Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 9, 1 September 2005 — Perspectives on the Kawaihae cave burial controversy [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Perspectives on the Kawaihae cave burial controversy

The longstanding controversy over the 83 priceless artifacts originally buried in a Kawaihae cave has exposed a rift in the Hawaiian eommunity over how to care for objects buried with iwi, or human remains. Some argue that objects found with iwi are not meant to be kept in museums, but with those whom they were buried with. Others argue that in some cases objects were buried for safety and are now best protected in museums. At the center of the Kawaihae cave dispute are a set of objects that include two stick 'aumākua and a female figure carved out of wood. The items were originally removed from the Kawaihae cave by David Forbes and his expedition about a century ago.

The controversy started in February 2000 when the Bishop Museum signed a one-year loan of the artifacts, whieh it had received from Forbes, with the repatriation group Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawai'i Nei. At the time, the group was one of four claimants recognized by the museum under the federal repatriation process. Hui Mālama has said that after receiving the artifacts it reburied them in the Kawaihae cave, located on the Kohala Coast of Hawai'i island. The group has since refused the museum's requests to have the artifacts returned. In March, a review committee of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act suggested that the repatriation of the 83 items was flawed and remains incomplete.

Most recently, the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts and Nā Lei Ali'i Kawānanakoa, two of the 14 current claimants in the case, filed in August a lawsuit demanding that Hui Mālama return the items to the museum. Members of Hui Mālama and the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts have submitted the following opinion essays that shed light on the Kawaihae cave controversy and how they believe objects found with iwi should be cared for. The views expressed in these community discussion columns are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Kūkākūkā

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