One time, we went up to get the pohaku to make the ko’i. And we just went up and did it. Then, when we were confronted by some state people saying that you shouldn’t be up here doing this and this and that, collecting all of these stuffs, well, my question was “Why?”

Well, they said that it's because its part of historical preservation. And I can understand sometimes where they're coming from. But in this sense, they're telling us that we cannot take pohaku this big to bring it down to make ko’i to continue our traditions.

Yet they allow these guys to cut a super highway, a paved highway, right through the pit and then go up there and flatten those mountains to put the observatories on. In the name of science. And in their eyes, yeah, that’s something they have to do. But at least allow us to do what we have to do. We’re not bothering anybody. Rules and regulations at that time, seems like it was made only for us. And that’s not fair. So we did it anyway. Whatever the outcome was, we stand by it.

Clay Bertelmann
Master navigator