Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson joined protestors at the base of Hawaii's Mauna Kea mountain to oppose a massive telescope planned for the top of the island's tallest peak.
The opposition against the telescope has raged on for years, but protestors have been out in force for the last 10 days attempting to halt construction. The 30-meter telescope hoped to use the peak as a base for a $1.4 billion telescope that was initially supposed to begin construction in 2015. The University of Hawaii pushed the issue all the way to the state Supreme Court, which ruled that they can go ahead with the project in 2018.
Native Hawaiians are concerned that the project will disrupt or destroy a sacred site on the mountain, and The Rock, who spent his childhood in Honolulu, is inclined to agree with them.
"What I realized today, and obviously I've been following this for years now, is that it's bigger than a telescope. It's humanity. It's culture," Johnson told reporters.
"I wanted to come here and see our people and stand with them and support them," he added.
The area around Mauna Kea is known for its nighttime darkness, with many people choosing the area as a place to go stargazing. There are several observatories in the area because of the undisturbed darkness. However, the peak of Mauna Kea is akin to the Garden of Eden in Hawaiian traditional cosmology, the site where deities representing the Earth and sky met. The decision to build on top of it has led to protestors blocking access roads and taking over government buildings in the area. Native Hawaiians and allies have also protested the decision with marches in various cities.
"This is all we have left, so we aren’t going to move,” activist Walter Ritte told Vox. “They’re going to have to keep arresting us — and we’ll keep coming right back. The mountain represents us, all Hawaiians, so we’re not going to let them take our mountain. … We aren’t going to leave her.”
