Musicians Support Maunakea With One Voice

Hawai‘i musicians are singing in one voice on Labor Day to support efforts on Maunakea.

A collection of some of Hawaiʻi recording artists and composers have joined together after being inspired by the events that have taken place at the base of Maunakea since mid-July 2019, according to a press release from ʻŌiwi TV.

For more than a month and a half, thousands of protestors have blocked Mauna Kea Access Road, hindering the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). Some in Hawai‘i consider the mountain sacred ground.

Zachary Lum and Chad Takatsugi, in partnership with ʻŌiwi TV, coordinated a music video shoot for the track Kū Haʻaheo, which has become the anthem of the community-based movement and was composed by Hinaleimoana Wong, the release continued.

The video features nearly 40 artists and celebrities singing in unison and standing in solidarity for Maunakea, including Robert Cazimero, Amy Hanaialiʻi, Robi Kahakalau, Lehua Kalima, Natalie Ai Kamuʻu, Kealiʻi Reichel, Josh Tatofi and Hōkū Zuttermeister.

Musicians across Hawai‘i gather to sing in one voice in a music video supporting the TMT protest on Mauna Kea. Photo courtesy of ʻŌiwi TV.

“English does not have a word that encapsulates both man and nature. Hawaiian does: ʻāina,” said Lum, choral director at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama. Aloha ʻāina, thus, is the natural, undeniable bond between man and environment. Every moment we dedicate to aloha ʻāina is a moment we dedicate to our keiki. Moments like these are the little pebbles that will form a new foundation—he kahua hale hou. It will be a new reality for our keiki, the rebirth of a new lāhui consciousness.”

“We lift our collective voices in tandem with thousands of others here in Hawaiʻi and across the globe in support of Mauna A Wākea,” said Kealiʻi Reichelaward, award-winning artist and Kumu Hula. “Everyone donated their time, talent and support to be a part of this fine aloha ʻāina tapestry. Every day we are on the mauna, we are writing new chapters of our own story,”

“Kū Haʻaheo” will be included on a soon to be released album entitled “Kūhaʻo Maunakea,” which is a compilation featuring 18 new compositions documenting the events and swell of Hawaiian community unity around aloha ʻāina associated with the Kū Kiaʻi Mauna movement.

Along with executive producer Kanaeokana, album co-producers Lum, Takatsugi, and Shawn Pimental have engaged practitioners, scholars and artists from across Hawaiʻi to come together to celebrate the ancestral wisdom and practices of our kūpuna and the commitment that we make today to future generations through mele.

The album will be available digitally through iTunes in late September and 100% of all sales will be donated to the Hawaiian Unity and Liberation Institute (HULI), which provides logistical support to the protectors on the frontline of Maunakea.

Donations to HULI can be made at https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/huli.

The music video will premiere on Monday, Sept. 2, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. HST on Spectrum Digital Channel 326, www.oiwi.tv, facebook.com/oiwitv and @oiwitv Instagram.