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NAGPRA Issues in Hawaii, 2013

Coverage of NAGPRA-related topics in Hawaii first came to this website in 2003 when the national NAGPRA review committee decided to devote its national meeting to the Forbes Cave controversy. Forbes cave was the most intensively covered topic from 2003 to 2007. But other topics also came to public attention, including Bishop Museum, the Emerson collection repatriated and reburied at Kanupa Cave, the discovery of ancient bones during a major construction project at Ward Center (O'ahu), construction of a house built above burials at the shorefront at Naue, Ha'ena, Kaua'i; etc.

The Forbes cave controversy up until the NAGPRA Review Committee hearing in St. Paul, Minnesota, May 9-11, 2003 was originally described and documented at:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagpraforbes.html

The conflict among Bishop Museum, Hui Malama, and several competing groups of claimants became so complex and contentious that the controversy was the primary focus of the semiannual national meeting of the NAGPRA Review Committee meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota May 9-11, 2003. A webpage was created to cover that meeting and followup events related to it. But the Forbes Cave controversy became increasingly complex and contentious, leading to public awareness of other related issues. By the end of 2004, the webpage focusing on the NAGPRA Review Committee meeting and its aftermath had become exceedingly large, at more than 250 pages with an index of 22 topics at the top. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagpraforbesafterreview.html

That large webpage became so difficult to use that it was stopped on December 29, 2004; and a new webpage was created to collect news reports for NAGPRA issues in Hawai'i during year 2005. An index for 2005 appears at the beginning, and readers may then scroll down to find the detailed coverage of each topic. For coverage of NAGPRA issues in Hawai'i in 2005 (about 250 pages), see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagprahawaii2005.html

For year 2006 another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagprahawaii2006.html

For year 2007, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/bigfiles40/nagprahawaii2007.html

For year 2008, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/planet/big60/nagprahawaii2008.html

For year 2009, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/big09a/nagprahawaii2009.html

For year 2010, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/big09a/nagprahawaii2010.html

For year 2011, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/big09/nagprahawaii2011.html

For year 2012, another new webpage was created, following the same general format. See:
https://www.angelfire.com/big09/nagprahawaii2012.html

NOW BEGINS 2013

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LIST OF TOPICS FOR 2013: Full coverage of each topic follows the list; the list is in roughly chronological order, created as events unfold during 2012.

(0) NAGPRA-like issues on the U.S. mainland, or in other nations. The purpose for putting these items in this webpage is to show that most cultures worldwide have no objection to digging up old burials to do invasive research on the bones; that such research is aimed at clarifying historical facts and/or improving modern medical practices; and that Caucasian researchers do not seek to give special respect, exemption or protection to Caucasian burials as some Hawaiian activists frequently claim.

(a) The bones of King Richard III of England, killed in battle in 1485, were found under a parking lot during construction work, and identity was confirmed through DNA tests, radiocarbon dating, etc.
(b) Guam Bridge Restoration Uncovers 61 Buried Remains. The decision to leave the remains in place could lead to additional damage to the remains, as work is done to compact the soil over the top of the burials.
(c) Workers building a new railway in London have unearthed 13 skeletons thought to be victims of the Black Death plague that swept through Europe in the 14th century. Archaeologists believe the site could be the location of a plague cemetery described in medieval records, where up to 50,000 victims of the Black Death were buried. They will be taken to the Museum of London Archaeology for laboratory testing and possibly carbon-dating to try to establish their burial dates. Scientists are hoping to use the skeletons to map the DNA signature of the plague, in research they hope could help combat modern diseases.
(d) Hopi Indians of Arizona ask U.S. government to pressure French government to stop high-price auction of 70 sacred masks in Paris. Photos of masks were published in New York Times article.
(e) Judge Orders Repatriation of Jim Thorpe's Remains to the Sac and Fox Nation under NAGPRA
(f) American Museum of Natural History agrees to repatriate 77 objects to Apache tribe, but tribe refuses to accept them unless museum classifies them as "sacred" or "items of cultural patrimony" rather than merely as "cultural items."
(g) A judge in Paris has ruled that the controversial sale of 32 Native American Hopi masks can go ahead next week in a Paris auction house, despite strenuous objections from the Hopi tribe, because the laws of France allow the auction.

(1) A concrete multi-use path passing near Wailua beach (Kaua'i) was approved following an environmental assessment in 2007 and a supplemental archeological assessment in 2011. Neither report indicated any evidence of an ancient altar or heiau there. Two activists "rebuilt" an altar there in 2011, When the construction company for the multi-use path removed the rocks to a place nearby in 2013 to proceed with the project, the activists interfered with the project and were arrested. This issue whether to build the multi-use path along the shoreline or upland from the highway became controversial in 2010 -- see NAGPRA 2010 compilation, item #(2).

(2) Kawaiaha'o Church tore down its former meeting room and planned to build a new one on the same footprint. But numerous burials were found during construction, and a lawsuit halted the project. This controversy began in 2009 and the NAGPRA webpages from then to now have compiled related news reports and commentaries. A new article in Honolulu Civil Beat summarizes some of the issues, including a conflict between people who say the old Hawaiian religion says the soul or spirit of a dead person remains in his bones, vs. Christians who say the soul departed the body at death, and the people buried at Kawaiaha'o were Christians.

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FULL TEXT OF ARTICLES FOR 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-21063882
British Broadcasting System, February 4, 2013
Richard III dig: DNA confirms bones are king's

A skeleton found beneath a Leicester car park has been confirmed as that of English king Richard III. Experts from the University of Leicester said DNA from the bones matched that of descendants of the monarch's family. Lead archaeologist Richard Buckley, from the University of Leicester, told a press conference to applause: "Beyond reasonable doubt it's Richard."

Richard, killed in battle in 1485, will be reinterred in Leicester Cathedral.

