Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 7, 1 July 1996 — Hawaiian artifacts on their way home [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian artifacts on their way home

Discussions continue on ki'i la'au

Efforts to carry out NAGPRA legislation and repatriate sacred Hawaiian artifacts took an important step forward in May after OHA

staff and Trustee Kīna'u Kamali'i travelled to the Mainland to have discussions with officials from Peabody-Essex and Roger Williams Museums.

Land and Natural Resources Officer j Linda Delaney who was on the trip said "Sustained opportu- ' nity to be with and to know people on the other side of the discussion table | greatly facilitated ! the entire process of | consultation." > She says they were able to reach a consensus on the repatriation of a number of artifacts

including two tapa pieces, large and small fīsh hooks containing human bones, a tattoo implement and a scrap bowl inlaid with human teeth. According to Delaney these decisions take Hawaiian claims to the next step of repatriating funerary objects and "human remains" as provided by law. Delaney says they weie also able to get assurances that no attempt to sell the ki'i lā'au would be made until the NAGPRA process was complete.

Trustee Kīna'u Kamali'i, Aide Shane Pale and Rhode lsland Parks Department Director Nancy Derrig examine ki'i la'au in Rhode lsland last May.

Large Hawaiian fish hook.