From the 1990s to the present, kapu aloha began to take shape and a term was adopted that replicated its evolution from a strictly Kanaka Maoli, cultural, social, spiritual, and ceremonial edict to a political practice that incorporated all of these frames. In 2015, kapu aloha was introduced to a wider audience when kiaʻi mauna (mountain protectors) took to protecting Mauna Kea/Mauna a Wākea from the development of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT). The philosophy of kapu aloha was reinvigorated when Hawaiʻi State officials announced that the construction of the TMT would start again on July 15, 2019. Kiaʻi have been successful in delaying the development of the TMT establishing a puʻuhonua (place of refuge) at the Kīpuka Puʻuhuluhulu.