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Mountains of Controversy: Narrative and the Making of Contested Landscapes in Postwar American Astronomy Citation Swanner, Leandra Altha. Mountains of Controversy: Narrative and the Making of Contested Landscapes in Postwar American Astronomy. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University. Permanent link http://nrs.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:11156816 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.edu/urn-3:HUL.terms-of-use#LAA Share Your Story The Harvard community has made this article openly available.

Please share how this access benefits you. Swanner All rights reserved Dissertation Advisor: Peter Galison Leandra A. Swanner Mountains of Controversy: Narrative and the Making of Contested Landscapes in Postwar American Astronomy Abstract Beginning in the second half of the twentieth century, three American astronomical observatories in Arizona and Hawai’i were transformed from scientific research facilities into mountains of controversy. This dissertation examines the histories of conflict between Native, environmentalist, and astronomy communities over telescope construction at Kitt Peak, Mauna Kea, and Mt.

Graham from the mid-1970s to the present. I situate each history of conflict within shifting social, cultural, political, and environmental tensions by drawing upon narrative as a category of analysis. Astronomers, environmentalist groups, and the Native communities of the Tohono O’odham Nation, the San Carlos Apaches, and Native Hawaiians deployed competing cultural constructions of the mountains—as an ideal observing site, a “pristine” ecosystem, or a spiritual temple—and these narratives played a pivotal role in the making of contested landscapes in postwar American astronomy. I argue that anti-observatory narratives depicting telescope construction as a threat to the ecological and spiritual integrity of the mountains were historically tethered to the rise of environmental and indigenous rights movements in the United States.

Competing narratives about the mountains’ significance were politically mobilized to gain legal and moral standing, and I interrogate the historical production of these narratives to gain insight into the dynamics of power in these controversies. iii By examining the use and consequences of narratives, I establish that the grassroots telescope opposition is representative of a highly influential participant in postwar Big Science: the vocal nonscientific community that objects to scientific practice done in its backyard. Marshaling divergent narratives has profoundly constricted both scientific and religious uses of the mountains, resulting in the loss of telescope projects and the increasing bureaucratization of prayer activities at the summit. Finally, I adapt Peter Galison’s concept of “trading zones” as regions of local coordination between two disparate scientific cultures to encompass the cultural worlds of scientists and nonscientists involved in the observatory debates.

Through the social and material exchange of mutually understood concepts, some Native and scientific communities established fruitful communication and collaboration, but I argue that these trading zones have also effectively dissolved and homogenized the distinct cultural identities of both communities. iv Table of Contents List of Figures. 44 People of the Desert, People of the Stars: Founding Kitt Peak National Observatory. 44 The Moral Economy of Postwar Astronomy.

50 A “Permanent Desert Observatory”. 53 Declaring a Winner: “a scientific elimination contest which left nothing to chance”. 58 Moving Mountains: the Tohono O’odham and Shifting Control of Sacred Peaks. 60 ‘Walking on Gold’: Federal Indian Policy and the First Tribal Constitution.

69 Meeting With the ‘Long Eyes’. 73 “A brilliant plan”: the People of the Desert Visit the People of the Stars. 78 Enter AURA: a Cooperative of Universities for a Cooperative Observatory. 81 ‘A Simple Matter’?: Astronomers’ Narratives of the Kitt Peak Lease Negotiation.

84 Deciphering Astronomers’ Narratives: the Making of “a scientific adventure story”. 96 An Aging Observatory and a Sovereign Nation: the changing identities of Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Tohono O’odham. 96 The Myth of Consensus: O’odham Perspectives on the Lease Negotiations. 101 The Dream of “a million dollars”: An Economic Argument for Signing the Lease.

109 Building ‘Astronomy City’. 113 The Rise of ‘Red Power’. 116 A “new era” for the Tohono O’odham Nation. 122 ‘Rumblings’ of Discontent.