Mr Buckley said the bones had been subjected to "rigorous academic study" and had been carbon dated to a period from 1455-1540. Dr Jo Appleby, an osteo-archaeologist from the university's School of Archaeology and Ancient History, revealed the bones were of a man in his late 20s or early 30s. Richard was 32 when he died. His skeleton had suffered 10 injuries, including eight to the skull, at around the time of death. Two of the skull wounds were potentially fatal. One was a "slice" removing a flap of bone, the other was caused by bladed weapon which went through and hit the opposite side of the skull - a depth of more than 10cm (4ins).

'Humiliation injuries'

Dr Appleby said: "Both of these injuries would have caused an almost instant loss of consciousness and death would have followed quickly afterwards.

Other wounds included slashes or stabs to the face and the side of the head. There was also evidence of "humiliation" injuries, including a pelvic wound likely to have been caused by an upward thrust of a weapon, through the buttock.

Richard III was portrayed as deformed by some Tudor historians and indeed the skeleton's spine is badly curved, a condition known as scoliosis. However, there was no trace of a withered arm or other abnormalities described in the more extreme characterisations of the king.

Without the scoliosis, which experts believe developed during teenage years, he would have been about 5ft 8ins (1.7m) tall, but the curvature would have made him appear "considerably" shorter.

Dr Appleby said: "The analysis of the skeleton proved that it was an adult male but was an unusually slender, almost feminine, build for a man. "Taken as a whole, the skeletal evidence provides a highly convincing case for identification as Richard III."

Richard was a royal prince until the death of his brother Edward IV in 1483. Appointed as protector of his nephew, Edward V, Richard instead assumed the reins of power. Edward and his brother Richard, known as the Princes in the Tower, disappeared soon after. Rumours circulated they had been murdered on the orders of their uncle. Challenged by Henry Tudor, Richard was killed at Bosworth in 1485 after only two years on the throne. He was given a hurried burial beneath the church of Greyfriars in the centre of Leicester.

Mr Buckley said the grave was clumsily cut, with sloping sides and too short for the body, forcing the head forward. "There was no evidence of a coffin or shroud which would have left the bones in a more compact position. "Unusually, the arms are crossed and this could be an indication the body was buried with the wrists still tied," he added.

Greyfriars church was demolished during the Reformation in the 16th Century and over the following centuries its exact location was forgotten.

However, a team of enthusiasts and historians managed to trace the likely area - and, crucially, after painstaking genealogical research, they found a 17th-generation descendant of Richard's sister with whose DNA they could compare any remains. Joy Ibsen, from Canada, died several years ago but her son, Michael, who now works in London, provided a sample. The researchers were fortunate as, while the DNA they were looking for was in all Joy Ibsen's offspring, it is only handed down through the female line and her only daughter has no children. The line was about to stop.

But the University of Leicester's experts had other problems. Dr Turi King, project geneticist, said there had been concern DNA in the bones would be too degraded: "The question was could we get a sample of DNA to work with, and I am extremely pleased to tell you that we could." She added: "There is a DNA match between the maternal DNA of the descendants of the family of Richard III and the skeletal remains we found at the Greyfriars dig. "In short, the DNA evidence points to these being the remains of Richard III."

In August 2012, an excavation began in a city council car park - the only open space remaining in the likely area - which quickly identified buildings connected to the church.

The bones were found in the first days of the dig and were eventually excavated under forensic conditions.

Details of the reburial ceremony have yet to be released, but Philippa Langley from the Richard III Society said plans for a tomb were well advanced.

She said of the discovery of Richard's skeleton: "I'm totally thrilled, I'm overwhelmed to be honest, it's been a long hard journey. I mean today as we stand it's been nearly four years. "It's the culmination of a lot of hard work. I think, as someone said to me earlier, it's just the end of the beginning.

"We're going to completely reassess Richard III, we're going to completely look at all the sources again, and hopefully there's going to be a new beginning for Richard as well."

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http://pidp.org/pireport/2013/March/03-12-06.htm
Guam Bridge Restoration Uncovers 61 Buried Remains
Federal government has final say when remains are found

By Paul Moroni

HAG�T�A, GUAM (Marianas Business Journal, March 11, 2013) � The remains of 61 individuals, including women and babies, were unearthed recently by construction crews during work on the Agana Bridge restoration project on Guam. Many of the bodies uncovered were full skeletal remains, although some were impacted by previous work such as a 1991 sewer line project and Navy duct work that occurred during the 1980s, according to John Mark Joseph, state archaeologist at the Guam State Historic Preservation Office. He did not speculate on how long the remains had been buried or the nature of the burials.

Joseph said the current plan is to leave the remains in place. Federal rules govern the treatment of any human remains discovered at the site and Joseph's office is working with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on a design change to the bridge project in an effort to avoid damaging the burials. Joseph did not comment on whether the design change will delay completion of the bridge work, now scheduled for June 2013.

The decision to leave the remains in place could lead to additional damage to the remains, as work is done to compact the soil over the top of the burials, Joseph said. CoreTech International, the contractor for the bridge work, has already compacted a 250 foot section of the road around the burials. "Our office has requested for data be taken from the site to see if the level of compaction that FHWA wants to conduct will cause an adverse effect," he said.

This is not the first time crews have unearthed remains at the site. In April 2012, ahead of the construction, human bone fragments were unearthed during the relocation of a power pole. Those remains were identified as being from the latte period - 1000 A.D. to 1521 A.D. - and were not part of any particular funerary site. Additional bone fragments dated to the latte period were unearthed in Nov. 2012, as crews were digging utility trenches at the site. Those discoveries prompted project managers to temporarily halt work to ensure compliance with federal regulations requiring historic preservation of archaeological remains. In both cases, the remains were left in place.

In the early 1990s, another public works project unearthed a large number of human remains in that area, Joseph told the Journal. According to Joseph, approximately 200 individuals were unearthed in 1991, during a sewer line project between Route 4 and Route 8. In that case, the remains were excavated and turned over to the Guam Museum, he said. However, because the archaeological firm working on that project was never paid, no study on the nature of the remains was ever done. "Our office has been communicating with the Advistory Council on Historic Preservation to strongly encourage U.S. [Environmental Protection Agency] to fund the study and rebury the remains," Joseph said.

