The Governor of the US state of Hawaii, David Ige, has asked the mayor to reach a peaceful solution to the historic Mauna Kea protests.
Photo: Twitter/ @chrismichcon
It comes as hundreds of people continue to block access to Hawaii's highest peak, where a giant telescope is to be built on sacred land.
Mr Ige said he's asked Mayor Harry Kim to coordinate country and state efforts to reach a common ground with what he calls the protectors of Mauna Kea.
"Mayor Kim is closest to the situation & the impacts are greatest on the island he leads," he said in a tweet.
"We both share the goal of achieving a resolution that is peaceful and satisfactory to as many as possible in the community."
Group leader, Kaho'okahi Kanuha, welcomed the governor's statement.
"We're encouraged, and we're filled with hope by the governor's new language and his ability to finally recognise us, not as protestors, but as protectors of Mauna Kea, a sacred mountain, a sacred place to Kanaka, to Hawaiians."
Lieutenant Governor Josh Green, who met those gathered on the mountain and local police on Tuesday, said no project is important enough to justify hurting Hawaii's Ohana, or family.
"I believe that this crisis on Mauna Kea is about far more than the rule of law, technology, discovery or business. It is about the heart and spirit of the Hawaiian people, and how indigenous people all across the world fight to preserve meaning in their lives," he said in a Facebook post.