125 Weaving Cultural Connections: Basket-Making and the KPNO Visitor Center. 128 “An Aging Observatory”. 137 From the Man in the Maze to the Man in the Moon: the KPNO Visitor Center as a Network of Exchange. 163 From a Temple of the Gods to a Temple for the Stars: Colonialism, Environmentalism, and the Making of Mauna Kea International Observatory.

166 The Polynesian mystique. 171 The ‘Post-contact’ Era. 175 The Commodification of the Mauna. 177 Making a Mauna for astronomy.

184 Astronomers Meet the Public. 187 Astronomy and the rise of American environmentalism. 190 Small bugs, Big Problems. 192 Plans based on Plans: the 1983 Complex Development Plan.

194 Auditing the Astronomers. 198 A Master Plan for Mauna Kea. 204 Collaboration and Conflict: How Narrative, Identity, and Power Defined the Cultural Landscape of Mauna Kea. 204 Identity, Tradition, and Politics in the Hawaiian Renaissance.

209 Steam and Spirit. 211 Revealing the Sacred. 214 “A Time of Collaboration”. 217 The “Origins” of Colonialism.

223 A Memorandum of (Dis)agreement. 227 Sinking the Outriggers: the Keck Outrigger contested case. 232 Ancient Polynesians and Modern Astronomers: ‘Brothers and Sisters’ in Exploring the Heavens. 235 Outreach Astronomy and Hawai’i’s keiki.

241 “Where astronomy meets Hawaiian culture”. 243 Connecting earth and sky. 248 Too Big to Fail? The Thirty Meter Telescope Proposal. 254 vi Keeping it local.

256 The TMT contested case. 268 Battle Over Earth and Sky: Environmental Opposition to the Mt. Graham International Observatory. 268 Arizona ambitions: preserving the last stronghold of continental astronomy.

274 Green Fists of Fury: the Rise of Radical Environmentalism in the American Southwest. 280 Endangered Squirrels or Endangered Scopes? Astronomers Respond to Early Environmental Opposition. 287 Red Squirrels and Red Tape. 295 Putting MGIO on the “fast-track”.

306 A Legislative Win and an Environmental Loss: the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act of 1988 314 Science “Facts” and Science Friction. 320 A Harbinger of Native Dissent. 325 The “war over Mt. 328 Between Earth and Sky: the Dueling Epistemologies of Biologists and Astronomers.

335 A Decision and a Delay. 337 “Do we have to save every subspecies?”. 339 Declaring the Sacred. 348 Squirrels, Spirits, Scopes, and the Pope: Defining the Sacred at Mt.

Graham, Big Seated Mountain. 354 Secrecy and Sacred Sites: Evaluating the Role of Silence and Politics in Western Apache Culture. 366 A “nonbiological” Biological Opinion. 376 Speaking with ‘one voice:’ Native Solidarity Against MGIO.

383 The Antidote for the “Poison Pill”. 389 A “sacred mountain” and a “sacred ecosystem”. 394 “A disguise of convenience”. 399 vii A “war between the Vatican and the Apaches”.

407 “No mountain is as sacred as a human being”. 408 “They still want to divide us against each other to win something “. 415 ‘A victory for science and the environment?’. 419 New Partners, New Problems.

421 “Nice people” or Neo-Colonialists?. 426 Trading Zones and Claims of Incommensurability. 440 Narrative, Communication, and Conflict: the Making of Contested Landscapes in Postwar American Astronomy. 440 Founding Kitt Peak National Observatory in “the golden age of astronomy”.

444 Building Telescopes in Paradise. 448 Astronomers’ Narratives Go Green. 450 Saving an ‘Endangered Species’: an observatory for Mt. 452 Environmentalist Opposition at Mauna Kea and Mt.

Graham: a Radical Difference. 455 Defending the sacred at Mt. 459 Declaring the sacred at Mauna Kea. 464 ‘Columbus’ Conquers Mt.

