Damage to historic sites called mistake
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — A Kaua'i man who became the first person in the state to be criminally prosecuted for damaging a historic site said the violations that occurred at a historic taro irrigation ditch and nearby gravesites were inadvertent and part of a community cleanup effort.
"This project was for the community; there was no profit motive and it was not clandestine," said Adam Asquith, a biologist who pleaded no contest to two historic preservation violations. He was sentenced Friday to a $1,000 fine, a suspended 30-day jail term and 40 hours of community service.
Asquith originally was charged with eight counts, including criminal property damage, trespassing, desecration and historic preservation violations.
Kaua'i District Court Judge Trudy Senda granted Asquith a deferred acceptance of his no-contest plea, which means the offenses will be removed from his record after a year if there are no further violations. Additionally, he must reimburse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for damage to signs on its property and write a letter of apology to the Kapaka family, whose graves were disturbed.
The damage occurred at a community work day in Hule'ia, in an old taro-growing area along the Hule'ia River, on land adjacent to the Fish and Wildlife Service's Hule'ia National Wildlife Refuge and in the vicinity of several kuleana — generally small parcels of lands in agricultural areas that were granted to Hawaiian families during the Great Mahele in 1848. One kuleana near the work area contains the graves of members of the Kapaka family.
Nancy McMahon, the state archaeologist for Kaua'i and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, said she personally ordered Asquith to permit only hand-clearing at the old taro ditch, or 'auwai, but that he allowed the use of heavy equipment. As a result, a long stretch of the historic ditch, which had not been used for 30 to 50 years, was damaged.
McMahon said previous historic site damage cases have been settled through the attorney general's office or through civil court complaints. This was the first instance statewide of criminal prosecution.
In an interview Monday, Asquith insisted the work on the 'auwai was standard maintenance of a taro waterway, involving the removal of rocks, sediment and debris.
"It was just like work that people in Hawai'i are doing every week," he said.
He conceded the equipment did enter the adjacent kuleana, where it damaged family grave stones.
"There was inadvertent clearing," he said.
McMahon said her investigation suggested that Asquith was having a parking area cleared, and that he and the people doing the clearing were unsure of the property lines. McMahon said that although he had been told not to use heavy equipment, she does not believe he willfully entered private property with the intent of damaging gravesites.
That wasn't much consolation to LaFrance Kapaka-Arboleda, whose ancestors are buried on the property.
"What possessed him to leave the area of the 'auwai, venture up the hill and bulldoze a gravesite encompassing the remains of my direct 'ohana is beyond my comprehension," Kapaka-Arboleda said. "Hopefully, all those who are employed in identifying and surveying cultural sites can learn from this incident."
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 245-3074.
