Kona burial sites disturbed

By Yasmin Anwar
Advertiser Staff Writer

On the barren lava rock slopes of South Kona, just north of where Capt. James Cook was slain in 1779, some 1,500 rolling acres are being bulldozed to make way for luxury homes and a golf retreat.

A burial site that held at least 12 skeletal remains was unearthed at the Hokuli'a development in South Kona. Jim Medeiros Sr. • Special to The Advertiser

But skeletons are rattling the project formerly known as Oceanside 1250, particularly around the seventh fairway.

Like many coastal areas on the Islands, where indigenous graves are ubiquitous and unmarked, the Hokuli'a development is dotted with burial sites, several of which have already been disturbed.

The accidental excavations have angered some Hawaiians, who say they are descendants of those buried in the once-heavily populated area known as the Kona field system.

"It's been devastating," said South Kona resident Jim Medeiros Sr., one descendant. He and other members of a group known as Protect Keopuka 'Ohana contend their iwi kupuna, or ancestral bones, have been mistreated and, in some cases, smashed by heavy construction equipment.

A trial has been held in Big Island Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra's courtroom on their request for a preliminary injunction to halt construction so authorities can implement a burial treatment plan. The plaintiffs charge that the state and developers have bypassed the Big Island Burial Council and other steps in their rush to advance the project.

"They should stop, resurvey and identify all the remains and redesign their project because they have major roads over lava burial tubes," said Alan Murakami, the plaintiffs' lawyer, who is with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.

Karin Shaw, spokeswoman for the Hokuli'a project, said 19 burial sites have been discovered on the property, and that a team of archaeologists is monitoring construction carefully to ensure no more bones are disturbed or desecrated.

She says developers have gone out of their way to show sensitivity for the burial and archeological sites on the land.

"The developer has never said we have to cut corners in any way," she said. "We've moved roads and the Pu'u 'Ohau will not be touched." The Pu'u 'Ohau is a sacred cinder cone area and burial site of Kamaekalani, grandmother of King Kalakaua and Queen Lili'uokalani.

Right now, the Hokuli'a project is ground zero in Hawai'i's perennial battle between bulldozers and bones. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 1 million Native Hawaiians lived on the Islands at the time of Cook's arrival in 1778, and that after their deaths about 90 percent of them were buried within a mile of the coastline.

Today, with no brakes on development, and water and sewer lines reaching an age where they need to be replaced, archaeologists such as David Shideler see no end to the conflicts.

Fortunately, he says, each trauma is eased by the fact that Hawaiians play a key role in determining how unearthed remains will be reburied.

Shideler was the archaeologist called last year to the site of a Waikiki water main where more than four dozen skeletal remains were unearthed. He wasn't surprised by the excavations, considering his experience with ancient Hawaiian burial patterns in the area.

"They were secretive, they were buried in the sand and there never were any markers," he said.

Ancient Hawaiians believed iwi kupuna contained the spirit of the deceased as well as divine power known as mana, and customarily wanted to keep the bones hidden from enemy hands who might desecrate the grave.

Over the centuries, many Hawaiians have willingly accepted their role as stewards of their iwi kupuna out of gratitude for the gift of life. Tradition demands that Hawaiians are buried close to their ancestral home or birthplace.

A movement to preserve and repatriate native burials took hold in 1988 after more than 1,000 Hawaiian remains were unearthed during construction of the Ritz-Carlton-Kapalua on Maui.

Protests spurred the state to pay the Kapalua Land Co. $6 million to restore the burial ground and move the resort further inland.

Since then, the state has established procedures to deal with the excavation of burials. At the center of that effort is the Burial Sites Program, part of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Historic Preservation Division.

Kai Markell, director of the program, estimates there are roughly 500 sets of remains in state custody awaiting reinterment. He says his four-member department is overwhelmed, juggling more than 300 active cases, often amid emotionally charged circumstances.

"We're dealing with one of the most sensitive and secretive aspects of the Hawaiian culture," Markell said.

Right now, his department is involved in the Hokuli'a court battle. Plaintiffs are accusing historic preservation specialist Kala'au Wahilani of giving the developer the green light to move unearthed remains without notifying the island's burial council and lineal and cultural descendants.

How the court responds to the Hokuli'a case could set a precedent for the way the state and developers handle inadvertent Hawaiian burial excavations in the future, some say.

Michael Graves, a University of Hawai'i anthropologist who studied the field notes of archaeologists monitoring the Hokuli'a site, has concluded that previous surveys missed half the archeological sites in the area, and estimates there are around 800.

Before it was a cattle grazing area, the land was part of an agricultural network that produced food for Hawaiians from Kealakekua to Keauhou. It also was frequented by Hawaiian royalty who used the ancient trails to get to the Hikiau heiau, the starting and ending point of the makahiki circuit.

"These are the kinds of sites I weep over losing," Graves said. "They represent a traditional Hawaiian agricultural lifestyle and culture that no longer exists."