.
- I'd love to hear your take.
- It's hard, really, striking a balance between cultural values and science, but they have 13 telescopes up there! How many do they need? I'm siding with the Indigenous people.
Give it back to them, they know how to take care of land.
If I could see a document that shows the United States is a legal entity here, maybe it would change my allegiance back.
Support the organizations and Indigenous people that want to protect the land.
- SARAIN: This is the Indigenous convoy! - (Honking) Today is kind of like one of those days that just everything aligned.
La has been part of the fight to protect Mauna Kea since the very beginning.
In April 2015, he was involved there in occupation that blocked access to construction crews and workers.
(Chanting and clapping) He was among over 31 people who were arrested while keeping vigil during the 168-day standoff to protect their sacred mauna.
(Singing) The ultimate goal is de-occupation, right? Where we get our country back and we start restoring the land and the society, the communities that helped to sustain this place that is often viewed in a romanticized way, right? Hawaii: paradise.
When you pull away the curtain a little bit, you see the bombs, you see the depleted uranium, you see the homelessness, you see the desecration of sacred sites.
Yeah, there's so much behind the face, yeah? The 15, $16 billion industry that is tourism, the Hawaii Tourism Authority here in Hawaii.
Yeah, it puts a big smokescreen around Hawaii for the rest of the world.
There are many ways that people here are fighting for de-occupation.
For the defenders of Mauna Kea, this battle is not just a legal one, but a spiritual one.
Pua Case is the matriarchal leader of the Mauna Kea Movement.
She's dedicated her life to protecting the mountain after her daughter had a vision imploring her to help stop the telescope.
We are all feeling called to be here, and thank you for answering that call, for Mauna Kea, but also other issues like RIMPAC.
You know, there's a thousand issues here.
So tomorrow, we're gonna be in court.
And so we come here today and we want to bless everybody.
But more important, to recommit to the mountain, and that is the privilege that we have to be here.
(Chanting) So when we say that we are praying at the Ahu, which when you look at it, it looks like a structure of rock, it's the summit brought to the place where we have our feet on the ground.
A place that we have designated as sacred.
That means we are on the summit.
(Chanting) (Horn blowing) So at this time, we are going to ask our mauna to wake and to see us, and to feel us.
(Singing) That ceremony was to prepare everyone who is going to be at the court hearing tomorrow in regards to the Thirty Meter Telescope.
And then they invited me again to join them at the summit of Mauna Kea, so it's very high elevation up here.
We have to stop at a visitor centre and climatize.
But from what I understand, the reason we're going up here is so that the people conducting the ceremony can gather more understanding, more spiritual knowledge on how to conduct themselves tomorrow at the court hearing.
(Chanting) PUA: When I think of the word "courage", is when I say to myself I'm braver than my fear.
There have been many times when we were filled with fear, but we had moved beyond that.
And you are able to get up in the morning and say, "Today, I might get arrested.
Today might be the day that I get hurt on the mountain, standing on the line.
Today I don't know what I'm gonna face in the courtroom, but I'm still going.
" (Horn blowing) I'm at the University of Hawaii, and I'm going to go meet Dr.
Paul Coleman.
He's a Native Hawaiian and also an astrophysicist, and he's going to give me some more information on the Thirty Meter Telescope.
I'm really curious; can you tell me a little bit more about - the Thirty Meter Telescope? - In astronomy, one of the things that has to happen in order for us to progress, is we literally do have to make bigger and bigger telescopes.
So the Thirty Meter is the next step in the natural progression of size of telescope.
So it will be the most modern, most up-to-date and biggest telescope on Earth.
It's been suggested and worked out that it will look to the furthest distance in the universe that you can observe.
Can you tell me why Mauna Kea is such an important place for this telescope to be built? The mountain itself is a shield volcano, so the air just flows in laminar, which means no turbulence.
Mauna Kea is also high altitude, so that means there's less oxygen, less water vapour above the telescope, and that's perfect for astronomy.
So yeah, it's just the best place in the world for a telescope.
SARAIN: You're from here; what about Native Hawaiians, or people from the area who ? PAUL: I think that the majority of Hawaiians are completely in favour of having Mauna Kea for astronomy.
It resonates with us as a people because we are all astronomers.
The reason I'm Hawaiian is because some ancestor of mine got in a boat in South Pacific, and was led to Hawaii by an astronomer.
And I can speak from traditional perspectives too, because I talked a lot to my Tutu, my grandmother, my Hawaiian grandmother, when I was thinking of doing astronomy.
She thought it was fantastic.
Nowhere, in all of those discussions with my grandmother or any of my grand aunties or uncles, do they say that Mauna Kea is too sacred to build on it.
The TMT is actually planting something like $3 million that goes directly into the communities there on the Big Island.
There's also a million dollars that's gonna go directly to the upkeep of the mountain.
So if you re a "protector" of the mountain, you're sending away a million dollars a year to protect the mountain? There are so many facets to this protest that are outside of the protest itself.
So it's not really Hawaiians against the TMT, it's Hawaiians against the overthrow, it's Hawaiians against being second-class citizens in their own homeland.
And like I said, it's a media filter, so the guys who are against, they make a lot of noise, and you know But what's cool about it is, of course, you're looking at the universe as far as you can.
You will never see further.
No matter how big a telescope you build, you will never see further than this.
That's a pretty good deal for one telescope.
I'm here in Hilo, Hawaii, and I just arrived at the hearing for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
This is an opportunity for both those who support the Thirty Meter Telescope and those who oppose it to have both sides heard.
