"It Could've Been You, It Could've Been You, It Could've Been So Many of Us"Interview with Noelani Goodyear-Ka'ōpua Noelani Goodyear-Ka'ōpua (bio), Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada (bio), and No'u Revilla (bio) Noelani Goodyear-Ka'ōpua was one of eight kia'i who chained themselves to the cattle guard on Mauna Kea Access Road on July 15, 2019, to prevent Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) personnel from accessing the sacred summit. In her roles as a community organizer, scholar, and educator in Indigenous Politics, Noe cultivates aloha 'āina leadership. Mahalo nui loa iā 'oe e Noe for remembering kūpuna with us. July 2, 2020 Bryan Kamaoli Kuwada: Can you tell us a little bit about the whole decision to chain yourself to the cattle guard? What were some of the things that went through your mind? What was it like to be surrounded by your family at that point? Noelani Goodyear-Ka'ōpua: It was a very spur-of-the-moment decision. We went up there prepared to do whatever was needed. Throughout that day, there were several hundred people that came through. By night time, there were maybe 200. It wasn't a big group like how it got later. The night before, there was a big meeting and everybody split up into the different color groups, according to our willingess to face arrest: green, yellow, red. Even at that time, I was like, should we go yellow, should we go red? I ended up going red. So, we were at the base of Pu'uhuluhulu under this small pop-up tent and Kaleikoa came up behind me, literally in the dark, and tapped me on the shoulder.1 The kuleana presented itself, and it felt pono. I knew 'Īmai would be down to be my partner, and Kalei was stoked about that.2 We met later that night to prepare. The call time was a few hours away, and we tried to sleep, but, you know, it was really hard to get any sleep. Just closed my eyes. Then, three thirty in the morning, we were over there. [End Page 530] BKK: In the piece that you wrote, it's almost like a dream state, where things kind of blend together. If you're up for it, could you expand on that? NGK: A dream state is a really great way to describe it because of the time that it all happened, the lack of sleep we had, and just how surreal the whole thing was at that time. [Looks away from screen.] Sorry … it's hard. It's hard to talk about sometimes because it was so intense and we haven't actually really talked or reflected on it a lot. In fact this past February, we were at No'eau Peralto's house for a writing retreat, and 'Ilima Long was there, Heoli Osorio was there, 'Īmai was there. It was the first time we had all got together to reflect on what all those days in July were like. BKK: We don't have to talk about it. I know it's difficult … NGK: No, I mean, I want to, especially with you guys, because I love and trust you so much. But it's hard to just, like, drop into that moment again … BKK: We can move on to other questions, and if you feel like you want to talk about this after, we can get back to it. Does that sound better? NGK: Yeah, if you don't mind. I think that would help me drop into that space again. BKK: No, no, no. That was my fault. So … [reviewing questions carefully] OK, I think this one should be OK. So you guys on the grate were represented in so many different ways. It was on live streams, still photos, video, and all of that. The news interviewed you. There are mele. It is represented in all of these different ways. In terms of life writing, when it came down to you actually telling your own story, why did you pick the creative nonfiction genre? NGK: It was an intense series of events. Not just that day...