Aloha Mai Kākou.

This movement is something that has opened the eyes of the world. Being on that mauna and seeing so many young people involved is really beautiful. However, our cheeks are soaked with the tears of our kupuna who have come up to give us their blessings.

I am a product of the efforts of your generation to re-introduce Hawaiian culture into our education system; mahalo nui. And it is just like bruddah Kahoʻokahi said: Yeah, you basically created these avenues for us, so now you deal with us [laughter from the room]. We are the products of your prayers; of your sacrifices; of your hard work. We were taught and trained in the traditions of our kupuna, as well as guided to be able to survive in this Western world.

How we have conducted ourselves on the mauna, of all things, is what calls attention to us; the world is watching how we conduct our Kapu Aloha. Thousands and thousands of people have already visited the mauna in just these few weeks. We have spoken to hundreds of visitors to our islands who have come up the mauna; and we talk with them, we educate them. We’ve comforted kupuna who have come up the mauna, but can do little more than cry. We comfort them because we know that they went through their suffering for us; we are the products of your prayers.

We are starting to look at our world in a different way. Yes, we need to be concerned about the way oil prices are affecting our economy. However, our goal should not be to inflate the amount of money we have so we can buy more oil. Our goal should be to think better so we can get rid of oil. In one generation petroleum byproducts were a beautiful new discovery; one generation later, right now, they are a great thing that we rely on and use; but for our generation, we’re the ones who have to deal with the effects of all that. And now our oceans are toxic and our air is polluted. Those technologies, those byproducts—they’re not clean. They’re killing us. I look at our keiki, those even younger than us, and I wonder what the heck is going to happen to them.

Read more: http://hawaiiindependent.net/story/speech-lanakila-mangauil-on-the-tmt