(Singing) This morning, we convened to have hearing on the motions that have been filed, and so it's very important that the parties participate.
- Aloha, hi.
- Aloha, hi.
I just noticed your pin, so I wanted to talk to you.
- Is that okay? - Sure.
Can I ask you you said you were a Native Hawaiian.
Obviously, you must have heard about the opposition and the idea that, you know, the Thirty Meter Telescope could desecrate sacred sites.
Could you tell me how you feel about that? Mauna Kea is definitely sacred.
All Native Hawaiians believe that.
But I think we also believe that science and culture can coexist, that the mountain won't be desecrated.
It's Yes, something is being built there, but it is for science.
If a hotel was going up on the mountain, of course then I would agree that that would be desecration to the mountain.
We're sort of in this Catch 22.
You stated that the status of the State of Hawaii will not be an issue in this contested case hearing.
That conclusion assumes that there's never going to be any new evidence that would cause the courts to reconsider their view of the existence of the kingdom or its jurisdiction, or any of the issues that have been discussed here today.
So, precedent has become set in stone, but that's not the way the law process works.
Precedents can be overturned and reversed by new evidence and new argument.
SARAIN: So what basis are you using to challenge the development on Mauna Kea? There's criteria that has to be met under the rules in order for Conservation District Use Permit to be awarded.
We don't believe that any of the criteria can be met.
There's already significant, substantial and adverse impact on cultural and natural resources on Mauna Kea.
I don't participate in this kind of process, never have, other than the few times that I was arrested, you know, in regards to this struggle.
Can you tell me what it was like to be on Mauna Kea? Being on the mountain was something that I've been quoted to say many times, I think was the greatest activation, mobilization and unification of Hawaiian people since 1897, since the protest of the annexation, the illegal annexation of Hawaii to America.
And we've seen our people activated and awakened.
What's going on with Mauna Kea and TMT and this whole process is a continuation of things that've happened to our people since the 1800s.
When our kingdom was illegally taken from us, when they banned our language and took it away from our kids, and our schools, and beat us for speaking it.
It's not done.
(Chanting) SARAIN: In a park beside the Waianae Houseless Camp, Twinkle is throwing a Ho'olaule'a, a traditional Hawaiian gathering that they're hoping will attract people from the wider Waianae community.
Twinkle's goal is to bring the houseless community closer together with their neighbours, and encourage an understanding between them.
We're here in Waianae, and we're at the Aha that Twinkle's been planning.
It's being put on by Twinkle, but on behalf of the houselessness camp.
And I'm gonna go check it out and hopefully learn more about what an Aha means to Twinkle and their community.
So, what brought you here today? Of course the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement, and We always have to care for our community, you know.
So that's why we're here, and what better place than front line, right down over here, you know, with this community in the bushes.
So what brought you here to this event today? La Ho'iho'i Ea.
I knew that there was gonna be a bunch of my people here, and I just wanted to spend the day with my lahui.
Things Hawaiian are coming back, but it's not just us that can do it.
We need everybody from the community to come and help.
So can you tell me about the planning leading up to this event? How long have you been planning for this Aha? Um, this came to me about a couple of years ago.
- Okay.
- Wanting to do something for the kids to make a difference in our community, and I wanted to make it to something too where the kids had to involve themselves with our kids.
You know, our kids are so used to going to school being teased, being told you homeless, and this and that.
I wanted to break that stigma.
I'm surprised we have this much vendors, you know, and a lot of help.
I mean, even for the school supplies, 'cause my goal was able to give each child here one school, um, backpack.
So we did a little over 500, but not only for our kids in here, but to also provide for the community out there.
With backpacks? - Backpacks, yes, yes.
- Wow, wow.
Wasn't easy, but we made it happen.
SARAIN: What are your hopes for the future, for yourself, for the community? Actually getting the land.
That is our home, that has been my home for the last 13 years.
But to give us the land so we don't need to deal with anybody telling us you gotta go.
I want to be more self-sufficient that way.
That's my goal.
Twinkle's dream to someday own the land beneath her tent can be seen as a desire for space.
Not just a physical place to live, but a collective space to assert identity and practice culture as Native Hawaiians.
And above all, a place to call home, where her family can live safe and secure from the threat of being displaced at a moment's notice.
For me, like I said, the home is for my kids.
Yeah, you gotta have that love, that respect.
Home is where you can come home and rest.
This, this became my home, with all of its flaws and all its all of its whatevers, it became my home.
Having the ones I love, the ones that I fell in love with, with me Sitting on the table with my kids enjoying dinner, you know.
And it's mandatory, and we do that together as a family.
I'm not homeless, I'm houseless.
(Singing) Today at the base of Mauna Kea summit, the protectors are gathering to celebrate the time that they held vigil on this mountain in protest of the TMT project.
The hearing that the Mauna protectors attended is just the beginning of a much longer court process.
Despite the celebration here today, in many ways the legal fight has just begun.
We have been holding this mauna just in this last active current movement for 500 days.
We've really been holding this mauna for much longer in the court system and through our stances and our prayers, whether that meant standing here, staying here, police coming up here, construction workers, TMT.
We have had babies to elders and beyond that stand in this line, and really it all started in this crosswalk.
This crosswalk is very important to us because if you keep walking, you have the right of way in the crosswalk.
Okay, everybody ready? Let's do it.
(Cheering) 500 days! (Cheering) (Chanting) SARAIN: Hawaii has a way of reminding you of life's most ancient beginnings.
I'm on my way to the Lava Field National Park where Tutu Pele, the goddess of fire, is making herself known.
