U.S. judge issues
writ for return of
Big Isle artifacts

A federal court judge issued a written order yesterday demanding the return of 83 treasured native Hawaiian artifacts reburied in a Big Island cave, in part because they "are at serious risk of irreparable harm."

Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra issued a 22-page written order late yesterday that explained in detail the foundation of the same order he made verbally from the bench Friday during a controversial preliminary injunction hearing.

Ezra said the funerary objects, or "moepu," were to be retrieved by Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawaii Nei, a group founded in 1989 to repatriate native Hawaiian remains and artifacts.

In his written order, Ezra also questioned the circumstances under which Hui Malama obtained the items from the Bishop Museum on Feb. 26, 2000.

Hui Malama is expected to appeal the decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Attorneys representing Hui Malama could not be reached for comment late yesterday.

Ezra's order yesterday is the result of a federal lawsuit against Hui Malama filed last month by two native Hawaiian claimants to the artifacts.

The two groups argued they want the return of the items so that the 14 federally recognized native Hawaiian claimants, including Hui Malama, can consult equally about their fate.

The two are suing under Fifth Amendment property rights laws and provisions of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which Congress passed in 1990 to right the wrongs of the past.

NAGPRA is a federal law that governs the repatriation of human remains and artifacts.

In his written order, Ezra questioned whether a valid repatriation of the items occurred, a point that might be taken up at trial.

The two plaintiffs are La'akea Suganuma, a practitioner of native Hawaiian martial arts and president of the Royal Academy of Traditional Arts, and Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa, a group founded by Abigail Kawananakoa, a wealthy Campbell Estate heir and descendent of royal native Hawaiian blood.

In granting the injunction, Ezra wrote the priceless items "are at serious risk" from environmental harm and possible theft as has occurred at other caves, and "that the interests of justice and the public would best be served by bringing the items back to a secure location at the Bishop Museum" while 14 federally recognized native Hawaiian claimants decided the fate of the items under federal legal procedures.

In his order, Ezra also noted "the court is greatly troubled, in particular, by the failure of defendant Hui Malama to be forthcoming with even the most basic information regarding the whereabouts of the moepu (funerary objects)."

Edward Halealoha Ayau, a founder of Hui Malama, could not be reached for comment last night.

Ayau has long said that his group reburied the items in the cave according to the wishes of ancestors who originally chose to place them there.