LIHU‘E — There are six boxes or bundles of Native Hawaiian remains, iwi kupuna, at the Kaua‘i repository, and members of the Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council need to decide how to re-inter them, said a state Department of Land and
LIHU‘E — There are six boxes or bundles of Native Hawaiian remains, iwi kupuna, at the Kaua‘i repository, and members of the Kaua‘i/Ni‘ihau Island Burial Council need to decide how to re-inter them, said a state Department of Land and Natural Resources staff member.
The bones are from “inadvertent” discoveries of Native Hawaiian graves, usually unearthed during the building of roads, structures or utility work, said Phyllis “Coochie” Cayan, DLNR State Historic Preservation Division history and culture branch chief.
“We need to plan how to put these kupuna back,” said Cayan at Thursday morning’s council meeting at the Historic County Building Council Chambers.
Council members should reach out to Native Hawaiian families in the areas of the island where the bones were found, and see if there are descendants who know where the bones should be re-interred, she said.
But a lawsuit involving the Native American Grave Protection Act and state authorities who apparently haven’t been filing regular reports on status of remains may delay re-interment of the Kaua‘i iwi kupuna, she said.
A 2005 change in NAGPA added to the definition of “remains” so that states with remains are required to file reports to the National Parks Service, under which NAGPA falls, Cayan said.
The state was six months late with its report, the lawsuit was filed, and until the lawsuit is resolved there is probably nothing that can be done with the Kaua‘i remains, she said.
Cayan said she would mail council members the Kaua‘i inventory, and members should determine if they’re from a particular area of the island, and maybe they’ll know families with mana‘o of the area and where the bones should be re-interred.
“You are the venue to malama the iwi,” said Cayan.
Much of the one-hour meeting was spent on discussion of “inadvertents,” including where they should be re-interred when discovered.
Council member Barbara Say said there is a designated spot on the grounds of the St. Regis hotel in Princeville, near the beach but far enough away so that ocean water can’t get to the bones, that has been designated for re-interment of Native Hawaiian bones found on the North Shore.
Bone fragments found during a water and sewer line project near Kaua‘i High School in Lihu‘e were supposed to have been re-interred near the trench site where they were found, but that wasn’t done because Cayan didn’t know about the find, she said.
She asked council members to follow up on the matter.
More iwi kupuna were found along Kaumuali‘i Highway on the Westside during a waterline-replacement project, and those bones were re-interred at the Kekaha Cemetery in a ceremony that included Sabra Kauka and Kunane Aipoalani, burial council chair.
Aipoalani said it would have been difficult to re-inter the remains at the site on which they were found, as contacting several different land owners would have been arduous.
Kauka conducted the cemetery ceremony, which included Aipoalani and other community members. “That was a very well-done re-interment,” Cayan said.
A discovery on residential private property on the North Shore ended up with the bones being left in place, a rock wall and landscaping being erected at the site of discovery, next to a planned driveway. Cayan said the land owner was “very cooperative.”
Ken Taylor said he finds it odd that the state Department of Health would not allow him to build a lanai at his home because he wanted to build it over his septic tank, yet certain North Shore landowners are allowed to build luxury homes over known Native Hawaiian grave sites.
“It must stop,” he said.
In addition to welcoming two new council members, Debra U. Ruiz and James W. Fujita, the body voted unanimously (two members were absent) to move the council’s monthly meeting date to the second Thursday of each month. The next meeting is Nov. 12, at a time and location to be determined later.