Graham: a New Observatory, an Old Narrative. 468 Narratives and Trading Zones. 471 Reclaiming the sacred at Kitt Peak National Observatory. 474 Colonialist Telescopes in a Postcolonial World?.

476 Narratives, Trading Zones, and the Moral Economy of Modern Astronomy. 480 “We all have to give a little”. 534 viii List of Figures Figure 1. KPNO magnet showing ‘man in the maze’ and major observatories at Kitt Peak.

KPNO Visitor Center plaque. Voices and Visions of Mauna Kea: Mauna Kea Science Reserve Master Plan and Implementation Process Summary. David Fitzsimmons, “The Newest Addition to the List of Endangered Species,” The Arizona Daily Star. David Fitzsimmons, “I’m a University! I brake for scientific research! except, of course, when it gets in my way,” The Arizona Daily Star.

Elwood Watson, Jr., “Judge delays construction of Arizona Observatory,” The Scientist. David Fitzsimmons, “Red squirrels, black squirrels, brown squirrels…I can’t tell the difference,” The Arizona Daily Star. Matt Ritter, “Ha! You call that ‘sacred’?” The Arizona Daily Star. The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT).

423 ix Acknowledgements I am deeply indebted to numerous people who have assisted me in the long journey of transforming intellectual curiosity into a completed dissertation. Peter Galison’s encouragement of this project when it was still in the proposal stage gave me the confidence to pursue an interdisciplinary approach to telling these stories. Throughout this process, conversations with Peter helped me to crystallize my thinking at critical inflection points in my research and writing. His incisive feedback was my scholarly compass throughout this project, enabling me to develop a more balanced perspective on these interconnected histories and pointing me toward a clearer understanding of my own research goals.

Irwin Shapiro’s sharp attention to detail and firsthand knowledge of the American astronomy community has enriched this dissertation in multiple ways. I am particularly thankful for his seemingly infinite patience in reading and responding to numerous chapter drafts and for demanding evidence at every turn. Stefan Helmreich’s anthropological insights and persistent and penetrating criticisms always surfaced at just the right moment, frequently leading me to new scholarship and continually expanding my thinking about this project. I would never have pursued the history of science in the first place if Mary Jo Nye had not taken a chance on a science student with no historical training.

I am privileged to call Mary Jo Nye an outstanding mentor and friend, and my enduring thanks go to Bob and Mary Jo for their warm introduction to the history of science community that has now become my intellectual home. Jimena Canales, Lizabeth Cohen, Patrick McCray, and Ron Doel all helped to shape my thinking in the earliest stages of this project. Ron deserves special mention for his unflagging enthusiasm and interest in all of my scholarly ventures over the years and for seeing that I was well suited for an academic life before I recognized it myself. x This dissertation has taken me to mountain summits, board meetings, archives, and libraries, with travel generously supported by a Harvard Merit Fellowship, a GSAS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, a Graduate Student Council Summer Research Grant, and two Hiebert Awards.

Numerous archivists have made these research visits possible. I would particularly like to thank Amy Rule at the Arizona State Museum in Tucson for her kind company and incredible efficiency, as well as archivists and assistants at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s Hamilton and Sinclair Libraries, the University of Arizona Special Collections, the Arizona Historical Society, the Arizona State University Archives and Labriola National American Indian Data Center, and the Harvard University Archives. Since much of my research took place outside the archives, I am grateful for the participation of members of the astronomy and Native communities at Kitt Peak, Mauna Kea, and Mt. At Kitt Peak National Observatory, Katy Garmany facilitated introductions with her Tohono O’odham colleagues, John Glaspey helped me see Kitt Peak as it looked to the Tohono O’odham and astronomers in the 1950s by showing me lost film footage of an early trek to the summit, and Helmut Abt offered his personal recollections of the site survey process.

Rich Fedele provided me with a better understanding of the challenges and rewards of maintaining an observatory Visitor Center that meets the needs of the public and the Tohono O’odham Nation.