Anger resurfaces over retrieving artifacts

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

Conflict is brewing again over the Bishop Museum's handling of burial artifacts, especially the ongoing push by museum officials and others to retrieve objects that were reburied four years ago in Kawaihae Caves.

Native Hawaiian groups, including those that oppose any re-entry to the caves, yesterday announced plans for a 24-hour prayer vigil.

William Brown, museum president and chief executive officer, yesterday said he still has hopes of gaining permission of the Hawaiian Homes Commission to retrieve the 83 rare Hawaiian artifacts from the caves, which are on Hawaiian homestead lands under the commission's control.

Last September, the commission had denied that request, despite a finding by a federal panel that the repatriation process was flawed because the objects were reburied by only one of the 13 claimants.

Commission Chairman Micah Kane was unavailable for comment, but spokesman Lloyd Yonenaka said the commission has no plan to grant access unless the knotty dispute is untangled.

Native Hawaiian feelings on the issue are divided. Some groups, upset by any proposal to re-enter Kawaihae, yesterday called for Brown's dismissal as museum chief, accusing his administration of obstructing the repatriation of Hawaiian remains and burial artifacts as directed by federal law.

Others, including some with a claim on the Kawaihae artifacts, believe they were shut out of the discussion prematurely. A rival claimant, the Native Hawaiian group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, reburied the items without consultation, said La'akea Suganuma, a spokesman for some of the claimants

Suganuma said he and others would like access to the caves, at least to witness their burial. He said he has spoken with Hawaiian Homes officials about the need to confirm the location of the artifacts within the caves.

"Nobody knows where they are," Suganuma said. "All we're saying is we want to be treated fairly."

The 24-hour vigil, which will start at noon tomorrow at the museum, was organized by the native rights group '?lio'ulaokalani Coalition in observance of Memorial Day to seek "the expeditious repatriation of all iwi kupuna, ancestral human remains," said Kaho'onei Panoke, coalition vice president.

Panoke emphasized the event, which was arranged with permission of the museum, is a peaceful expression. But some participants voiced anger with Brown's administration of the federal repatriation law, known as NAGPRA, or the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

Both Pu'uhonua "Bumpy" Kanahele, who heads the Nation of Hawai'i, and Professor Jon Osorio of the Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, called for Brown's removal as museum chief.

Eddie Ayau, a member of Hui Malama, said the museum has failed to repatriate another of its claims, a set of remains and objects, to a Moloka'i site. The museum has returned another Moloka'i artifact — the sandstone slabs known as Kalaina Wawae — but has retained legal ownership, Ayau said.

"This is so, whenever they like, they can take them back," he said.

Brown said repatriation of the remains — two full teeth and a tooth fragment — can be made as soon as a competing claim from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is resolved. Lance Foster, an OHA archaeologist, said the agency no longer is pressing that claim, but Brown said he's waiting for a written cancellation notice.

As for the burial objects, a cowry shell and a small wooden figure, Brown said that under the law the Hui Malama must make the case that the museum lacks "right of possession." Without that legal finding, he said, the museum doesn't have to repatriate them.

Bishop Museum, originally established to house the extensive collection of Hawaiian artifacts and royal family heirlooms of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, has a mission to protect Native Hawaiian artifacts, Brown said. This, he added, is one reason the museum has retained title to the Kalaina Wawae

"I see the museum as Pauahi's place for the stewardship of Native Hawaiian culture," he said. "That gives me a perspective that's cautious. Once you give away an item, you will never have the chance to reconsider whether you should have given it away."

Brown and Suganuma both said they are hoping to reopen the Kawaihae issue through consensus, rather than by taking legal action.

"The truth will come out, and everything will be resolved eventually," Suganuma said.

Reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.