#ProtectMaunaKea: How Hawaiian activists are using Teespring to protect their land

You might’ve heard about the Mauna Kea Movement in the news. Around for years, the cause recently gained resurgence with celebrity endorsements and a new case against land developers constructing the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) project on the Big Island.

One woman, TheresaLynette Keohunani Taber, has been involved in this movement for many years and has dedicated her time to fundraising to fight legal expenses and promote education. Read on for more insight on this movement’s history, contributors, and how Teespring can be used to raise funds and awareness for any cause.

 

The history of Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea represents a temple of the highest order in which heaven and man can meet. Created by Akua, it is home to the progenitors of the Hawaiian people, including Na Akua, Na ‘Aumakua, Papa, and Wakea. Mauna Kea is not dictated by earthly sanctions, but laws of heaven. It represents a sacred place and history in Hawaiian culture.

 

Raising funds for the cause

It’s hard enough raising funds and awareness for a cause, let alone processing and fulfilling orders. For this reason the Protect Mauna Kea team uses Teespring. By offloading the processing and production logistics to Teespring, Theresa and her team can focus on what matters most.

“Teespring enables us to launch our message in a professional, reliable and conducive manner.  The great thing about Teespring, is that we can do what we do best, in this case, fighting to Protect Mauna Kea and we can leave it to the experts at Teespring and their team of talented professionals to get our message out there to the world. Mahalo nui Teespring, for helping us Protect Mauna Kea!” – TheresaLynette

 

Contributors + community

Designers

• Silvia Martinez: A professional publicist and freelance artist, donated her design to Mauna Kea Anaina Hou, a Hawaiian organization, in honor of Mauna Kea. A huge Jason Momoa fan, she has collaborated with him on multiple graphic arts projects over the years and Jason regularly shares her art with his millions of followers.

• Leah Davies: A nanny from the U.K., Leah educated herself on the issue after seeing Jason Momoa’s posts. Her and her friend, Rich Eszter, came up with this design and gave it to Jason at a meet-and-greet.
• Claudia Bost: Originally from Germany, Claudia is a full time mother, medical professional and graphic designer. Claudia shared her design to honor Mauna Kea.
• Keomailani Von Gogh: Keomailani is a long time Mauna Kea Protector and has participated in many ceremonies on Mauna Kea. She is an integral part of Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and itʻs work to Protect Mauna Kea. She created this design to honor Mauna Kea Anaina Hou and Protect Mauna Kea.

 

Celebrity support

This movement gained national attention in 2015, where a huge list of celebrities helped the Protect Mauna Kea movement go viral. ‘Aquaman’ Jason Momoa is credited with posting on Instagram to his 12 million followers the now famous “bare chested” #WeAreMaunaKea, challenging all his celebrity friends to show their support.

In 2019, even more celebrities have joined the list and visited the Mauna to share protocol with the Kupuna (Hawaiian elders). Many have donated their time and talents to perform for fundraisers, such as Jack Johnson, Damien Gong Marley Jr., and Paula Fuga. The list continues to grow day by day.

• Jason Momoa
• Nicole Scherzinger
• Lisa Bonet
• Nathalie Emmanuel 
• Suki Waterhouse 
• Kelly Slater 
• Ian Somerhalder 
• Jai Courtney
• Jill Wagner
• Rena Owen 
• BJ Penn 
• Zoe Kravitz 
• Emilia Clarke
• Rosario Dawson
• Bernie Sanders
• Tulsi Gabbard
• Elizabeth Warren
• Marianne Williamson
• Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
• Bruno Mars
• Damien Gong Marley Jr.
• Jack Johnson
• Paula Fuga
• Madison Bumgarner
• Leonardo DiCaprio

Interested in supporting the cause? Add your name to the official #protectmaunakea charity t-shirt and consider donating.