Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 3, 1 March 1988 — State Cemeteries Transfer to OHA is Aim of Aki Measure [ARTICLE]

State Cemeteries Transfer to OHA is Aim of Aki Measure

A few days before Christmas last year, Honolulu daily newspapers reported that the State intended to disinter more than a thousand graves at Pue'a and Pu'ukamali'i (also known as Kalaepohaku) Cemeteries and to rebury all remains at Makiki Cemetery. As one caller to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs put it, "Don't Hawaiians have any plaee in Hawai'i? Even after we're dead, they try to kiek us out." Both cemeteries are well-known and have been in use for more than a century. The names engraved on headstones read like a "Who's Who" of prominent Hawaiian families. Among those buried at Pue'a are Apo, Keliikoa, Mahi, Ainoa, McCandless, Kamai, Kaleikini and Spencer. Kealoha, Lake, Kalahiki, Cockett and Kaopuiki names are recorded at Pu'ukamali'i. Onee informed of State plans, OHA's Land Divi-

sion met with Calvin Nekonishi of the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS), Division of Building Maintenance and Telephone Service who manages the cemeteries. As indicated at that meeting the only reason for disinterring the graves is to facilitate management and maintenance. In response, OHA contacted State Senator James Aki and asked that he sponsor a bill transferring the two cemeteries to OHA, along with the $760,200 currently appropriated for disinterment costs. This money would endow a "Cemetery Trust Fund" whose proceeds could cover ongoing repair and maintenance costs. As of the end of February, this bill (S.B. 2625) has been reported out of Senator Aki's committee and is awaiting hearing and action by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.