For the first time in three years, her lava is flowing out to meet the ocean, and I'm being taken to see this incredible sight.
So we got about a three-mile hike in.
As you can tell, if you look at the lava flow right now, it's very uneven, very sharp.
So when we get out there, please pay attention to your footing.
Other than that, let's be safe and get back alive.
(Laughing) Yeah, alive! (Laughing) So when the Hawaiians pass away, they come back to the land, Aina.
All in the rocks, the trees, soil.
All of these rocks out here, all our ancestors' in it, in them.
There's a lot of power in the rocks.
There's also, you know, hundreds of rocks that get sent back to the national parks every year because tourists take rocks, and then they end up having bad dreams - or having bad experiences.
- Bad luck, bad experiences.
Maybe right here at the edge we'll do a chant to enter.
(Chanting) The fire goddess, Tutu Pele, holds a special significance in Hawaiian religion.
She is also known as the creator of the islands, and appears everywhere; her spirit alive in the volcanoes and lava.
(Chanting) And this is the home of Tutu Pele.
And there's a story of her coming here to Hawaii.
Yeah, her migration, she's not from here originally.
When you see her migration from Kahiki, she is chased by her sister.
Her sister is Namakaokahai, the ocean goddess.
So the fire goddess Pele, yeah, the goddess of the lava, yeah, and Namakaokahai, the goddess of the oceans, the currents.
And so right here is, you know, that's this is their this is their meeting place right here.
You know, get to see firsthand some of the magic here that Hawaii has to offer.
And it's just beautiful we get to see her giving birth.
It is incredible that we have new life with us.
Yeah, right? In honour of Tutu Pele, we've brought offerings of new life.
Native Hawaiians have a saying, "Aloha Aina.
" Simply translated, it means "to love the land".
This concept can drive one into action, whether it be political or spiritual.
At its core, it's about standing up for the earth.
PUA: Stand proud, even if you stand alone.
Because in the end, seven generations from now, I want to be remembered.
My grandchildren are gonna be able to say, "My grandmother makes me proud to be Hawaiian.
" (Rapping in Hawaiian) We gotta rise up (Rapping in Hawaiian) Recognize Overstand Project (Rapping in Hawaiian) All of our (Rapping in Hawaiian) They showed us how to make (Rapping in Hawaiian) We rock it, don't stop Aloha Aina.
" This mountain means that we are still Hawaiian, and we will stand, unshakable.
In us are still the gods, the goddesses, the guardians, and the warriors, and nobody saw that coming.
(Drum beating) Today, at this spot, we're given the honour to take down the American flag, and we can continue that every year until our government is restored.
The Hawaiian flag should always be at the top.
(Conch shell blowing) SARAIN: When people think about Hawaii, they imagine an American tropical tourist haven, but I'm here to understand a different history.
The recent fight to protect Mauna Kea, Hawaii's largest and most sacred mountain, from the construction of a billion-dollar telescope, has mobilized mass protests and reignited a fight for land that's taking place on many levels.
Located on Hawaii's Big Island, Mauna Kea contains ancient burial grounds and is considered sacred to Native Hawaiians, as it's home to their divine deities.
Near the summit is a cluster of enormous telescopes.
These, as well as a plan to build a new Thirty Meter Telescope, the TMT, are the source of great tension.
Local protesters are rallying against the project in an attempt to reclaim this sacred mountain - for the Hawaiian people.
- (Singing) We have a word in our culture, it's called maha oi.
It's when you overstay.
And not only do you overstay your welcome, but you move in, and not only do you move in, but you push the original owners out.
Do not judge us when you see us standing on this mountain.
We are a young movement against armed officers, construction workers, corporations.
It's new to us.
(Singing) But this fight for land is taking place across the islands in many ways.
All over Hawaii, there are Native Hawaiians who have been pushed off their lands through colonization and military occupation.
While some fight for sacred spaces, others are simply looking for stability and a place to live.
We're not trying to break bridges, we try to build bridges here.
Because in the government's eyes, we're trespassers because that's state land.
The suppression of living in occupied lands has created a loss of language and culture.
But a renewed interest in the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement is helping to revitalize these aspects of Native Hawaiian life.
There s not only one nation here, there s two nations here.
There's a lawful one, and there's an illegal one.
That's really the crux of our problem, is people not realizing that they're Hawaiians, yeah? To understand where Hawaii is today, you have to understand how the United States came to overthrow the Hawaiian kingdom in the first place.
I'm on my way to meet Kyle.
Kyle is an expert in the military presence here in Hawaii, and he's gonna take me on a tour of some of the sights so I can understand the culture and the history.
So, the first stop here is the Iolani Palace.
- Okay.
- The reason we start our tour here usually is this was the seat of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and also the scene of the crime.
Ninety-eight years after King Kamehameha united Hawaii and placed the kingdom on the map internationally, a group of mostly wealthy US businessmen, backed by the US military, conspired to overthrow the Hawaiian kingdom.
Fuelled by capitalist greed and the desire for military expansion, they dethroned the monarchy and claimed the kingdom as an American territory.
In 1893, this was where US troops helped to overthrow the Queen.
They got off the ships a few blocks away, marched up this very street here where we're walking, and they posted their Gatling guns, aimed at the palace.
These were the most advanced weapons that were used to just cut down any sort of Indigenous resistance, right? - SARAIN: Okay.
- So Hawaii becomes the stepping stone, or the pivot point, for the US to extend its empire from a continental So the genocide of Native peoples across North America, they hit the Pacific and they need a stepping stone to get across the seas in order to reach Asia.
