Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 6, 1 Iune 2023 — “They Were Dynamiting Our Iwi Kūpuna” [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

“They Were Dynamiting Our Iwi Kūpuna”

Artwork in Koloa expresses the community's opposition to Meridian Pocific's "Kouonoe o Kōloo" development. - Courtesy Photo

By Adam Keawe Manalo-Camp For most of her adult life, Roslyn Nieole Manawaiakea Cummings of Kaua'i (who prefers to be ealled Manawaiakea) has foeused on her kuleana as a eultural praetitioner and as the proud mother of seven ehildren. Ihen she was eontaeted by eommunity aetivist Elizabeth Okinaka regarding eoneerns about a proposed luxury condominium development in Kōloa on Kaua'i's south shore. Manawaiakea accepted Okinaka's request to visit the site. After visiting and conducting protocols, she received hō'ailona (signs) that led to a kāhea (eall) to protect the iwi kūpuna that were there. "It heeame a deep dive into this kuleana and something that needed to be done with a pure heart," Manawaiakea said. "But we need to ask ourselves what is our kuleana as Kānaka Maoli? I am not here to be like Gollum holding this kuleana like it's 'my precious.' We all have different kuleana but it's our collective kuleana to care for our kūpuna. All of us. Not just me. Not just in Kōloa." For centuries, the sand dunes of Weliweli, Pa'a, and Māhā'ulepū have been known burial grounds - this was attested to by Kānaka Maoli from the area to early missionaries. Rev. Samuel Whitney remarked in 1826 that when he visited Māhā'ulepū it was "white with human bones." While surveying the area decades later, Rev. John Mortimer Lydgate noted numerous human remains in Keoneloa near Pa'a and Weliweli, Kōloa, and other nearby areas. In 1835, the first commercial sugar eane plantation in the region changed the landscape of Kōloa. Over the

subsequent century, iwi from Kōloa and other nearby areas were pillaged for museums and for private collections around the world. Community protests to protect the iwi began in 2020 when California-based Meridian Pacific's 282-unit luxury condominium development (dubbed "Kauanoe o Kōloa") was approved by Kaua'i County officials. Compelled by an overwhelming kuleana to protect both the iwi kūpuna and the environment, Manawaiakea, Okinaka, and Nākai'elua Villatora co-founded "Save Kōloa." Save Kōloa started a petition, "Stop Kauanoe o Kōloa," whieh has garnered over 48,000 signatures. In May 2022, Save Kōloa and Friends of Māhā'ulepū filed a case in the fifth circuit court against Meridan Pacific and Kaua'i County for violating regulations protecting endangered species and culturally significant sites. Despite the challenges to the project, Meridan Pacific began "microblasting" the construction site about a month later. "They were dynamiting our iwi kūpuna. That's how little respect they have," said Manawaiakea. Vocal protests from the community began shortly afterward - not only to protect the iwi kūpuna, but also the extensive cave system underground. Okinaka, who is of Paiute, Nez Perez, and Nahuatl ancestry, was raised on Kaua'i. She said the cave system in Kōloa is "one of the 10 most endangered habitats in the world and there has been no serious mapping of the area." She noted that the cave system is home to the endangered Kaua'i Cave Wolf Spiders and to Kaua'i Cave amphipods (small crustaceans) that are only found in that

plaee. "We still don't understand the impact of these caves, how they connect to eaeh other, and how it affects our water supply on Kaua'i. "There also are oral traditions that the caves have burials and were used by Kānaka Maoli for travel and for [religious] protocols. Our kids need to visit these sites and have a connection with the aina. They need to know that you ean actually have a sustainable future by respecting the land and living off of it instead of destroying it. We need good people in the county, on the planning eommission, the burial councils, and in the State Historic Preservation Division who understand that these spaces need to be protected." Manawaiakea added, "We have a lot of upcoming and new development going on in Lāwa'i, 'Ōma'o, Kalaheo, Kōloa Landing, and Po'ipū. Hotels like Hyatt plan to expand. We need to put a chair on the table, and not just sit at the table. 'At the end of the day, these developers are going to make their money and then leave. It's our people who are going to face the consequences. Our kūpuna are more valuable than money." ■ For more information go to: Facebook @savekoloa or www. change.org/p/stop-kauanoe-o-koloa. OHA supports proactive protections and mālama iwi kūpuna initiatives statewide through grants and services that strengthen pilina, 'ohana, mo'omeheu and 'āina. For information about OHA's Iwi Kūpuna Repatriation and Reinterment Grant go to: www.oha.org/grants. For more information about the Island Burial Councils visit: www. oha.org/burialcouncils.

The Kōloa community is oulroged by plans to build luxury condos in an area wilh known buriol sites and endangered species. A grossroots orgonizotion, Sove Kōloa, has filed 0 lowsuit to stop it. - Courtesy Photo