Momoa Visits Mauna Kea, Protectors

Jason Momoa greets the hundreds of protectors on Mauna Kea. The actor visited on Wednesday, July 31, 2019. It was the 18th day of the protest. PC: Darde Gamayo

On July 31, 2019, the 18th day of the standoff over construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), actor Jason Momoa visited TMT opponents on the mountain along with his children and several other members of his family. They spent several hours on the mountain.

He offered his ho‘okupu in to the kūpuna and briefly addressed protectors.

“I am so honored to be here finally,” Momoa said. “To bring my children and all of my ‘ohana here. To meet everyone and to spend time with you here today. I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“I’ve been busy,” he added, chuckling. “This is at the forefront of my life. I tried everything I could to spread these moments around the world. To everyone that loves our lands. To the far reaches of the world, to show what is going on here. I am thankful to the protectors, the stewards of this land. And, we are not going anywhere! I am not going anywhere!”

The crowd responded with cheers and applause, after which Momoa proceeded with his family to the kūpuna tent, greeting them individually, conversing with them and taking some pictures.

He next made his way around the front lines of the standoff, as well as across the road to the Pu’u honua where protectors have set up their camp. Momoa later joined the leaders of the protest in their daily press conference.

“I wanted to come up today because I wanted firsthand be here, stand with our protectors,” he said to the media. “I wanted to bring my team up here and interview everyone here that I could so I can spread my awareness around the world. … I don’t want to be on a 10-second snit on KHON talking about how much I love our land. Forgive me if I don’t say everything right now, but I will be talking to everyone. I am in it for the solutions. We got (ourselves) our stars. We love science. (The protest) is because of the desecration of our lands. So with that, I am interested in solutions. But there is one thing that is not going to happen. They are not building it here!”