The Sacred Volcano and the Extremely Large Telescope; Structural Violence and Conflicting Notions of Pollution at Mauna a Wakea, Hawai'i

神圣的火山和极大的望远镜；

• 批准号: 2788961
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Sussex
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2788961
• 关键词: Sacred; Volcano; Extremely; Large; Telescope

Mauna a Wakea is a dormant volcano on the Island of Hawai'i that is named after the "sky father". Itis considered to be a sacred place and living relative to the native Hawaiians. The mountain is also apiko (umbilical cord, spiritual centre) of the land and therefore a powerful place that acts as the cordthat ties the ancestors to the living and the heavens to the earth. The native Hawaiians are not theonly people who have an interest in the mountain however. It also happens to be the best place forground-based astronomy in the Northern Hemisphere because it is the highest point in the Pacificand, as scientists like to put it, it has exceptionally low levels of 'atmospheric-, electronic- and light pollution' (Morrison, 1973). For this reason, 13 telescopes are already on the mountain and plans arein the works for the biggest one yet, the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The kia'i mauna (nativeHawaiian protectors of the mountain) see it as their duty to ensure no more construction is evercarried out on the mountain, which has resulted in an ongoing conflict at Mauna a Wakea. I proposeto conduct ethnographic research at both Caltech (in Pasadena, California) and on Hawaii. Caltech isone of the organisations behind the TMT and I want to conduct interviews with the astronomers tocollect qualitative data on how they position themselves within this conflict. I want to examine inhow far astronomers are aware of the cultural context connected to astronomy, how they considerthe native Hawaiians' connection to Mauna a Wakea, and why they feel that scientific astronomyshould be prioritised over local beliefs. In Hawaii I want to interview people from organisations whofight against the building of the TMT and for the preservation of Hawaiian cultural beliefs. One of thetopics I want to explore through these interviews is how the astronomy practices are experienced asa form of cultural pollution by the natives. I want to examine how the obstruction of the Hawaiianpeople's connection to their land, spirits, and ancestors can pollute their societal awareness ofthemselves. I also propose a link between this pollution and structural violence, meaning injusticesproduced by systems that, among other outcomes, prevent the people it marginalises from gainingself-actualisation. Astronomy is generally considered to be non-polluting and non-violent, but that isgreatly dependent upon who gets to decide what is considered as violence or pollution. I will betaking lessons to gain an elementary proficiency in the Hawaiian language as the language is anessential part of the Hawaiian culture and cosmologies. Although I expect English to be the drivinglan-guage in the interviews, I think it is important that the interviewees feel free to use terms andsayings best expressed in Hawaiian, and that I can understand them. I also feel that, as an outsider,having knowledge of the 'Olelo Hawai'i shows I take the Hawaiian culture and its suppressionseriously and want to do my best at portraying their stories as authentically as possible. Whereastronomy is generally considered to be an equalising science, showing us where our collectivehistory and place in the cosmos is, this research aims to show the divide it can likewise create. Itcould change the way the general public considers astronomy and help give rise to ananthropological understanding of the field. It also has potential to be a contribution to the discoursesurrounding land ownership in colonised spaces. Public consciousness about colonial histories andthe questions surrounding land rights are increasing in public discourse and politics. I consider thestory of Mauna a Wakea to be a key example of this kind of topic and believe it has the potential toimpact how these questions are considered

瓦克亚莫纳火山 (Mauna a Wakea) 是夏威夷岛上的一座休眠火山，以“天空之父”的名字命名。对于夏威夷本地人来说，它被认为是一个神圣的地方和居住地。这座山也是这片土地的apiko（脐带，精神中心），因此是一个强大的地方，充当着连接祖先与生者、天与地的纽带。然而，夏威夷本地人并不是唯一对这座山感兴趣的人。它也恰好是北半球进行地面天文学的最佳地点，因为它是太平洋的最高点，正如科学家喜欢说的那样，它的“大气、电子和光污染”水平极低（Morrison，1973）。因此，山上已经安装了 13 台望远镜，并且正在计划建造迄今为止最大的一台，即三十米望远镜 (TMT)。 kia'i mauna（夏威夷本土山峰保护者）认为，确保不再在山上进行任何建设是他们的责任，这导致莫纳瓦克亚山持续不断的冲突。我提议在加州理工学院（位于加利福尼亚州帕萨迪纳）和夏威夷进行人种学研究。加州理工学院是 TMT 背后的组织之一，我想对天文学家进行采访，收集有关他们如何在这场冲突中定位自己的定性数据。我想研究天文学家对与天文学相关的文化背景的了解程度，他们如何看待夏威夷当地人与莫纳瓦克亚火山的联系，以及为什么他们认为科学天文学应该优先于当地信仰。在夏威夷，我想采访来自反对 TMT 建设和保护夏威夷文化信仰的组织的人们。我想通过这些采访探讨的主题之一是，当地人如何将天文学实践视为一种文化污染。我想研究夏威夷人民与他们的土地、精神和祖先的联系的阻碍如何污染他们的社会自我意识。我还提出这种污染与结构性暴力之间的联系，这意味着系统产生的不公正，除了其他结果之外，还阻止了被边缘化的人们获得自我实现。天文学通常被认为是无污染和非暴力的，但这在很大程度上取决于谁来决定什么被视为暴力或污染。我将参加课程以初步熟练掌握夏威夷语，因为该语言是夏威夷文化和宇宙论的重要组成部分。虽然我希望英语成为采访中的主要语言，但我认为重要的是受访者可以随意使用最能用夏威夷语表达的术语和俗语，并且我可以理解它们。我还觉得，作为一个局外人，了解了“Olelo Hawai'i”节目后，我认真对待夏威夷文化及其压制，并希望尽最大努力尽可能真实地描绘他们的故事。天文学通常被认为是一门均衡科学，向我们展示我们的集体历史和在宇宙中的位置，而这项研究旨在展示它同样可能造成的分歧。它可以改变公众对天文学的看法，并有助于提高人类学对该领域的理解。它还有可能为围绕殖民地空间土地所有权的讨论做出贡献。公众对殖民历史和土地权问题的意识在公共话语和政治中不断增强。我认为 Mauna a Wakea 的故事是此类主题的一个关键例子，并相信它有可能影响如何考虑这些问题