Hui Malama-Bishop Museum pact has them sharing artifact retrieval costs
Hui Malama and Bishop Museum will have to share the $330,000 cost for the recent retrieval of 83 burial artifacts from Big Island caves, under a settlement approved yesterday in U.S. District Court.
U.S. District Judge David Ezra approved the settlement, which was reached by the parties on Thursday. The deal also releases Edward Halealoha Ayau, head of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei, who had been placed under home confinement for 11 months.
Hui Malama and Bishop Museum were sued in August 2005 by two Hawaiian groups seeking return of the burial items. The settlement terminates the lawsuit filed by Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa, headed by Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, and the Royal Academy of Traditional Arts, headed by Laakea Suganuma. The groups contend that they were deprived of an opportunity to decide the artifacts' final resting place.
The 83 artifacts were taken in 1905 from several caves and ended up at Bishop Museum. Bishop Museum loaned the items in 2000 to Hui Malama, which buried them in the caves and maintained that the artifacts were returned to their rightful place.
Ezra found Ayau in contempt last December for refusing to identify their location and ordered him jailed. Ayau said that complying with Ezra's order would violate Hui Malama's cultural and religious beliefs and was tantamount to stealing from their dead kupuna.
Yesterday, Ezra said he believed Hui Malama "made a terrible mistake and terrible misjudgment," and should have worked with other Hawaiian groups, rather than taking the "hard line" and disregarding their opinions. Instead of uniting native Hawaiians, Hui Malama's actions divided the community, Ezra said,
Ayau defended himself and Hui Malama, saying, "It was not disrespect for the court, but respect for our kupuna."
Outside the courthouse, Ayau said that the fact that Hui Malama undertook such an immense responsibility, "the fact that we were willing to lose our freedom over what we did, to stand by what we did, demonstrates the content of our character." He and three others were held in contempt by the court, but only Ayau was jailed.
If he had to do it all over again, he would, Ayau said.
He was held for several weeks at the federal detention center before Ezra transferred him to home confinement so that he could participate in the mediation. After four months of discussions, Ezra found the parties could not resolve their differences and appointed experts to assess the condition of the caves and to safely retrieve the artifacts.
All 83 items were retrieved over the summer by the group, which included the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, the state Attorney General's office and Bishop Museum representatives.
George Van Buren, who represented Na Lei Alii and the Royal Academy, said they are satisfied with the settlement because they accomplished what they sought in the lawsuit -- to have the items recovered so that the consultation and repatriation process can resume and judgment be entered against Hui Malama.
He said they are eager to proceed with the items' repatriation.
Ayau said Hui Malama got no satisfaction from the settlement, which they agreed to only so they could return to their mission of reclaiming Hawaiian remains and funerary objects and returning them to their rightful resting places.
He said Hui Malama's reputation was "dragged through the mud" during the dispute, including being accused of selling the artifacts on the black market. "For those people who cast doubt on Hui Malama and knowing the lies, I feel sorry for them."
He felt especially sorry for Kawananakoa and Suganuma, whom he said felt had won the suit. "The case represented redisturbing a burial site. How can anyone take joy in that?"
Van Buren said they agreed with Ezra's comments that Hui Malama did not participate in good faith in the mediation.
