Posted at 11:03 a.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Hui Malama leader released from jail
Advertiser Staff
Edward Halealoha Ayau, executive director of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei, has been ordered released from the federal detention center and into home confinement on Moloka'i following an appearance in court this morning.The order came during a status conference on the progress toward mediation in a dispute about the disposition of 83 Native Hawaiian artifacts.
Ayau has been held at the detention center near Honolulu International Airport since Dec. 27 for not complying with a federal order to divulge the exact location of the artifacts.
He will be allowed off Moloka'i to attend the mediation process meetings.
District Judge David Ezra chose two men with ties to Kamehameha Schools to facilitate what's being called a "Hawaiian mediation" process that is outside of typical judicial proceedings in hopes of settling the dispute out of court. They are Nainoa Thompson, Hokule'a navigator and Kamehameha trustee, and Earl Kawaa, site coordinator and specialist for Kamehameha's Hi'ilani outreach program in Waimanalo.
