Richard Ha writes:

I attended all seven of the TMT scoping meetings. And I testified at each one, talking about sustainability, togetherness and planning for future generations. Yet, as meetings came to Hilo, where the most passionate of the speakers talked about past injustices, processes not followed, and betrayal – and where I talked about sustainability, education and future generations – a thought started to surface.

It was this: Hawaiians were the most accomplished navigators of their time. How appropriate for the greatest telescope in the world, and the greatest navigators in the world, to come together for future Hawaiian keiki to look up to and take pride in.

History books are full of tales about heroic mariners such as the Norseman Leif Ericson, Christopher Columbus of Spain, Ferdinand Magellan of Portugal and James Cook of England.

Lesser known are the accomplishments of the Polynesians – arguably the most skilled seamen of all – who were navigating the Pacific centuries before any European explorer left port.

From the Marquesas, those courageous pioneers sailed north more than 2,000 miles to settle the islands that we now call Hawai‘i. Amazingly, they made those epic voyages guided only by the stars, winds and ocean currents.

If the TMT folks listen to everyone’s concerns and take suggestions seriously – in, as they say, a new paradigm – there is a good chance we can honor the greatest navigators in the world with the largest and best telescope in the world on the most sacred mountain in the world—all for the benefit of generations of keiki to come.

Not, no can. CAN!