STAR-BULLETIN / OCTOBER 2004 During Wal-Mart's grand opening of its Keeaumoku Street store, Mahealani Kamauu, left, executive director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., and supporter Pat Loo protest the handling of kupuna iwi, or ancestral remains, found at the site during construction.

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2 families claim
bones found
under Wal-Mart

The ancestral dispute
erupts at a meeting of
Oahu's Burial Council

CORRECTION Saturday, February 12, 2005 » The Oahu Island Burial Council voted 7-1 to recognize the Keana'aina family as lineal descendants of ancestors buried at the Wal-Mart complex on Keeaumoku Street. A Page A1 article Thursday incorrectly said the vote was 7-0. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

With tears and yelling at an Oahu Burial Council meeting yesterday, two Hawaiian families fought bitterly over which of them has the closest ties to ancestral bones that were found during construction of the Wal-Mart complex on Keeaumoku Street.

In December the extended Keana'aina family was recognized by the burial council as being "lineal descendants," meaning they have a direct genealogical connection to specific remains at the site. Under state law, lineal descendants have more say over how bones will be reburied.

But members of the extended Kaleikini family, who are recognized as "cultural descendants," a step removed from direct family ties, contested the Keana'ainas' claim.

The state Division of Historic Preservation has also found evidence that conflicts with the Keana'ainas' research.

Caroline Kaleikini Norman told the council yesterday, "It's like there's some competition of genealogies."

Kaleikini Norman then asked for one of several executive closed-door sessions that marked the stormy meeting so that she could share her genealogy.

The state has scheduled the bones to be reinterred Feb. 18. That means there is little time for the families to agree on the burial.

After several hours of testimony, tense recesses and closed-door sessions, the council voted 7-to-0 to uphold its Dec. 20 decision recognizing the Keana'ainas as lineal descendants.

The battle between the two families is the latest conflict over the Wal-Mart store that opened its doors last October on the site where bones were buried. The first of an estimated 44 to 50 sets of human skeletal remains were discovered in January 2003.

Between June 2003 and December 2004, the burial council recognized 77 individuals as cultural descendants.

While the Wal-Mart site bones have been presumed Hawaiian based on historic maps, there are lingering questions about the presence of other ethnic groups.

Documents in the state archives indicate that a British consul general, William Miller, owned the land from 1844 to 1861. At the time, a hospital operated on the land, and during a smallpox epidemic bodies were quickly buried to confine the disease.

The Keana'ainas, as the only recognized lineal descendants, technically have the most say about protocols, said several council members. But they also say the families are meant "to reach a consensus" about how the burials will take place.

"But how can these two families come to an agreement now and in this time frame?" said Van Horn Diamond, head of the burial council.

If the families cannot reach a consensus, the state has the authority in this particular case to make the final ritual decisions and keep to the Feb. 18 deadline.

Lawyers for Wal-Mart were not present at yesterday's hearing and seem to be deferring to the state for direction.

"We have always known in our family, from oral history, that we had family at the time of these burials between what is now Wal-Mart and Ala Moana," said Vicki Keana'aina. "We have traced the genealogy and land ownership. We have maps, deeds."

But members of the Kaleikini family disagree.

"These are our kupuna," said Paulette Kaleikini after the hearing. "They only want lineal descent so that they can control. I'm going to contest this again."

As he left the hearing, Diamond shook his head. "So much acid is poured over who is lineal and who is cultural (descendent)," he said. "They should think about burying their kupuna the right way."