Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 4, 1 April 1989 — Maui Hotel "Adopts" Cemetery [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Maui Hotel "Adopts" Cemetery

By Nanette Napoleon Pumell The Cemetery Research Project While the community awaits with bated breath to hear what will befall the now famous ancient Hawaiian burial site at Honokahua on Maui, another cemetery site,just 10milessouthof Honokahua, is quietly undergoing a long overdue restoration. Until a few weeks ago, the Puehuehue County Cemetery next to the Honoapiilani Highway near Puamana was barely visible to the passerby. Weeds and debris from the adjoining canefield had virtually hidden the site, whieh has about 120 burials, many of whieh are Hawaiian. Even though thousands of commuters pass Puehuehue eaeh day on their way to work in the Lahaina and Kaanapali beach resort areas, not mueh attention had been paid to the site, and for many years it remained a neglected and almost forgotten burial ground. Luckily for the cemetery, however, one daily commuter, Mike White, took an interest in the rundown site and decided to do something about it. White is general manager of the Kaanapali

Beach Hotel, and is a "loeal boy." White expressed his idea of restoring the eemetery to a group of community-minded employees, and within a few weeks he and about two dozen hotel employees were busy clearing the site and making plans to beautify the area. The hotel signed an agreement with the county government to "adopt" the cemetery, under the Mayor's "Adopt-A-Park," or "Access" program. Work so far has included clearing the site, taking an inventory of burials, outlining individual graves and insta!ling water lines. The Pioneer Mill has donated river rocks to mark the graves and the County has donated the water access and cinder as fill. A campaign has begun to get permanent plants and flowers donated by the community. Future plans include fencing the site and purchasing tombstone markers for plots that have none. lf you ean identify any unmarked burial sites, or if you would like to help in the restoration, please eall Beverlee Balberdi at 661-0011.

Dr. Jane Allen conducted a hiking tour of archaeological sites in Kailua, O'ahu for the Moanalua Gardens Foundation in February. The hikers are looking at lo'i walls along Oma'o stream. These sites and others in the Maunawili vicinity will be affected by the construction of the proposed Royal Hawaiian Golf Courses. A highlight of the trip was a visit to Kukapoki Heiau, hidden under a hau tree above Maunawili Stream. The heiau site was originally recorded by Gilbert McAllister in 1 930. During the statewide survey of historic places, it was not relocated by the Department of Land and Natural Resources and was listed as destroyed. Allen's crew relocated the heiau during a survey for the golf course's environmental assessment. The hike was preceded by a lecture and slide show on the archaeology of the Kailua area. Kawainui Marsh and Ulu Po Heiau were also visited.

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Volunteers from the Kaanapali Beach Hotel have spent numerous hours clearing and cleaning Puehuehue County Cemetery near Lahaina as part of a community project.

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