LIHUE » Dozens of Hawaiians and their supporters testified yesterday in tears and with shouts and voices crackling with emotion before the Kauai Niihau Burial Council.

After about five hours of testimony, the council deferred to its Nov. 5 meeting the issue of construction on a Haena property that contains at least 30 ancient Hawaiian burials.

“;The state has made a mistake, a big, major mistake,”; said Jim Medeiros, a Big Island resident. “;Once you start building on the graveyards, it will become a (precedent) in the state.”;

The property has been the source of numerous lawsuits during the past five years, and a judge's decision last month sent the item back to the council.

Joseph Brescia, who bought the land in 2000 from actor Sylvester Stallone, has received permits from the county and state to build the home and has already poured the fittings for the home and a concrete cap for the five burials underneath the home.

But Judge Kathleen Watanabe decided last month that the burial council was not consulted on a revised burial treatment plan adopted by the state Historic Preservation Division.

The burial council had decided to preserve the seven graves in place that were to be under the house plot, but only five were actually under the home.

Members of the council testified at last month's hearing that they believed keeping the bones in place would halt the project, rather than allow Brescia to continue building the house.

“;The building should not be there, period,”; said council member Barbara Say yesterday. “;I didn't know they were going to be cemented. ... What is wrong with this man?”;

The speakers implored the council yesterday to do everything in its power to stop the building of the home and protect the bones.

“;It's been such a personal and dishonorable struggle that we have faced,”; said Hale Mawae. “;The procedures and ... rules are ... fictional.”;

The permits given to Brescia are akin “;to permitting desecration,”; said Hanalei Fergerstrom, a Big Island resident who flew in to attend the council meeting. “;It is very important to nip this in the bud now.”;

Alan Murakami of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., who sued the state to get the item back on the agenda, said the council had the power to send the items back to the Kauai Planning Commission with a note that the conditions of the council have not been met.

The planning commission approved the permits with the provision that the burial council approve the treatment plan.

“;What you do today will reverberate,”; Murakami added. “;Let the planning commission play a role.”;

While speakers said the council was misinformed, they reserved their criticism for state archaeologist Nancy McMahon, who testified at the court hearing that she believed the area was not a cemetery, but 30 individual burial sites.

The land is not only a cemetery, many speakers said, but a special place of immense spiritual and cultural importance.

Brescia's attorney, Walton Hong, who watched the meeting, would not comment afterward.