So Hawaii becomes that first sort of pivot point - to become an oceanic empire.
- SARAIN: Okay.
In 1993, 100 years after the overthrow, this was the site of a large rally.
I think there were about 20,000 people, came to to commemorate that event.
We are not American! We will die as Hawaiians! - We will never be Americans! - (Cheering) Today, this is one of two public buildings where only the Hawaiian kingdom flag flies.
So it's still sort of a little a little pocket of Hawaiian sovereignty that exists, and people defend that as part of the you know, the future vision of a restored Hawaiian nation.
One of the things we talk about in our tour is just how the military in Hawaii is everywhere, but it's hidden in plain sight.
This freeway connects military bases.
It destroyed a number of sacred sites, but it still went through.
- Alright.
- Yeah, so Yeah, check out this view.
We're looking at Ke Awalau o Pu'uloa.
Today most people might know it as Pearl Harbor.
We like to imagine, in 1872, General John Schofield did a sort of secret scouting mission of the Hawaiian Islands.
If you can imagine him coming upon this view and sort of seeing its military potential and writing back that Pearl Lagoon is the key to the central Pacific Ocean.
However, this place was very much occupied and in use with many, many sacred places, many stories, and very economically productive.
This is one of the highest concentration of fish ponds in the islands, so you could say it was like the food basket of Oahu.
See, the thing about Hawaii, even with some of our friends who have good politics, when they think about Hawaii, immediately something switches in their head and they see palm trees and surf and sun, and so they become blind to some of the violence that's in the landscape and the violence that's in the history of this place.
What would Pearl Harbor look like if it was not a war memorial, but a peace memorial? What policy does the memorial perpetuate? The exhibit really foregrounds the patriotic story of America, and they include Hawaiians as background colour.
There's this one line in a small plaque: "The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893.
" So it's like nobody did it, it just sort of happened.
And we were told that that was the most controversial line to include in the whole exhibit.
Admitting it destabilizes this whole thing, right? (Helicopter whirring) The military is, you know, arguably the largest polluter in the world, the US military.
And here in Hawaii they have thousands of contaminated sites.
Toxic cocktail, everything from petroleum and oil, and those sorts of things, to solvents.
There's radioactive Cobalt-60 in the ship yard.
This is when they take out the nuclear core from the submarine.
Some of that stuff leaks out and gets in the sediment.
And I'm looking out here, even there's even signs saying that there's contaminated fish and shellfish.
Once a food basket of Oahu is now a giant toxic site.
We're crossing over this ridge right now, it's called Kapukaki in Hawaiian.
We're gonna pass some a bunch of Navy housing.
Military families would get a housing allowance on top of their regular pay, maybe two to $4,000, and that money could go towards paying rent or paying a mortgage.
And so it artificially inflates the cost of housing.
And if you're a local resident that doesn't have that, you're often out-competed in the housing market.
So we have a lot of people either moving out or ending up, you know, houseless on the beaches, right? Living in cars, living in tents.
It's really It's really tough, and so you see the houselessness is just an exploding problem.
And some of these are recent immigrants, and many of them, the majority I think of the houseless, are Native Hawaiian.
The military presence in Hawaii, along with high import costs, has increased the cost of living and contributed to a ballooning rate of homelessness, the highest rate per capita in the United States, with over 5,000 people living in open or temporary shelters.
The Waianae Homeless Camp is Oahu's oldest and largest encampment.
I'm heading to meet Adam.
Having lived in the camp for four years, Adam is part of a growing resistance movement of Hawaiians who are literally fighting for the land they sleep on.
These tent-lined streets represent their daily resistance against the occupied state.
There's a lot of streets here.
- Does that say donation tent? - Yeah, it's where people come by and they drop off stuffs that they want to donate for the people here.
All kinds of clothes, dishes.
So, how many people live here? - About 300 people.
- 300 people? When the people come, they come from all over.
Like we had some from the civic centre, some from town.
We do help people when they first come, if they want to go into shelters.
See, like, a lot of people from other places used to ask, "Oh, do you guys live in grass huts and stuff?" And I was like, "No, it's not like that right now, but it could be.
" It would be nice if it was back to normal like that.
So, is this community a step towards that, going back to the old kinds of communities? - ADAM: Somewhat.
- So can anyone come here? Yeah, anyone can come here.
Usually people find it out through the news, or through friends and family that they know.
So they see it on the news, but why do people choose to come here? I think it's because we're more self-sustained.
Here, everybody knows each other, everybody says hi to each other.
It feels like home.
We're houseless, we're not homeless.
- SARAIN: Is housing expensive in Hawaii? - ADAM: Yes, it is.
This is our home, but you live under a tent.
So, like, you live in a house, you can just flip on your light, turn off your light.
And then you can just go straight to your kitchen, turn on your water, turn off your water.
But here, you work twice as hard.
You gotta go all the way out to some place, grab clean water, fill up your bottles and stuffs like that, then bring it all back into your area so you can have water.
When you wash dishes, you can wash them at home or you can wash them by the water spigot, wherever you go.
And as for rubbishes, you gotta go and take your own rubbish out, so you do twice the work.
SARAIN: Totally off the grid.
ADAM: I just want to be here, just at home, with everybody, my family.
Adam's home is vulnerable to being dismantled at a moment's notice.
Regular police sweeps of tent cities are the government's way of controlling the growing houseless population.
How does it make you feel when you hear that people in the government want to take this away? Why would you want to break down something that's working? And if this place was to ever shut down, I would be so hurt.
