NASA’s lunar cave mission reveals colonial spacefaring’s blind spots: radiation shelters vs. Indigenous land stewardship ethics

The mission ignores Indigenous frameworks that treat celestial bodies as kin, not commodities. For instance, the Māori *whakapapa* (genealogy) extends to celestial phenomena, and scholars like Dr. Rangi Mātāmua argue that lunar exploration must begin with *kaitiakitanga* (guardianship) principles. The absence of such voices reinforces the assumption that space is a 'neutral' frontier, erasing the fact that many cultures—like the Hopi, who see the moon as a feminine force of balance—would oppose extractive lunar habitation. Even the 2019 *Declaration on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Relation to Outer Space* (by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues) is conspicuously absent from the discussion, despite its call for free, prior, and informed consent in space governance.