Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, 1 Pepeluali 2007 — Claimants meeting [ARTICLE]

Claimants meeting

The 83 Forbes Cave cultural objects are all apparently still

in good condition after being sealed in the Hawai'i Island cave for the last six years, according to claimants who had their first opportunity to view the items since 2000. Most of the 14 claimant groups met with Bishop Museum

officials on lan. 5 to continue the federal repatriation process that had abruptly stopped in February 2000, when one claimant group, Hui Mālama i nā Kūpuna o Hawai'i nei, received the objects on loan from the museum and reburied them in the Kawaihae cave complex. After years of disputes, two groups successfully sued Hui Mālama and Bishop Museum to force the removal of the objects and the resumption of the repatriation process. The meeting was the first step in determining whieh, if any, claimant group has the legal standing to receive the objects from the museum. Claimants now have until March 1 to send their claims to the museum, whieh will then provide the National Park Service with a draft document that indicates its intent to repatriate the items and identifies all claimants, including any newly recognized ones. The museum plans to send the document by May 1. Ninety days after the document's publication, Bishop Museum, having reviewed all comments and claims, will announee the claimant to whom it will repatriate the objects. If no one group ean prove it has a stronger elaim than the rest, the museum will hold the items until all the groups ean unanimously agree on their fate.

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