Don't mind me, I'm crying.
But, uh yeah.
I wouldn't be able to handle it if we was to lose this place.
It's my home.
I'm just gonna believe that we're still gonna stay, and we are gonna stay.
I will literally stand and fight for this place.
All the way, to the end.
(Dog barking) Do you live close to your mom? - I live with my mom.
- With your mom, okay.
Twinkle, you'll love her.
She's the one who made that mother figure for us.
SARAIN: Twinkle, the godmother of the camp, is one of the leaders.
She's a surrogate mother to Adam and many others in the camp.
She's also the driving force behind the camp's organization.
This is our place.
So, how many people live here? Thirteen.
Thirteen of us lives here.
They said he's only about six months.
Oh, he's just a puppy! Hi! (Laughing) - That's Tutu - Hi, Tutu! Wylema and Tatch.
So the dogs stay inside and they protect the house? - Yeah.
- Hey! Auntie Twinkle, can you tell me how you first came here, and how this community first came to be? I actually had a two-bedroom.
I was working two full-time jobs, and drugs was taking place.
I ended up wandering into a depression, ended up losing my job because I fell in my depression was so just too much for me.
We ended up living in our cars first, and then we came here.
Ended up dealing, lost my son.
My mom took care of him, and that's my emotional part because my son was my everything, you know.
Instead of group grouping myself back together, I went even more nuts.
I found myself being sick and tired of what I was doing, and my niece was sitting out in the park waiting for her daughter to finish school.
You know, she said, "Auntie, I always see I see you running these streets.
I see you do what you gotta do, but you look tired.
" So, I would tell her, "Well, you gonna be here tomorrow?" She said, "Yes.
" And she started coming every day, and I started helping her watch her son, raise her son.
And as long as she gave me that opportunity to raise her son, my promise to her was I was gonna stay sober.
This little boy would look at me as if I was the most perfect person to him, and he didn't even realize I was the most toxic person.
He gave me back my love.
He gave me back my inspiration.
Started with one, and then now I have about 12 of them that lives with me.
SARAIN: And do you don't ever turn anyone away? TWINKLE: No, that I cannot do, that's not in my nature.
I mean, this is one of my areas that I always keep open just in case someone come with a family, or whether they need to rest their head.
I put them in here.
SARAIN: So what else do you provide for the people who come here? TWINKLE: If they come, some of them, no food, I give them.
Some that comes, no clothings, no shoes, - we have a donation tent.
- We just keep adding on.
The state had asked us to stop taking in people, - but I will not.
- SARAIN: How do you keep this community running? Obviously, it's huge.
TWINKLE: So this community, it's 20 acres.
In our 20 acres we have 16 sections.
In each section they have their own captains.
With our captains, we do have our own securities in-house.
When problem arise, I expect all my securities there.
I'm here just to make it a little bit easier for us.
My biggest fear is having a sweep.
Auntie, what is a sweep? - What does that mean? - A sweep is when the state come in and they wipe you right out.
They will give you maybe a 24-hour window to grab your things and go.
SARAIN: If they do a sweep and you're not prepared, - do they take everything that you own? - And they destroy it.
- Could that happen here? - It can happen at any time.
What I'm going for is a piece of land, and take the people there.
You know, I can see them learning our culture a little bit even.
I can see that so clearly, I know it's gonna happen.
This our land.
Even though the houseless camp has become a home to over 300 residents, there are some people who believe that it should not exist.
While in office, former State Representative Jo Jordan pushed to have the camps cleared.
When I was researching different parts of the island, I noticed that there was actually a travel advisory for Waianae.
It wasn't directly related to Waianae, but in terms of Oahu in general is the houseless crisis.
Could you speak to me a little bit about that crisis? I started working on these issues back in 1999, because at that point in time we had almost 3,000 individuals living on our public beaches.
Now I'm not talking about one man or one woman, I'm talking about some with families of up to 12 individuals.
Our numbers had dropped from about 3,000 at a peak, to roughly maybe of about 400, 500.
Those numbers in the last I would say maybe four years have kind of crept up to closer to 7 or 800 again.
They've adapted to where they're going to areas where they know they won't be bothered by enforcement as much.
Many of them do remain in public spaces though.
Now we've got our hardcore ones that might have multiple mental health issues.
A lot of people lay blame on our housing situation here in Hawaii.
I think our medium household price for purchase is closer to 7, $800,000, and I'm talking maybe only a two-bedroom unit.
SARAIN: Can you tell me what you think of the homeless or houseless encampment at the Waianae Boat Harbor? JO: Yeah People tend to go to places where you're not gonna be pushed so much, you're not gonna have enforcement in front of your face all the time.
Now some people will say, "Well, these are great people here.
They do nothing wrong, but trying to get by and raise their family," and that could be true.
They have this unique situation over there with somebody that helps keep law and order over there.
But unfortunately there's rules in society, and nobody can self-state that "I'm the person who's in charge over here.
" Now, if there's an individual that would like to live in their cultural way, they might have lived in in a rural setting in huts or mats.
That's not exactly what you see out there.
And they may say, "Well, you know, I'm a descendent of this land, so I have ownership to all of it.
" You know, unfortunately, as long as this is a state, and as long as we have private property, that might not be an accurate statement.
You wanna do it now? Wait, you wanna do your your tongue or your lip? Stick your Be right there.
(Murmuring) Leave it out.
- Is it done? - Yeah.
Oh, wow.
You ready? One, two, three.
Yep, it was a bleeder.
(Groaning) There you go! Gargle, gargle, gargle, gargle.
Good.
