06-24-2019, 04:42 AM
The folks I know who have, in some cases repeatedly, made pilgrimages to Mauna Kea for spiritual purposes would never have been seen by the staff at the different telescope facilities. Most I know have ascended the mountain on foot, some on the Umikoa Trail, and have avoided the actual summit, sighting the telescopes and tourist activities as reasons to avoid the area entirely, and have favored other areas near by. If the Umikoa Trail’s path is any indication lake Waiau is more a central point that the summit itself anyways. And, some of the shelters in the adjacent adze queries are used and have been for a very long time, verses the exposure one has to endure otherwise. Not to say the summit is not central to their interests, but that occupied as it currently is it is a blight from their perspective.
All things considered, to have staff at any of the telescopes say anything about the use of the mountain for purposes other than their own is just silly. How would they really know when local practitioners avoided any interaction with them? How would they know anything if they believe that because they don’t see something it is less significant than the things they do see?
All things considered, to have staff at any of the telescopes say anything about the use of the mountain for purposes other than their own is just silly. How would they really know when local practitioners avoided any interaction with them? How would they know anything if they believe that because they don’t see something it is less significant than the things they do see?