Joseph said an interim report on the most recent discovery is being prepared by SWCA Environmental Consultants, the consultant archaeologists hired to monitor and recover data for the Agana Bridge restoration project. SWCA will be submitting that report to the Federal Highway Administration in a couple of weeks, he said.

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http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130315/black-death-skeletons-found-under-london-rail-site
Global Post, March 15, 2013

'Black Death' skeletons found under London rail site

Workers building a new railway in London have unearthed 13 skeletons thought to be victims of the Black Death plague that swept through Europe in the 14th century, archaeologists said on Friday.

The remains were dug up at Charterhouse Square in central London during excavation work for the city's �15 billion ($22.7 billion, 17.4 billion euro) Crossrail project.

Archaeologists believe the site could be the location of a plague cemetery described in medieval records, where up to 50,000 victims of the Black Death were buried.

The plague wiped out a third of Europe's population between 1348 and 1353.

"The depth of burials, the pottery found with the skeletons and the way the skeletons have been set out all point towards this being part of the 14th century emergency burial ground," said Jay Carver, Crossrail's lead archaeologist.

"This is a highly significant discovery and at the moment we are left with many questions that we hope to answer.

"We will be undertaking scientific tests on the skeletons over the coming months to establish their cause of death, whether they were plague victims from the 14th century or later London residents, how old they were and perhaps evidence of who they were."

Records refer to a burial ground in London's Farringdon area, where Charterhouse Square is located, that opened in 1348.

The 13 skeletons were found over the last two weeks, laid out in two rows several feet below road level. They will be taken to the Museum of London Archaeology for laboratory testing and possibly carbon-dating to try to establish their burial dates.

Scientists are hoping to use the skeletons to map the DNA signature of the plague, in research they hope could help combat modern diseases. "Many biologists are researching ancient diseases in the hope of better understanding the modern ones," said Carver.

These are not the first skeletons found during the construction of London's Crossrail. Archaeologists have already uncovered more than 300 skeletons dating from the 16th to 19th centuries, near the former site of the notorious "Bedlam" psychiatric hospital in east London.

The Crossrail line, under construction since 2009 and due to carry its first passengers in 2017, will run across London on an east-west route. It will be mostly overground but will run underground through the city centre.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/arts/design/hopi-tribe-wants-to-stop-paris-auction-of-artifacts.html
New York Times, April 3, 2013

A French Auction Riles An American Tribe

By TOM MASHBERG

In a rare case of a cultural heritage claim arising from the sale of American artifacts abroad, the Hopi Indians of Arizona have asked federal officials to help stop a high-price auction of 70 sacred masks in Paris next week.

The tribe is receiving advice from the State and Interior Departments, but each agency says its ability to intervene is limited.

In many ways, the Hopi case illustrates a paradox in the way artifacts are repatriated around the world.

While foreign nations routinely rely on international accords to secure American help in retrieving antiquities from the United States, Washington has no reciprocal agreements governing American artifacts abroad. And the United States laws that provide some protection against the illicit sale of Indian artifacts in this country have no weight in foreign lands. So tribes reaching overseas to recover objects that they view as culturally important are left to do battle on their own.

"Right now there just aren't any prohibitions against this kind of large foreign sale," said Jack F. Trope, executive director of the Association on American Indian Affairs, which is seeking new laws and treaties that would give the United States more force to intervene. "The leverage for international repatriation just isn't there."

The Hopis, who number about 18,000 in northeast Arizona, regard the objects in the Paris sale, which they call Katsinam, or "friends," as imbued with divine spirits. They object to calling them "masks" and say that outsiders who photograph, collect or sell them are committing sacrilege. The brightly colored visages and headdresses, often adorned with horsehair, sheepskin, feathers and maize, are thought to embody the spirits of warriors, animals, messengers, fire, rain and clouds, among other things. They are used today, as in the past, in many Hopi rites, like coming-of-age ceremonies and harvest rituals.

The N�ret-Minet auction house in Paris says that its sale, on April 12, will be one of the largest auctions of Hopi artifacts ever, and it estimates that it will bring in $1 million. Many of the objects are more than 100 years old and carry estimates of $10,000 to $35,000. The auction house says that among the spirits represented are the Crow Mother, the Little Fire God and the Mud Head Clown.

"Sacred items like this should not have a commercial value," said Leigh J. Kuwanwisiwma, director of the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office in Kykotsmovi, Ariz. "The bottom line is we believe they were taken illegally."

The auction house says that a collector who has not been identified legally bought the items in the United States at sales and auctions over 30 years, beginning in the 1930s, and that the coming auction complies with French law.

"This sale is not just a business transaction but a homage to the Hopi Indians," said Gilles N�ret-Minet, the director of the house.

Historians say many Hopi artifacts were taken long ago by people who found them unattended in shrines and on altars along the mesas of the Southwest. Others were confiscated by missionaries who came to convert the tribe in the late 19th century. Some were sold by tribe members. But even those sales were not legitimate, Hopi leaders say, because they may have been made under duress, and because the tribe holds that an individual cannot hold title to its religious artifacts � they are owned communally.

The market for American Indian artifacts, both here and abroad, is robust, experts say, and auctions of Indian items in the United States typically proceed unimpeded by American law and unchallenged by most tribes. There are some protections, though, under United States theft statutes, experts say, as well as restrictions on the sale of pieces by museums and federal agencies.

The Hopis and their supporters say the Paris sale is especially objectionable because of its size and the religious significance of the items involved. They say it also illustrates a striking disparity between what the government is empowered to do to help a foreign country recover an object from the United States and its inability to do much to retrieve an American artifact for sale overseas.

When a nation like Italy or Cambodia claims ownership of an object in the United States, it typically invokes international accords that require American officials to take up the cases. The Justice Department, for example, recently sent two lawyers to Cambodia as part of an effort to help that country seize an ancient statue that Sotheby's planned to auction in New York.

The United States does not have similar accords that it could cite in support of the Hopi claim on the Paris auction items. Several experts and activists said the United States had never viewed its own cultural patrimony as a priority because the country is relatively young, has long embraced the concept of free trade and has not historically focused on the cultural heritage issues of American Indians.