Let's get ready to go to the beach.
(Chattering) Can you tell me how Auntie Twinkle became your mom? It was only supposed to be temporary.
I wasn't supposed to stay there.
We moved out of a house.
My biological mother came down and asked her if we could move in.
Then my parents went split.
They broke up because my biological mom cheated.
And from then on, Twinkle never let me go.
I started to call her Mom because she took the mother figure.
Because my biological mom was just too busy on a rampage doing other things.
If it wasn't for her, I would literally be on the streets selling myself or something like that, smoking drugs I guess, I don't know.
I was leading towards that before I met Twinkle.
SARAIN: Five hundred and sixty-six American-Indian tribes have a federally recognized form of self-governance, a special political status that Native Hawaiians have never been offered while under United States rule.
The Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement has spanned decades, but the Mauna Kea protests have ignited renewed support.
La and Kepa are two Mauna Kea protectors who have taken the fight for sovereignty inside the university.
So, can you tell me where we are right now? We're in occupied Hawaii at the University at Hawai'i Hilo, sharing with you guys our two lovely flag poles.
As you see, our Hawai'i flying very hard right now, and the American one is still, so A few of our students got together with our community members to exercise the documents that we have been provided with, and it states of occupation laws that flags shall not be on top of each other, but yet on equal footing on separate poles, yeah? This is identifying as a nation.
To see our flag, our national symbol, yeah? Hanging below the flag of our oppressor every single day when we come to this place, it represents the injustice, it represents the anger that we're still dealing with today as Indigenous people, as Aboriginal people of this place.
We're not Americans.
After we pulled down the American flag, there was a period where they were constructing the two flag poles, and so there was no flags flying on this campus other than our flag here at our Ahu.
It felt like we were playing capture the flag - for a little bit.
(Laughing) - But we captured the flag, right? And these poles are connected to Mauna Kea as well.
I mean, all of these issues were kind of coming out all at once.
Lakea Trask is not only involved in the sovereignty movement, but also in other struggles, like protecting Mauna Kea, and demonstrations against the military presence on the island.
I'm on my way to a protest of the military's Rim of the Pacific Exercises.
Known as RIMPAC, these are the largest warfare training exercises in the world.
La is going to bring an Indigenous convoy here to help draw attention to the impact the military has had on the islands.
So we're just arriving here at the training centre.
It's actually directly to my left.
And then just up the hill on the right is Mauna Kea, and I can see ahead some protesters are already here and getting set up, so we're just arriving at the event.
- Aloha.
- Hey, aloha.
- How are you? - Oh, I'm good, Maika i.
- You, how are you? - I'm pretty good, pretty good.
- You should have a mask on.
- Why should I have a mask? Because there's a lot of DU, depleted uranium, up here.
So what's happened is there are 27 nations that are in here for war games right now.
If you live over on the other side, you hear them bombing, bombing.
They bombing our mama.
SARAIN: Can you tell me what brought you here? It's about educating the people to the dangers of depleted uranium and all the other radiation that's still up here.
Depleted uranium gets into your genetics, and it's passed on generation to generation to generation.
What do you think the Indigenous role is for protecting Mauna Kea? Obviously there's been a lot of things in the news.
- I'd love to hear your take.
- It's hard, really, striking a balance between cultural values and science, but they have 13 telescopes up there! How many do they need? I'm siding with the Indigenous people.
Give it back to them, they know how to take care of land.
If I could see a document that shows the United States is a legal entity here, maybe it would change my allegiance back.
Support the organizations and Indigenous people that want to protect the land.
- SARAIN: This is the Indigenous convoy! - (Honking) Today is kind of like one of those days that just everything aligned.
La has been part of the fight to protect Mauna Kea since the very beginning.
In April 2015, he was involved there in occupation that blocked access to construction crews and workers.
(Chanting and clapping) He was among over 31 people who were arrested while keeping vigil during the 168-day standoff to protect their sacred mauna.
(Singing) The ultimate goal is de-occupation, right? Where we get our country back and we start restoring the land and the society, the communities that helped to sustain this place that is often viewed in a romanticized way, right? Hawaii: paradise.
When you pull away the curtain a little bit, you see the bombs, you see the depleted uranium, you see the homelessness, you see the desecration of sacred sites.
Yeah, there's so much behind the face, yeah? The 15, $16 billion industry that is tourism, the Hawaii Tourism Authority here in Hawaii.
Yeah, it puts a big smokescreen around Hawaii for the rest of the world.
There are many ways that people here are fighting for de-occupation.
For the defenders of Mauna Kea, this battle is not just a legal one, but a spiritual one.
Pua Case is the matriarchal leader of the Mauna Kea Movement.
She's dedicated her life to protecting the mountain after her daughter had a vision imploring her to help stop the telescope.
We are all feeling called to be here, and thank you for answering that call, for Mauna Kea, but also other issues like RIMPAC.
You know, there's a thousand issues here.
So tomorrow, we're gonna be in court.
And so we come here today and we want to bless everybody.
But more important, to recommit to the mountain, and that is the privilege that we have to be here.
(Chanting) So when we say that we are praying at the Ahu, which when you look at it, it looks like a structure of rock, it's the summit brought to the place where we have our feet on the ground.
A place that we have designated as sacred.
That means we are on the summit.
(Chanting) (Horn blowing) So at this time, we are going to ask our mauna to wake and to see us, and to feel us.
(Singing) That ceremony was to prepare everyone who is going to be at the court hearing tomorrow in regards to the Thirty Meter Telescope.
