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Editorials
Thursday, May 11, 2000Hawaiian artifacts
dispute must be settledTHERE are now five Hawaiian organizations that have made claims to the "Forbes Cave" artifacts that had been housed at the Bishop Museum until they were turned over to one claimant group, Hui Malama, on Feb. 26. The others are the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Big Island Burial Council, and E Nana Pono.The issue: Bishop Museum officials turned over priceless Hawaiian artifacts to a private group without the approval of other claimants.
May 5 was the deadline for the filing of claims to the artifacts -- but the significance of such filings has become clouded by the fact that the artifacts have already been removed from the museum.
The turnover of the artifacts, priceless relics of ancient Hawaii, has prompted protests from other Hawaiian groups, including some of the claimants. Hui Malama representatives have said they reburied the items in the same cave where they were found in Honokua Gulch in the Kawaihae area of the Big Island.
Patrick Kirch, an authority on Pacific archaeology, has called the items recovered from Forbes Cave "perhaps the most amazing cache of artifacts ever found in a Hawaiian cave."
Museum Vice President Elizabeth Tatar, who released the artifacts, later said she had been deceived by Hui Malama and believed that all of the claimants to the artifacts had agreed to take and hide them.
Twenty-one museum employees signed a letter protesting the turnover, which was addressed to museum director Donald Duckworth and board president Bert A. Kobayashi. The museum fired its public relations manager, Nanette Napoleon Purnell, after she objected strongly to the turnover at a staff meeting. De- Soto Brown, a collections manager and authority on 20th century Hawaiiana, was suspended for publicly criticizing the decision.
The museum called the turnover a loan rather than a repatriation, described in one report as a circumvention of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
The decision by Bishop Museum officials to release the artifacts without adequate safeguards and clearances, and their subsequent statements and actions aimed at covering their tracks and muzzling protesters, appear nothing short of disastrous.
The controversy seems nowhere near resolution and may have to be resolved by the courts. However it is accomplished, the artifacts must be recovered and their future protection assured.
McCain’s reluctant
endorsement of BushIT wasn't pretty, but George W. Bush got his endorsement for the presidential election from his strongest Republican primary opponent, John McCain. The Arizona senator made it clear through his grimaces as well as his words that he was proffering his support with reluctance.
Obviously the wounds from their primary battles haven't fully healed. McCain even admitted under questioning that his support for Bush could be described as taking his medicine.
But McCain had insisted that he is a loyal Republican -- despite his blistering attacks on both parties for their excesses in seeking campaign contributions -- and would support the GOP's candidate. However, he said he didn't want to be considered as a possible running mate for Bush, which was probably OK with Bush because the two certainly don't get along well.
McCain unexpectedly emerged as the strongest challenger to the Texas governor for the GOP nomination although his effort fell short. The bitterness evident in some of his comments, particularly after his defeat in the bruising South Carolina primary, encouraged speculation that he might refuse to endorse Bush or even run as a third-party candidate.
Consequently even a lukewarm endorsement reluctantly given was a plus for Bush, considering the alternatives. He may not inherit all of McCain's support, but now he can hope to get a lot of it.
Meanwhile Bush should be encouraged by the latest poll results. The Los Angeles Times Poll finds Bush leading Vice President Al Gore among registered voters by 51 percent to 43 percent, with 5 percent undecided. Bush holds a 21-point lead over Gore among married voters.
In another attempt to move his campaign toward the middle of the road after steering a conservative course in the primaries, Bush proposes tax breaks of up to several thousand dollars a person to help the elderly with nursing home insurance and those caring for older relatives at home. Gore supports a Clinton administration plan that would give people comparable tax help to care for the elderly.
Bush is making inroads in another area in which Democrats usually have the advantage -- education. His record of supporting school reform in Texas strengthens his credibility.
Bush stumbled early on foreign policy questions, but foreign affairs seems to be the last thing on voters' minds this year. With the McCain problem presumably solved and the Bob Jones University fiasco largely forgotten, he can focus on delivering his "compassionate conservatism" theme.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