But American officials have demonstrated their concern over the Paris sale by providing the Hopis with legal guidance and diplomatic advice, officials said.

Emily Palus, the deputy division chief for tribal consultation with the Bureau of Land Management, a division of the Interior Department, recently wrote an e-mail to colleagues suggesting that they raise concerns about the growing "international trade in Native American cultural property, and the continued damage and impact it has on traditional cultural practices."

In recent years Indian tribes have stepped up their efforts to recover cultural artifacts. The Hopis are considered among the most painstaking in that pursuit, and the tribe has recovered dozens of artifacts from American museums and sought to block auctions in the United States. It has never tried to halt an overseas sale before.

In the case of museums, tribes rely on a 1990 law, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which governs the sale and handling of Indian cultural objects by American museums. Those institutions are barred from selling such items and must inventory their collections; they then must reach out to tribes or direct descendants to allow them to reclaim objects they view as important.

The process can be costly and take years, however, and unless pressed, some museums simply hold on to their collections.

In the French case, the Hopis sent a letter of objection last month to the N�ret-Minet auction house. In it Mr. Kuwanwisiwma cited cultural heritage clauses in the tribe's 1936 Constitution that say the items for sale are "held under religious custody by the Hopi people."

Neither Mr. Kuwanwisiwma nor a lawyer for the Hopis, James E. Scarboro of Arnold & Porter in Denver, has received a reply, they said.

Kate Fitz Gibbon, an art law expert in Santa Fe, N.M., who specializes in tribal issues, said the Hopis could consider a claim that the items are stolen property. But doing so, she said, would require time, money and legal support that are often out of reach.

"The Paris auction of Hopi masks is a complex legal situation involving the interplay of international and domestic French law," she said, adding that the Hopis might have to resort to publicity and "moral suasion."

Mr. N�ret-Minet said he was surprised by the Hopi reaction because similar auctions had not drawn attention, including one in Paris in December in which 23 Hopi items were purchased, eight of them by a local museum, the Mus�e du Quai Branly.

"Even if it chagrins them, for the tribe this is not a negative," he said. "I think the Hopis should be happy that so many people want to understand and analyze their civilization."

In response, Mr. Kuwanwisiwma said, "The Hopi Tribe is just disgusted with the continued offensive marketing of Hopi culture."

** Photos of six of the artifacts are shown in an accompanying slide show at
http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/04/03/arts/artsspecial/20130404HOPI.html

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http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/judge-orders-repatriation-of-jim-thorpes-remains-under-nagpra/

Turtle Talk, April 21, 2013

Judge Orders Repatriation of Jim Thorpe's Remains under NAGPRA

BY ANDREW ADAMS III

Judge Caputo (Mid. Dist. Penn.) entered an order granting a complete summary judgment in favor of Bill and Richard Thorpe and the Sac and Fox Nation in the litigation to repatriate the remains of Jim Thorpe pursuant to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

The judge concluded that NAGPRA applies to the remains of Jim Thorpe and to the Borough, and he also ruled that the passage of time between the enactment of NAGPRA and the filing of this case did not prevent a repatriation. This is a very significant ruling under NAGPRA, and it should be helpful to tribes in the future because it addresses and rejects some so-called defenses to NAGPRA that could be used to impede repatriation efforts.

32 page MEMORANDUM by the judge re Summary Judgment) (4-19-13)
http://turtletalk.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/110-memorandum-re-summary-judgment-4-19-13.pdf

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http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/20/arts/design/apaches-dispute-with-american-museum-of-natural-history.html?pagewanted=all
New York Times, August 20, 2013

Where Words Mean as Much as Objects
Apaches' Dispute With American Museum of Natural History

By TOM MASHBERG

Four years ago, the American Museum of Natural History agreed to return to the Apaches 77 objects from its collection, including headwear, feathers, bows and arrows, medicine rings and satchels containing crystals and charms.

But none of the items have gone back because of an unusual, if persistent, disagreement with representatives of the Apaches over whether the museum will officially designate the items as sacred relics that should never have been taken.

At first glance, the dispute would seem to hinge on semantics: the museum is prepared to refer to the objects, many more than a century old, as "cultural items," while the Apaches insist that they be designated as "sacred" and "items of cultural patrimony," legal classifications set out under federal law. The Apaches say this is hardly a case of being fussy. They say the items are imbued with their religion's holy beings, that tribal elders attribute problems like alcoholism and unemployment on reservations to their unsettled spirits, and that the museum's position is insulting to them and their deities.

"This is them telling us they know more about Apache culture than the Apaches," said Vincent Randall, cultural preservation director with the Yavapai-Apache Nation in Arizona, one of four Apache tribes allied in the dispute.

The museum, home to tens of thousands of American Indian artifacts from scores of tribes, says that no insult was intended.

While the institution declined to detail how it came to its decision about the items, it said in a statement that it had closely followed the 1990 federal law that governs such repatriations, known as the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

"Determining classifications under Nagpra is a complex process," the statement said, referring to the law, "and the museum made the judgment consistent with established criteria. Upon return, the Western Apache are free to use and classify the cultural objects fully in accordance with tribal custom and traditions as they determine."

The museum said the items the Apaches seek were "lawfully obtained by a respected anthropologist approximately 100 years ago," which the Apaches dispute.

That scholar, Pliny Earle Goddard, was employed by the museum in 1914 to live among the Apache and study their rituals, according to copies of letters written by Mr. Goddard at the time.

The Apaches, who number 55,000 across more than a dozen distinct groups in Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado, have been seeking the return of items scattered in museums around the country since the early 1990s.

Under the federal law, museums are asked to classify items they intend to repatriate. "Sacred objects" are defined as those needed by tribes and their spiritual leaders to practice religion, while "objects of cultural patrimony" are defined as items that have historical importance to the tribe as a whole, as opposed to merely personal and everyday items. The law, which requires museums to cover the cost of returning items, does not include a classification known as "cultural items," but it also leaves to museums the final decision on just how to classify the objects they are returning.

Federal officials who oversee the Repatriation Act agree that the museum is abiding by the letter of the law, though they noted that, in practice, such institutions almost always identify the items by formal category.

