Mauna Kea Observatories

Maunakea Observatories are a group of ten independent, nonprofit institutions with telescopes atop Maunakea on Hawaiʻi Island. More discovery and advancement in the field of astronomy happens here than anywhere else in the world, and we recognize the privilege of engaging in science on Maunakea. Maunakea is an exceptional site for ground-based astronomy due to its elevation, dark skies, environmental conditions, and location. The telescopes and instruments on Maunakea span from radio to ultraviolet wavelengths, wide- to narrow-field high angular resolution, and measurement techniques from imaging, to spectroscopy to interferometry. By the number of papers produced with Maunakea observations and these papers’ citations, Maunakea is the most scientifically productive and impactful site in ground-based astronomy. We are simultaneously invested in scientific excellence and mutual stewardship in alignment with the new governance structure for Maunakea. In 2022, Act 255 formed the Maunakea Stewardship and Oversight Authority (MKSOA), which represents a model of mutual stewardship with 11 members representing astronomy; Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners and community leaders; local business; education; land/resource management; lineal descendants of indigenous Maunakea caretakers; the University of Hawaiʻi; and local government. Maunakea is currently co-managed by MKSOA and the University of Hawaiʻi, with governance being fully transferred to MKSOA by 2028. MKSOA will be responsible for the negotiation and renewal of any new astronomy leases on Maunakea. The Maunakea Observatories are united by our deep respect and appreciation for Maunakea’s environment that makes our work possible, and the communities with whom we share stewardship responsibility to ensure the mauna is treated with respect now and for generations to come. As such, we recognize and embrace our responsibility to create more productive, reciprocal, innovative and mutually-beneficial relationships between the astronomical institutions operating on Maunakea and the native Hawaiian and local communities interconnected to this land. We believe in a community-centered approach to astronomy that values and includes all voices in decision-making and nurtures the connections needed to weave and share the unique culture and astronomy of Maunakea with Hawaiʻi and the world. Maunakea Observatories chooses to spell Maunakea as one word instead of two (Mauna Kea) based on the context that many Hawaiian words, including Maunakea, are made of multiple root words that are then combined into one word to represent a person or place as Kanaka ʻŌiwi scholar and Hawaiian language and studies professor Larry Kimura explains in his 2008 article in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs newspaper Ka Wai Ola. Mutual stewardship is a model of shared responsibility in community for protecting, nurturing, and balancing the natural, cultural, ancestral, environmental, and scientific resources of Maunakea. Under the paradigm of mutual stewardship, we think about our shared responsibility as working in orientation of the whole, as part of the whole. Through this model, we acknowledge the interconnectedness between kanaka and their land, and commit to upholding our responsibility to build and strengthen healthy relationships with the land and the people of this place. Consider reading “ A Way Forward” by Norma Wong to learn more about the philosophy of mutual stewardship. What do we mean by community? From a native Hawaiian perspective – and in fact, from the viewpoints of many indigenous and local cultures – there is no division between people and the natural world, including the land. If the land is unwell, the people are unwell. If the people are unwell, the land is unwell. We root ourselves in the understanding that community means both place and people. One example of mutual stewardship in action is found in the way the built infrastructure of Maunakea is maintained. The Maunakea Observa