Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 4, 1 April 1996 — OHA, Hui Mālama put brakes on sale of kiʻi lāʻau [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OHA, Hui Mālama put brakes on sale of kiʻi lāʻau

The Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History wants to sell a pieee of Hawai'i's past. OHA is saying, not so fast. The artifact - ki'i lā'au (wooden image) - is one of 44 Hawaiian objects in the museum's collection donated by the Franklin Society in 1922. The museum says it needs the proceeds ffom the sale of the artifact to finance future museum exhibits. The exhibits are part of its services at the city park. In a letter to Providence officials, OHA and Hui Mālama cautioned that:

• the wooden ki'i — onee used to hold spears carried on canoes — was likely a "sacred patrimonial object subject to return" under NAGPRA; and • discussions required under NAGPRA between the museum and Hawaiian organizations have not been completed. "They can't sell something that isn't theirs," Kamali'i noted. "We've also contacted Sotheby's (a New York auetion house) of our concerns and asked them to act responsibly until this is resolved."

Ki'i lā'au