David Tarler, a training and enforcement official for the repatriation program, said some Indian tribes feel the use of the term "cultural patrimony" in the documentation amounts to an acknowledgment that the objects should never have been removed from tribal hands without consent. Mr. Tarler, who has monitored the Apache case since it arose in 2005, said such an admission is "an important matter of healing" for those tribes. "They want affirmation that they have always owned the objects tribally," he said.

The repatriation act is intended to help American Indians reclaim burial and religious items and other objects of enduring significance that were taken from reservations when the tribes were suffering under resettlement, poverty and military control. It was a time, Indians and historians say, when communal spiritual items were filched by unscrupulous visitors, confiscated by soldiers, or sold and bartered by hungry tribe members who lacked such authority.

"We were hunted down and overrun, and this is all part of our historical trauma that we still carry around," said Ramon Riley, cultural resources director for the White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona.

Mr. Riley, who is 73, and his fellow leaders from the San Carlos, Tonto and Yavapai tribes say they are morally bound to demand the designations they deem more respectful. "These are not playthings," he said. "We use them in ceremonies to connect us with our creator."

The Apaches say the Natural History Museum's stance angers and perplexes them because the museum has used the desired designations on three earlier occasions, in 1998, 1999 and 2007, when repatriating Apache ceremonial caps, lightning sticks and similar articles. They also point out that the museum has used the more formal wording in the Federal Register in 19 of the 21 American Indian repatriations accords it has made since 1998.

Tribe members visited the museum in 2005 to identify the items, sent letters to the museum and federal officials explaining why the items are singular, and went before a review committee set up under the federal law, which agreed that the items were part of the tribe's cultural heritage.

The Apaches renewed their talks with the museum in January, soon after the Field Museum in Chicago agreed to classify 146 tribal items as sacred objects of cultural patrimony based on "a greater understanding of Apache beliefs." In doing so, the Field altered its 2006 decision to classify 56 of those objects as cultural items only, and submitted a revised notice to the Federal Register, where such returns must be announced.

Some two dozen museums have adopted the Apaches' position in making their returns, including the Denver Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the state museums of Arizona and New Mexico.

The Apaches, though, also have a dispute with the Smithsonian Institution, which is not governed by the 1990 Repatriation Act, over its refusal to return six objects that the tribe deems both sacred and patrimonial.

Mr. Randall said the social ills plaguing his tribe compel the Apaches to remain at loggerheads with the natural history museum in New York.

"If we disrespect the holy people, we suffer terrible consequences," he said.

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http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/movie-guide/French+court+controversial+auction+sacred+Native+American+Hopi+masks/9256622/story.html

French court OK's controversial auction of sacred Native American Hopi masks

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DECEMBER 6, 2013

** Photo of mask
http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/movie-guide/cms/binary/9256623.jpg

PARIS � A judge has ruled that the controversial sale of 32 Native American Hopi masks can go ahead next week.

The Hopi tribe had taken a Paris auction house to court Tuesday to try to block the sale, arguing that they are "bitterly opposed" to the use as commercial art of sacred masks that represent their ancestor's spirits.

Corinne Matouk, a lawyer who represented the Drouot auction house said the law was on their side.

"In French law there is nothing stopping the sale of Hopi artifacts."

Pierre Servan-Schreiber, the Hopi's French lawyer, said it is "very disappointing" and said he would explore options including seeking help from U.N. cultural organization UNESCO.

The "Katsinam" masks are being put on sale by a private collector on Dec. 9 and 11, alongside an altar from the Zuni tribe that used to belong to late Hollywood star Vincent Price, and other Native American frescoes and dolls.

The Hopi tribe has said it believes the masks, which date back to the late 19th and early 20th century, were taken from a northern Arizona reservation in the early 20th century.

In April, a Paris court ruled that such sales are legal, and Drouot sold off around 70 Hopi masks for some 880,000 euros ($1.2 million) despite vocal protests and criticism from actor Robert Redford and the U.S. government.

==============

http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/wailua-altar-dismantled/article_d993e896-8c7a-11e2-bcc5-001a4bcf887a.html
The Garden Island, March 14, 2013

Wailua altar dismantled

Chris D'Angelo - The Garden Island

WAILUA � The sacredness of Wailua Beach is now gone, according to James Alalem, 55, of Wailua.

At approximately 9 a.m. Wednesday, workers from Kaikor Construction Company dismantled a kuahu, or altar, for a Hawaiian heiau that Alalem said was once in the area.

By hand, the workers placed the rocks and coral from the kuahu in a pile approximately 10 feet away under an ironwood tree, which features a plaque marked "Mahunapu�uone Heiau."

"That's all it is now, a pile of rocks," Alalem said. "It doesn't mean anything."

The dismantling of the kuahu by the county contractor came more than a month after Alalem and Ray Catania, 62, of Puhi, were arrested for obstructing the construction site. The two jumped an orange construction barrier after they said crews were working too close to the kuahu.

At that time, the two men cited a law that makes it illegal to destroy religious property or intentionally obstruct by force anyone from exercising religious beliefs. On Wednesday, to no avail, Alalem read sections of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as desecration penal codes, to the workers.

Several Kaua�i Police Department officers stood by while the kuahu was taken apart by the construction crew, who linked arms and offered a prayer before carrying out their orders.

"I didn't want to do it," said worker David Vasques, who could be spotted gathering the last bits of coral from the kuahu's original location. "I just need to put food on my family's table."

In a statement on behalf of the county, public information officer Beth Tokioka wrote that the contractor "removed rocks that had been placed in the state right of way � in order to continue construction of Ke Ala Hele Makalai (multi-use path), along the Wailua corridor."

Tokioka added that the site was studied extensively during the county's Environmental Assessment in 2007, and again during its Supplemental Archeological Assessment in 2011.

"Neither the EA or the Supplemental Archeological Assessment identified a heiau in this location in the project area," Tokioka wrote.

Alalem disagrees and said he and Catania rebuilt the kuahu two years ago, after using information gathered by Wailua resident Waldeen Palmeira. The two said they filed a police report with the KPD following Wednesday's "desecration."

