Posted on: Thursday, February 3, 2005

Wal-Mart reburial of bones Feb. 18

By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer

The state has set a new date, Feb. 18, for reburial of Native Hawaiian human remains removed during construction at Wal-Mart's Ke'eaumoku Street complex, and the company is working to get all the permits issued in time to meet that deadline.

The new timetable — an extension of an initial Jan. 10 deadline — has frustrated the project archaeologist, who says time is still too short for his crew to accurately separate all the bones into individual sets for reburial.

The issue of how and when the bones of an estimated 44 to 50 individuals should be reburied has become a tug of war that started two years ago when the remains were discovered. Tension has increased in recent months, with state officials wanting to accelerate the reburial plans and descendants divided over how the archaeological studies should proceed.

Melanie Chinen, administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division, could not be reached for comment. But in a Jan. 25 letter to Wal-Mart, Chinen said that the inventory of the burials — complicated because the remains in one area were found as a mixture of bones rather than intact burials — must be finished by Feb. 11.

She said in the letter that the archaeological data recovery under way "goes beyond that required to reasonably determine the ethnicity of the human remains found at the project site" and the "reasonable reassociation" of the bones into sets. She added that her department has jurisdiction over reburying these remains.

Aki Sinoto, the archaeologist Wal-Mart hired to do the work, expressed his disappointment with the finding and said sorting the bones into individual burials takes more work than what Chinen has said.

"They've pretty much invoked their administrative jurisdiction," he said. "We're not going to finish, not with that kind of timetable ... they seem to think it's real simple."

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Cynthia Lin said the company is still reviewing Chinen's letter.

"We remain committed to ensuring the remains are reburied as soon as possible and in a culturally appropriate manner," she said.

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