Human bones found at temple
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Workers preparing the century-old Waialua Hongwanji Mission for an historical celebration may have stumbled upon history.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Human remains were found yesterday in a ditch an electrician was digging for underground wiring to the Buddhist temple.
Archaeologists Sara Collins, left, and Muffet Jourdane examine human bones uncovered at the Waialua Hongwanji Mission. At right is Honolulu police officer John Udani.
Renovations are continuing inside the temple, aimed for completion before a November centennial celebration, said Hongwanji board president Lawrence Takenaka.
But the trench-digging was halted until a private archaeological consultant examines the site and makes recommendations to the church board, said board treasurer Flora Murashige.
The consultant is expected to make proposals to the board at a meeting tomorrow, said Murashige, who didn't believe the added consultation would derail the temple facelift.
"I don't think it should entail too much of an expense," she said.
Police were called at about 8:30 a.m. yesterday after the bones — portions of a skull as well as other skeletal segments — were unearthed.
The initial police report indicated that the bones were old, said Susan Siu, lead investigator for the Office of the Medical Examiner, which handed the case to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Sara Collins, an archaeologist with the department's historic preservation division, checked the site and determined that, under state law, further work would have to be done by an archaeologist hired by the landowner.
If it is determined that the remains are those of a Native Hawaiian, the case will be referred to the O'ahu Burial Council for reburial decisions, Collins said. Otherwise, the state will try to find descendants with whom to make arrangements.