With the kuahu gone, Alalem said Wailua Beach is now cursed.

"Sacredness was put in place (there) for one reason," he said. "When that sacredness is destroyed the darkness comes back � hate, anger, destruction, death, unhappiness, curse."

Catania said the county's decision to move the kuahu to make room for the multi-use path came as no surprise.

"We knew it was going to happen," he said. "It's very upsetting, but we're emotionally prepared. And we're going to continue to struggle to protect Wailua and its sacred places."

Alalem and Catania have no hard feelings against the police officers or the workers, who reportedly dismantled the kuahu with ill feelings and regret.

"They were very respectful," Alalem said. "The head (construction worker) came and talked to us first. He didn't want to do it."

"We know they're not responsible," Catania added. "The responsibility with this lies with the mayor and his staff."

Judy Dalton, an executive committee member of the Kaua�i Group Sierra Club, was also present Wednesday morning and expressed her opposition to the project.

"Concrete on beaches is environmentally destructive and building a concrete path on Wailua Beach, known throughout Hawai�i as one of the most culturally, historically and spiritually significant, fails to respect Native Hawaiian values," she said. "Preserving beaches in their natural state provides them with their best chance of survival."

Alalem and Catania are scheduled to appear in court March 20 for their Feb. 6 obstructing a construction site charges.

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http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/mailbag/letters-for-monday-march/article_b77365e0-8f89-11e2-8b32-001a4bcf887a.html

The Garden Island, Letters for Monday, March 18, 2013 [2 items]

Jimbo and Ray are an inspiration to us

I want to thank Chris D'Angelo, L�o Azambuja and TGI for their coverage of the ongoing saga of the Wailua multi-use path. Chris' latest piece is called "Wailua altar dismantled" (March 14). The removal of a symbolic sacred ahu from the footprint of the path is not the end of the story.

Saturday, it was announced that Prosecutor Justin Kollar will not prosecute Jimbo and Ray for their religious practices at Wailua, the piko of Kaua�i, and one of the most sacred places in all of Hawai�i.

In the big picture, the concrete construction is the latest culturally genocidal act in the 120-year illegal occupation of Hawai�i by the corporation known as the U.S. Government and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the fake state of Hawai�i and the County of Kaua�i. Just as they have done in Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Marshall Islands and in many other places, the U.S. Empire has invaded and militarily occupied a non-threatening sovereign nation, in violation of international laws.

The workers may have removed the rocks at Wailua, but it wasn't their decision to do so. In fact, they showed a lot of reverence and compassion for the Hawaiian culture, as they sadly did their job. They are victims of the occupation of Hawai�i, just like the kanaka and all the rest of us who have a Hawaiian heart.

When mass consciousness raises to a higher level, will be the time when workers and citizens will begin to throw off the shackles of those who are most responsible for all the misery and for all the blood on our hands.

America would be so beautiful without their dark energy. They are the oppressors, the greedy capitalists, the military occupiers, those career bureaucrats and gutless politicians who enslave all of us for their enrichment, their legacies, their paranoid lust for wealth and power and control over us.

Until the light of justice shines brightly, working class heroes like Jimbo Alalem and Ray Catania will continue to inspire the rest of us to resist, to organize and to educate. And, to truly honor and respect the ancestors and the �aina.

Fred Dente
Kapa�a

-------

Loss of Hawaiian culture

No cultural practitioner would do Building Division Chief Doug Haigh's bidding and bless the destruction of the ahu shrine at Wailua Beach. Instead he authorized extra expenditures so four Kaikor Construction workers would do it for him.

From the beginning of bike path construction in January, all the workers carefully avoided disturbing the ahu, knowing as they did the cultural significance of Wailuanuiaho�ano and the heiau Mahunapu�uone. They joined hands in a pule around the ahu before disassembling it one pohaku, or rock, at a time and relocating them a short distance makai.

Now Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar has dropped charges against James Alalem and Ray Catania, arrested for defending the heiau on Feb. 7, and with that acknowledging that Mahunapu�uone is indeed spiritually sensitive land that should have never been disturbed.

The ongoing shameful hypocrisy of Hawaiian culture abandonment in service to development is on full display, as Kaua�i's rich indigenous history and the bike path are pitched as marketing assets for tourism just as the bike path paves over an ancient heiau location.

For most of us, the location of this most recent struggle to preserve Hawaiian lands and culture, and in fact the entire length of Wailua Beach and its shorebreak will soon be lost from view from our car windows, blocked by the bike path barrier wall. It will, in a real sense, effectively go away.

When places go away, so does the memory of those places and so does the culture that lives through those memories.

Kip Goodwin
Kapa�a

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http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/charges-dropped-against-demonstrators/article_cd38f27e-98d9-11e2-8096-001a4bcf887a.html
The Garden Island, March 30, 2013

Charges dropped against demonstrators

by Tom LaVenture

LIHU�E � Two individuals arrested while protesting the removal of an alter during construction of a bicycle path in Wailua say they are pleased the county is not prosecuting them � but would rather have attention focus on what they call a sacred site.

James Lee Alalem, 55, of Kapa�a, and Raymond Anthony Catania, 62, of Lihu�e, were arrested for obstructing government operations on the morning of Feb. 6. After waiting out the March 25 morning calendar at 5th District Court, the two found there was no case filed against them.

County Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar later confirmed that his office decided not to pursue the charges. The two were accused of crossing a construction barrier as work approached a rock alter they built to represent a heiau they believe once stood on the site.

"We feel that laws have been broken and the mayor's administration, the Planning Department and the Department of Recreation got away with it," Catania said. "They weren't able to find a cultural practitioner to take it down."

Although he is pleased with Kollar's sensitivity to the issue, Catania said they did maintain a peaceful presence at the site. His concern now is that the focus on the incident distracts from the larger responsibility to protect the site.

The county maintains that construction of the Wailua corridor portion of the Ke Ala Hele Makalai path does not cross over any of what was once part of the Mahunapu�uone Heiau.