And then they invited me again to join them at the summit of Mauna Kea, so it's very high elevation up here.
We have to stop at a visitor centre and climatize.
But from what I understand, the reason we're going up here is so that the people conducting the ceremony can gather more understanding, more spiritual knowledge on how to conduct themselves tomorrow at the court hearing.
(Chanting) PUA: When I think of the word "courage", is when I say to myself I'm braver than my fear.
There have been many times when we were filled with fear, but we had moved beyond that.
And you are able to get up in the morning and say, "Today, I might get arrested.
Today might be the day that I get hurt on the mountain, standing on the line.
Today I don't know what I'm gonna face in the courtroom, but I'm still going.
" (Horn blowing) I'm at the University of Hawaii, and I'm going to go meet Dr.
Paul Coleman.
He's a Native Hawaiian and also an astrophysicist, and he's going to give me some more information on the Thirty Meter Telescope.
I'm really curious; can you tell me a little bit more about - the Thirty Meter Telescope? - In astronomy, one of the things that has to happen in order for us to progress, is we literally do have to make bigger and bigger telescopes.
So the Thirty Meter is the next step in the natural progression of size of telescope.
So it will be the most modern, most up-to-date and biggest telescope on Earth.
It's been suggested and worked out that it will look to the furthest distance in the universe that you can observe.
Can you tell me why Mauna Kea is such an important place for this telescope to be built? The mountain itself is a shield volcano, so the air just flows in laminar, which means no turbulence.
Mauna Kea is also high altitude, so that means there's less oxygen, less water vapour above the telescope, and that's perfect for astronomy.
So yeah, it's just the best place in the world for a telescope.
SARAIN: You're from here; what about Native Hawaiians, or people from the area who ? PAUL: I think that the majority of Hawaiians are completely in favour of having Mauna Kea for astronomy.
It resonates with us as a people because we are all astronomers.
The reason I'm Hawaiian is because some ancestor of mine got in a boat in South Pacific, and was led to Hawaii by an astronomer.
And I can speak from traditional perspectives too, because I talked a lot to my Tutu, my grandmother, my Hawaiian grandmother, when I was thinking of doing astronomy.
She thought it was fantastic.
Nowhere, in all of those discussions with my grandmother or any of my grand aunties or uncles, do they say that Mauna Kea is too sacred to build on it.
The TMT is actually planting something like $3 million that goes directly into the communities there on the Big Island.
There's also a million dollars that's gonna go directly to the upkeep of the mountain.
So if you re a "protector" of the mountain, you're sending away a million dollars a year to protect the mountain? There are so many facets to this protest that are outside of the protest itself.
So it's not really Hawaiians against the TMT, it's Hawaiians against the overthrow, it's Hawaiians against being second-class citizens in their own homeland.
And like I said, it's a media filter, so the guys who are against, they make a lot of noise, and you know But what's cool about it is, of course, you're looking at the universe as far as you can.
You will never see further.
No matter how big a telescope you build, you will never see further than this.
That's a pretty good deal for one telescope.
I'm here in Hilo, Hawaii, and I just arrived at the hearing for the Thirty Meter Telescope.
This is an opportunity for both those who support the Thirty Meter Telescope and those who oppose it to have both sides heard.
(Singing) This morning, we convened to have hearing on the motions that have been filed, and so it's very important that the parties participate.
- Aloha, hi.
- Aloha, hi.
I just noticed your pin, so I wanted to talk to you.
- Is that okay? - Sure.
Can I ask you you said you were a Native Hawaiian.
Obviously, you must have heard about the opposition and the idea that, you know, the Thirty Meter Telescope could desecrate sacred sites.
Could you tell me how you feel about that? Mauna Kea is definitely sacred.
All Native Hawaiians believe that.
But I think we also believe that science and culture can coexist, that the mountain won't be desecrated.
It's Yes, something is being built there, but it is for science.
If a hotel was going up on the mountain, of course then I would agree that that would be desecration to the mountain.
We're sort of in this Catch 22.
You stated that the status of the State of Hawaii will not be an issue in this contested case hearing.
That conclusion assumes that there's never going to be any new evidence that would cause the courts to reconsider their view of the existence of the kingdom or its jurisdiction, or any of the issues that have been discussed here today.
So, precedent has become set in stone, but that's not the way the law process works.
Precedents can be overturned and reversed by new evidence and new argument.
SARAIN: So what basis are you using to challenge the development on Mauna Kea? There's criteria that has to be met under the rules in order for Conservation District Use Permit to be awarded.
We don't believe that any of the criteria can be met.
There's already significant, substantial and adverse impact on cultural and natural resources on Mauna Kea.
I don't participate in this kind of process, never have, other than the few times that I was arrested, you know, in regards to this struggle.
Can you tell me what it was like to be on Mauna Kea? Being on the mountain was something that I've been quoted to say many times, I think was the greatest activation, mobilization and unification of Hawaiian people since 1897, since the protest of the annexation, the illegal annexation of Hawaii to America.
And we've seen our people activated and awakened.
What's going on with Mauna Kea and TMT and this whole process is a continuation of things that've happened to our people since the 1800s.
When our kingdom was illegally taken from us, when they banned our language and took it away from our kids, and our schools, and beat us for speaking it.
It's not done.
(Chanting) SARAIN: In a park beside the Waianae Houseless Camp, Twinkle is throwing a Ho'olaule'a, a traditional Hawaiian gathering that they're hoping will attract people from the wider Waianae community.
Twinkle's goal is to bring the houseless community closer together with their neighbours, and encourage an understanding between them.
