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Artifacts
removal splits
Hawaiian groups

Hawaiian Homelands, listed as
one of two recipients of the treasures,
denies it ever received any

By Burl Burlingame
Star-Bulletin

A tug of war over 83 Hawaiian artifacts recently removed from Bishop Museum has caused a schism among Hawaiian groups previously united in claiming the items.

In a letter to Robert Stanton, director of the National Park Service, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs stated it "is extremely concerned by what appears to be a violation of NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act). If this has indeed happened, the museum has foreclosed all options for disposition by the community and may have jeopardized the safety, protection and security of these unique cultural resources. ... Moreover, these actions may be a violation of federal law which invoke the penalties under 25 USC 3007."

The artifacts were removed by Hui Malama, one of the four claimant groups involved in the "Forbes Cave" items, along with OHA, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands and the Big Island Burial Council.

The letter was filed last Thursday, with copies to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, Hawaii's congressional delegation, Bishop Museum and other interested parties.

The Park Service administers NAGPRA, which allows for repatriation of native remains and funerary objects held in museums and scholarly collections.

The law gives primary claim to direct descendants of the deceased, and secondary claim to organized groups representing larger cultural interests. The items collected from Forbes Cave were in the process of being inventoried for public notice so that other claimants could come forward.

The OHA letter was filed the day after a March 22 meeting among the Forbes Cave claimant groups to discuss the issue.

Ruth Ann Becker, Bishop Museum's spokeswoman, last week characterized the meeting as one in which all parties were in consensus, supporting the removal of the items.

Becker is an independent public-relations facilitator hired by Bishop Museum to handle the Forbes Cave issue.

The museum's own staff is divided on the issue.

The OHA letter, signed by OHA administrators Randall Ogata and Colin Kippen, summarized the issue and then noted, "While in the process of ongoing consultation, the museum loaned the cultural resources to one of the claimants, without consulting or notifying the other claimants.

"Recently OHA was told by the museum that the cultural resources had been re-buried in an unknown location by the loan recipients, precluding repatriation to any other claimants. This occurred before the Notice of Intent to Repatriate Human Remains and Funerary Objects was published...

"This matter is urgent and of extreme concern to the community. We urge you to investigate the situation as quickly and expeditiously as possible."

According to Becker, however, "a 'loan' is not a repatriation. It is not final. The items have simply been moved to a neutral location until the process is completed, then there will be a disposition."

According to Bishop Museum's own shipping invoice, prepared by vice president Elizabeth Tatar, the 83 items were loaned to two claimants, Hui Malama and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. The other two claimants were not included.

The "responsible person" named on the invoice is Kunani Nihipali of Hui Malama, and Edward Ayau of Hui Malama signed the invoice and took possession of the artifacts.

Hawaiian Home Lands, however, was not aware that they had been named as a loan partner, and DHHL Chairman Raymond Soon had in fact sent Tatar a strongly worded letter a few days before warning against such an act.

"Since there is no secure interim facility to properly store the cultural objects, and additional information to review, we believe the Bishop Museum should take the most prudent and responsible action, which is to hold the cultural objects until you receive updated confirmation," wrote Soon.

Asked about this discrepancy in cause and effect, Soon sighed and said it was now water under the bridge.

"The four of us have met since it happened, and we'll be meeting again early in April to discuss the issue," said Soon. "Removing the artifacts is now past history. It happened. But we were NOT aware that the items had been released in our name. We take seriously our responsibility to take care of these artifacts."

At least one of the artifacts, however, a well-known female figure with real human hair, is being kept by the National Park Service. It had been loaned by the museum so that a duplicate could be carved for the Volcanoes National Park visitor center. Concerned that the item may vanish before the NAGPRA process was completed, Park Service employees have delayed returning it.