"Archaeological studies were completed as a requirement of state and federal environmental disclosure laws, and in conjunction with the state's already completed construction of the Bryan Baptiste Wailua Bridge Complex," according to county spokeswoman Mary Daubert.

The Environmental Assessment for the Wailua portion of the coastal path was issued in 2007, and stated the preferred alignment was compatible with known archaeological and cultural resources. The archaeological field assessment and consultation included input from the State Historic Preservation Division, Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Hawai�i State Parks.

County Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. approved a Supplemental Archeological Assessment and sub-surface investigation, which was completed in 2011. This study, conducted by Cultural Surveys Hawai�i, was ordered in response to concerns raised by the community.

According to the study, testing involved 17 trenches, which exposed modern debris including plastic bags and cups, aluminum cans, glass containers, household and personal items. Asphalt and concrete bobbles and large basalt boulders were also uncovered in the trenches.

The report suggested that the presence of modern debris meant that if any historic or prehistoric deposits had existed in the project area, they were likely "removed, displaced or impacted" during construction.

No traditional Hawaiian or historic artifacts, cultural deposits or cultural resources were found during the investigation, according to the study. Ground penetrating radar surveys were also inconclusive, and no surface cultural resources were identified.

Catania still claims that the state violated the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 under Title 18 Section 101, which covers the processes of Native American and Hawaiian cultural and religious sites. There should have been public hearings regarding shoreline changes, he said.

Alalem added that the decision to build over the site swept any opposition under the rug. The work to protect the history "is not supposed to be heard, seen or talked about," he said.

The property and artifacts may be destroyed but its meaning remains at the location, Alalem said. "It is still there and no one can destroy it or say it is gone, even if the stones are removed," he said. "I feel angry because there is no justice served. Where do we go from here?"

Alalem claims that the county historical studies were mitigated to agree with the bicycle path proposal. They did not include the review of documents based on an 1840s study, he added. "We are looking at this as a human rights violation complaint," Alalem said.

Alalem said he is an appointed caretaker of the island's heiaus. The duty came from Joe Manini, who he describes as the current familial heir to the Wailua area, dating back to King Kameamea III. "Uncle Joe Manini is the only heir left with documents to the land," Anini said. "He made me caretaker of all the heiaus."

Catania and Alalem plan to continue practicing religious and cultural events at the site along with holding torch lit vigils during full moons from midnight to 1 a.m. They will do outreach on historical and cultural significance of sacred sites and hope people will join their cause. "We don't want to see the Wailua corridor change just to benefit the tourist industry," Catania said. "We want to see these sites protected and take care of our Mother Earth."

==================

http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2013/06/14/19279-bones-in-purgatory-660-skeletal-remains-languish-in-church-basement/
Honolulu Civil Beat, Friday June 14, 2013

Bones in Purgatory: 660 Skeletal Remains Languish in Church Basement

By Sophie Cocke / Civil Beat

The bride and groom stand before a minister in the historic Kawaiahao Church in downtown Honolulu. Beneath the vaulted ceilings and a giant white cross, couples sometimes pledge to love and cherish each other �til death do us part.

Wedding guests who witness such moments sit on row after row of pews in this striking 19th-century church made of large coral slabs.

But if you look deeper, there is a surprising � some say disturbing � element to the proceedings. Beneath the feet of the guests, there is a basement full of baskets, many of which are stacked atop one another. They contain the exhumed human remains of 660 long dead believers, and many of them have been there for years.

The bones, or iwi, believed to date from the 19th century, were dug up from a broad plot of land on the side of the church.

Church leaders say they were surprised to find the bones, even though the plot next to the church was long a cemetery because they believed that all of the bones had been removed in the 1940s. That is when the Likeke Hall, a recreation center, was built. That hall was torn down in 2008 to make room for the new activity center, and in building the new center, they discovered the many bones, carefully wrapped them up, and stacked them in the basement.

So much for resting in peace.

A legal battle over the human remains has left them in a legal limbo, trapped in a strange sort of purgatory.

In December, an intermediate court of appeals panel ruled that the state and church had violated the law by allowing construction work to begin several years ago without first conducting an archaeological survey.

The court ruling could ultimately bring an end to a protracted court battle over the treatment of the ancestral remains. But the ruling has shed little light on what to do with the iwi, or whether the recreation center can eventually be built.

Both Kawaiahao Church and the state have appealed the ruling to Hawaii's Supreme Court. While the church's motion was thrown out earlier this month, the court has until later this month to decide on whether to hear the state's appeal.

Some people might find the whole idea creepy, but for others, including many Native Hawaiians who believe the soul, or mana, remains in the bones, the situation is deeply upsetting.

Meanwhile, the iwi, wrapped in muslin and placed in lauhala baskets sit in the church's basement. Some of the baskets are stacked in 8-foot wire shelves, two to three per shelf, said Jonathan Scheuer, vice chairman of the Oahu Island Burial Center, who visited the remains in April. In another area in the basement, baskets are stacked some 20 high, one on top of another, he said.

"I'm pleased that the church agreed to allow us to visit the burials," said Scheuer. "But I did share with them that we didn't think they were all being kept with the proper level of care."

A Storied History

The disinterred remains have created an awkward situation at a church that has been called the "Westminster Abbey of the Pacific." Opened in 1842, it was built by Native Hawaiians who dove into water and swam as far as 20 feet deep to carve out 14,000 slabs of coral reef, each piece weighing around 1,000 pounds, according to the church.

From the beginning, the church was a place of worship for Hawaiian royalty, or alii, and it was an early anchor for the rapid adoption of Christianity in Hawaii.

In 1819, the royalty got rid of the ancient code of conduct known as the kapu system. So when Christian missionaries showed up in Hawaii six months later, they found an island nation without any official religion, said Jeffrey Lyon, a religion professor at the University of Hawaii.

"Many people held on to old aspects of their lives, their beliefs, traditions and prayers," he said. "But the acceptance of Christianity was pretty whole and thorough."

The melding of traditional Hawaiian beliefs and western Christian religious practices has not always been seamless.

