Mauna Kea Ho’oponopono Session Still in the Works

Several individuals arrested on Mauna Kea in early April say that Thirty Meter Telescope and state officials did not respond to an invitation to attend a recent Ho’oponopono session.

Ho‘oponopono is a traditional Hawaiian process to make right and heal difficult situations.

According to a release, their session was scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Hilo office of the Queen Lili’uoukalani Children’s Center. Only the defendants and the Ho’oponopono haku, or facilitator, Howard Pe’a, attended the meeting.

According to a previous article, three of the 31 individuals arrested on April 2 for protesting the Thirty Meter Telescope – Jim Albertini, Ronald Fujiyoshi, and Gary Oamilda – filed a motion in May to seek Ho’oponopono instead of going to trial.

On June 18, the option was presented to 21 of the arrestees during a court appearance in Waimea by Judge Barbara Takase. Those that declined are scheduled for trial on December 3.

The defendants who were approved by the court to seek Ho’oponopono on issues scheduled a meeting on Saturday and multiple individuals attended including Moanikeala Akaka, Joseph Ku’ali’i Camara, Gary Oamilda, Danette H. Godines, Jim Albertini and Craig Neff.

However, state and TMT representatives did not show up for the session, a disappointment to the self-proclaimed Mauna Kea protectors.

Neff said in a statement, “We were disappointed that none of the opposing parties accepted our invitation and only UH President David Lassner had the courtesy to even respond via an email to one of the defendants.  There is a lot of talk by the Governor and others about the need to talk to one another in a respectful way but such words seem more posturing than substance.”

“Still, we are not prepared to give up on the possibility of Ho‘oponopono to protect Mauna Kea.  We will continue to reach out to the opposing parties and will also now try to include Mayor Billy Kenoi and Hawaii County Police Capt. Richard Sherlock.  Hawaii County prosecutor Mitch Roth stated that a guilty or not guilty verdict in the Mauna Kea trials really won’t solve anything, but Ho‘oponopono has the possibility of getting at the deeper issues.”

According to the release, the purpose of the session was so that participants can freely explore with the haku what will be involved in the Ho‘oponopono process to determine whether or not to go forward with a commitment to Ho‘oponopono.