We're here in Waianae, and we're at the Aha that Twinkle's been planning.
It's being put on by Twinkle, but on behalf of the houselessness camp.
And I'm gonna go check it out and hopefully learn more about what an Aha means to Twinkle and their community.
So, what brought you here today? Of course the Hawaiian Sovereignty Movement, and We always have to care for our community, you know.
So that's why we're here, and what better place than front line, right down over here, you know, with this community in the bushes.
So what brought you here to this event today? La Ho'iho'i Ea.
I knew that there was gonna be a bunch of my people here, and I just wanted to spend the day with my lahui.
Things Hawaiian are coming back, but it's not just us that can do it.
We need everybody from the community to come and help.
So can you tell me about the planning leading up to this event? How long have you been planning for this Aha? Um, this came to me about a couple of years ago.
- Okay.
- Wanting to do something for the kids to make a difference in our community, and I wanted to make it to something too where the kids had to involve themselves with our kids.
You know, our kids are so used to going to school being teased, being told you homeless, and this and that.
I wanted to break that stigma.
I'm surprised we have this much vendors, you know, and a lot of help.
I mean, even for the school supplies, 'cause my goal was able to give each child here one school, um, backpack.
So we did a little over 500, but not only for our kids in here, but to also provide for the community out there.
With backpacks? - Backpacks, yes, yes.
- Wow, wow.
Wasn't easy, but we made it happen.
SARAIN: What are your hopes for the future, for yourself, for the community? Actually getting the land.
That is our home, that has been my home for the last 13 years.
But to give us the land so we don't need to deal with anybody telling us you gotta go.
I want to be more self-sufficient that way.
That's my goal.
Twinkle's dream to someday own the land beneath her tent can be seen as a desire for space.
Not just a physical place to live, but a collective space to assert identity and practice culture as Native Hawaiians.
And above all, a place to call home, where her family can live safe and secure from the threat of being displaced at a moment's notice.
For me, like I said, the home is for my kids.
Yeah, you gotta have that love, that respect.
Home is where you can come home and rest.
This, this became my home, with all of its flaws and all its all of its whatevers, it became my home.
Having the ones I love, the ones that I fell in love with, with me Sitting on the table with my kids enjoying dinner, you know.
And it's mandatory, and we do that together as a family.
I'm not homeless, I'm houseless.
(Singing) Today at the base of Mauna Kea summit, the protectors are gathering to celebrate the time that they held vigil on this mountain in protest of the TMT project.
The hearing that the Mauna protectors attended is just the beginning of a much longer court process.
Despite the celebration here today, in many ways the legal fight has just begun.
We have been holding this mauna just in this last active current movement for 500 days.
We've really been holding this mauna for much longer in the court system and through our stances and our prayers, whether that meant standing here, staying here, police coming up here, construction workers, TMT.
We have had babies to elders and beyond that stand in this line, and really it all started in this crosswalk.
This crosswalk is very important to us because if you keep walking, you have the right of way in the crosswalk.
Okay, everybody ready? Let's do it.
(Cheering) 500 days! (Cheering) (Chanting) SARAIN: Hawaii has a way of reminding you of life's most ancient beginnings.
I'm on my way to the Lava Field National Park where Tutu Pele, the goddess of fire, is making herself known.
For the first time in three years, her lava is flowing out to meet the ocean, and I'm being taken to see this incredible sight.
So we got about a three-mile hike in.
As you can tell, if you look at the lava flow right now, it's very uneven, very sharp.
So when we get out there, please pay attention to your footing.
Other than that, let's be safe and get back alive.
(Laughing) Yeah, alive! (Laughing) So when the Hawaiians pass away, they come back to the land, Aina.
All in the rocks, the trees, soil.
All of these rocks out here, all our ancestors' in it, in them.
There's a lot of power in the rocks.
There's also, you know, hundreds of rocks that get sent back to the national parks every year because tourists take rocks, and then they end up having bad dreams - or having bad experiences.
- Bad luck, bad experiences.
Maybe right here at the edge we'll do a chant to enter.
(Chanting) The fire goddess, Tutu Pele, holds a special significance in Hawaiian religion.
She is also known as the creator of the islands, and appears everywhere; her spirit alive in the volcanoes and lava.
(Chanting) And this is the home of Tutu Pele.
And there's a story of her coming here to Hawaii.
Yeah, her migration, she's not from here originally.
When you see her migration from Kahiki, she is chased by her sister.
Her sister is Namakaokahai, the ocean goddess.
So the fire goddess Pele, yeah, the goddess of the lava, yeah, and Namakaokahai, the goddess of the oceans, the currents.
And so right here is, you know, that's this is their this is their meeting place right here.
You know, get to see firsthand some of the magic here that Hawaii has to offer.
And it's just beautiful we get to see her giving birth.
It is incredible that we have new life with us.
Yeah, right? In honour of Tutu Pele, we've brought offerings of new life.
Native Hawaiians have a saying, "Aloha Aina.
" Simply translated, it means "to love the land".
This concept can drive one into action, whether it be political or spiritual.
At its core, it's about standing up for the earth.
PUA: Stand proud, even if you stand alone.
Because in the end, seven generations from now, I want to be remembered.
My grandchildren are gonna be able to say, "My grandmother makes me proud to be Hawaiian.
" (Rapping in Hawaiian) We gotta rise up (Rapping in Hawaiian) Recognize Overstand Project (Rapping in Hawaiian) All of our (Rapping in Hawaiian) They showed us how to make (Rapping in Hawaiian) We rock it, don't stop Aloha Aina.