And even two centuries later, the impassioned debate over exhumed ancestral remains, even if they are in an ostensibly Christian cemetery, highlight the complex questions about the spirituality of Hawaiian Christianity.

A "Christian" Burial

On a Sunday afternoon in June, an elderly couple carefully tended to a grave plot of close friends, just a stone's throw from where the ancestral remains were exhumed. They respectfully arranged leis on the tombstones.

Around them, the small cemetery houses the graves of many prominent families who rose to considerable power; families with names like Bingham and Cooke.

Inside the church, diffused sunlight gently illuminates the empty pews as a warm breeze sweeps in through open windows. American and Hawaiian flags rustle slightly on the mezzanine.

On the walls, the monarchy's illustrious leaders -- including King David Kalakaua, Princess Victoria Kaiulani and Queen Liliuokalani -- look out from paintings on the walls. But the windows between the paintings offer a view that is a glaring contrast to the portraits of Hawaiian royalty. It is of a vast empty pit that is surrounded by black tarp. The dirt looks like a harsh lunar landscape, a jarring contrast to the verdant scenery that surrounds it. The pit is a constant reminder that the bones of hundreds of people have been pulled from the earth in favor of a new activity center that is to be equipped with a new kitchen, an office, conference rooms and a social hall.

The church's pastor, Kahu Curt Kekuna, himself Native Hawaiian, suggested that the Christians whose bones are now in the basement, would have been fine with that fate, as long as it served the church's mission.

"All those folks that were buried here were Christians. They believed in God," Kekuna told Civil Beat. "If they were here, contrary to what some people say, those folks would gladly give up their space if it was to promote God in a better way."

Kekuna hopes to eventually rebury the remains on another part of the church property.

But his flexibility toward moving burials -- not to mention his argument that it is in sync with Christian values -- has upset some church members and laymen.

In an interview with KITV in 2011, Kekuna highlighted a major difference between Christian and traditional Hawaiian belief systems. "Our religious beliefs are that there is not life in the bones," he said. "Their lives are in heaven with our lord God."

"So for us, it's not only okay, but they gave their lives so that we could have Kawaiahao." But some say that the discovery of so many bones, and their removal, is deeply troubling. "They all deserve respect. They all deserve to rest in peace," said Dana Naone Hall, who sued the church. She has argued that an archaeological survey should have been completed first.

"It's ridiculous what happened to them and extremely hurtful to people that iwi kapuna have been treated this way."

Kai Markell, an officer at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, offered a more penetrating critique. "The iwi is what houses the mana, or the spiritual power of that individual," Markell explained during a court hearing in 2011.

"The conduit to communicate with that spirit is through their iwi," Markell said. "And any type of harm or desecration that comes to that iwi - there's consequences."

Such a vision offers a marked contrast to the Christian belief that after death one's spirit goes to heaven.

But even among Christians, caring for graves has a long tradition. Many states have adopted strong laws against desecrating graveyards and placed stringent controls on the relocation of human remains.

Lyon noted that protecting graves didn't begin with Christianity, but that Christians sometimes adopted local customs.

"The minister stating that well, these are Christian burials is kind of funny to me because traditionally speaking there is no such thing as a Christian burial," he said.

"There are a lot of traditions that are being trampled on and saying these are Christians is not going to help, I'm afraid."

Cultural Dissonance

Claire Steele, a former board member of the church, said that she rarely attends services anymore because she's so upset with the church leadership about their handling of the remains.

Steele said that the church initially set out to do the project in a "pono" way, forming a committee to handle the sensitive issue of iwi, if it were to arise. But at some point, things went sour.

The committee strove "to incorporate the Christian with the Hawaiian because that is what the church has done for centuries. But (the church leadership) just went in the total opposite way when they hit the burials," she said. "To protect themselves, they said, we are Christians. And they were so steadfast on the Christian aspect, and the fact that in Christian beliefs the soul goes up to heaven and that there is no significance in bones."

The position has left Kekuna on the defensive. "I've never said that the bones have no meaning," he told Civil Beat. "I've always said that I respect their beliefs, but I don't believe as the (opponents) do. I would never say that I disrespected any Hawaiian, even if I disagree with them."

If the court hears the state's appeal, there's a chance that construction on the multipurpose center will start up again.

Otherwise, the court, church and various parties are going to have to figure out what to do with all of those bones in limbo in the basement.

The court ruling has created a quandary.

The panel ruled that the church was supposed to have done an archaeological inventory survey, but with little clarification on what that means.

This is a problem because, except for a small area, the plot has already been excavated and the bones removed.

The significance of the ruling will likely come down to who has the power to decide what happens to the ancestral bones.

Up until this point, the church has maintained that it is their kuleana (responsibility and privilege) to take care of the remains, and church leadership has been critical of outside protestors trying to dictate the actions of the church.

If "anything is hewa (offensive), it's when you come to the church, and you start to make these pronouncements about the church, when you're not even a member of the church," Kekuna said during an interview with the Honolulu Star Advertiser in 2011. "They don't know what we've done, what we've gone through. Yet at the same time, they purport to speak for the church. And that's hewa. Big time."

But the court ruling could divert power away from the church to the Oahu Island Burial Council, a state council in charge of grappling with weighty questions about how to treat burial remains that are found in the course of development projects.

The council, which has been critical of how Kawaiahao Church has managed the burials, was largely shut out of discussions about how to handle the remains. Given that a survey was required � even if it can't be done retroactively � the burial council could be in a position to play a key role in deciding the fate of the bones.

Scheuer said that the burial council has yet to decide what it wants to happen. They could decide that the remains must be put back in the ground from where they came, which could leave the planned activity center in limbo.

In the meantime, Sayaka Blakeney, a Honolulu wedding planner who specializes in Japanese weddings, said that she informs clients about the construction, but not about the bones in the basement beneath the pews. "It's probably too much information for them," she said.

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Send comments or questions to:
Ken_Conklin@yahoo.com

LINKS

This present webpage covers only the year 2011.

For coverage of events in 2005 (about 250 pages), see:

https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagprahawaii2005.html

For year 2006 (about 150 pages), see:
https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagprahawaii2006.html