Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 3, 1 Malaki 2006 — Shrines desecrated [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Shrines desecrated

bacred structures quickly repaired atter attacks at 'lolani Palaee and atop Mauna Kea's summit

By Sterling Kini Wnng Publicatiūns Editor In February, unknown vandals desecrated two sacred Hawaiian structures, knocking down a wood platform at the summit of Mauna Kea and scattering the stones of a shrine located on the grounds of 'Iolani Palaee. It's unclear whether the two incidents are related, or what motivated the vandals. But the attacks had a profound affect on some Hawaiians. "I had tears in my eyes," said longtime sovereignty activist and kupuna Mel Kalāhiki, on seeing the desecration of the ahu at 'Iolani Palaee. "I don't want to think that it was done out of hate

against Hawaiians." Paul Neves, of the Royal Order of Kamehameha, said that one reason for the desecrations could be that people are uneasy about Hawaiians embracing their spirituality. "It's all niee when we dance hula; they love our culture then. But when our culture says you gotta move over, people get nervous," he said, adding that the wood structure, or lele, atop Mauna Kea is seen by some as a symbol of protest against development on the mountain. The state is investigating the cases separately, said Gary Moniz, head of the state's law enforcement office. As KWO went to print, no suspects had yet been identified. On Feb. 14, the Mauna Kea lele 1

was found torn down, with rocks from its foundation tossed around the site. Neves said that he suspects someone cut the lele's four legs down with a hatchet or a hacksaw. "It was pretty ugly," he said. "You could see the viciousness of it. Whoever did this knew what this was they wanted to do harm to." The Roy alOrder of Kamehameha

had the six-foot-high structure built in 1997, as a plaee for spiritual ceremonies and as a monument for peaee. The structure is located on the highest point of the 13,796-foot-high mountain. Personal belongings of two Native Hawaiian soldiers killed in Iraq had also been placed on the lele. On Feb. 19, a volunteer groundskeeper found stones from an ahu

at 'Iolani Palaee randomly placed around the grounds. One rock was set 20 feet up in a banyan tree. Another was placed in a fenced-off burial containing the remains of Hawaiian chiefs. Hawaiian scholar and activist Lynette Cruz said that her first reaction was that whoever dismantled the ahu did it in such away that would cause the most desecration. "A crazy person would have just | taken the stones off the top of the ahu. But they also moved the cornerstones, whieh is hard to do," she said. "My frrst thought was that

this was done deliberately." The ahu was built in 1993 to commemorate the centennial of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. Some believe that eaeh of the ahu's rocks is sacred, having been brought to the palaee from around the islands. Both structures have since been reconstructed by volunteers. About a week after the lele was

found destroyed, a small group braved the snow, negative temperatures and 50-mile-an-hour winds to mount a new wood frame onto the original rock foundation. After word quickly spread about the damage done to the 'Iolani Palaee ahu, it was restored before the end of the day it was found desecrated. "For Hawaiians, the desecrations affirm for us what we have to do," Cruz said. "We have to be more vigilant, and we have to be able to mobilize and pull together." E3

NŪ HOU • NEWS

Volunteers rebuilt the ahu (left), located on the grounds of 'lolani Palaee, after vandals removed and scattered its stones (right). The ahu was origr nally erected in 1 993 to commemorate the 1 00-year anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom. - Photos: Courtesy of Lynette ūuz

The lele, a type of wood altar, was built in 1 997 on the highest point on Mauna Kea, overlooking UH's science reserve. In February, vandals toppled the wood-frame structure and tossed the foundation's rocks aside (above right). - Photos: Courtesy ofHamaka.com (left) ani lsaac Harp (right)