Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 2, 1 February 1991 — History/culture vs. Development [ARTICLE]

History/culture vs. Development

By Ken Ige Assistant Editor Saving historic Hawaiian sites "is nothing less than the struggle to save the Hawaiian people from extinction and to return them the authority to define their culture, their history and themselves," according to OHA's Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Task Force.

Currently the Native Hawanan people have no real role in the historic preservation review process. The task force's main recommendation in its final report fact presented to the legislature, is for OHA and the Hawaiian community to become "mandatory partners" in any review and disputes over Hawaiian historic sites; and for OHA to be given the power to perform all statewide Native Hawaiian historic preservation functions. The legislature's request was for OHA to study and find ways to "better respond to the discovery of important Hawaiian historical sites within the states." The task force's creation was largely due to a developer disturbing more than 1,000 Native Hawaiian graves at Honokahua, Maui.

With new land development as the main cause of the destruction of Hawaiian historical sites, Hawaii's cost of land and the potential for profit from development only add to the problem, the report states. And the future of these sites is further complicated by the fact that penalties for damaging historical sites are minimal. Linda Delaney, OHA land officer, said damaging historical sites is a misdemeanor and violators are usually fined by the day. "But the site is gone," she said, adding that it is sometimes cheaper and easier for a developer to go on with development and pay the fine, rather than take the time to go through the proper channels.

Law and Historic site protection According to the report, existing laws are "not comprehensive or strong enough" to protect historic Hawaiian sites against the adverse impacts of new land development.

Delaney said none of the current laws afford total protection for any site. The laws only make certain sites eligible for special efforts to lessen impacts, she said.

Four significant factors are currently utilized in deciding whether a site is to be "protected:" informational value; architectural value; associative value; and reminder of a person/process. All of these require physical, tangible objects such as buildings or artifacts. To benefit those sites whieh may not contain any physical evidence of history, the task force recommends the addition of cultural value as a factor. The Hawaii Register of Historic Sites and the National Register of Historic Sites are currently used as planning tools in dealing with and identifying historic Hawaiian sites. But very few historic sites are listed under the federal or state

registnes because ot stnngent nominationcntena, according to the DLNR's Historic Sites Section. The task force recommends the inclusion of the State Inventory of Sites and the OHA Inventory of Sites with the nahonal and state registers. The state and OHA inventories, because of simpler nomination criteria, have a greaternumber of sites listed and would therefore increase the number of sites to be protected. The OHA inventory is mainly made up of some 500 sites whieh were removed from the Hawaii register by the state because a court ruling found it was unfair to list these sites in the register without first notifying the landowners.

An environmental assessment is required tor any activity affecting sites listed on the nahonal or state registers. If a "significant effect" is expected, an environmental impact statement is required. But this law is far less helpful than it seems. Since very few sites are now on those lists, very few sites are protected. Burial sites Last year the legislature established separate continued page 17

History vs. development

/rom page 6 island burial councils whieh are administered by the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). Although many Hawaiians saw this as a positive step, others such as the task force and its chairwoman Lydia Namahana Maioho are still troubled by the fact that the department — not the Hawaiian people — is administering the project.

Making OHA and the Hawanan community responsible for burial sites would not be the end of disputes, the report states, "but it would affirm that the disputes would be for the Hawaiian people, and not the DLNR to resolve." The report notes that this recommendation should not be taken as criticism of DLNR or its staff, whieh the task force acknowledges as being "sensitive to Hawaiian concerns and interested in protecting them." The report also notes that since Hawaiians have no clear traditional practice concerning repatriation, osteological analysis or ritual of modern reinterment, "such issues also have the greatest potential for dividing the Hawaiian community."

The counties By law, an objective of the coastal zone management program — whieh includes all areas except forest reserves — is to "protect, preserve, and where desirable, restore those natural and manmade historic and prehistoric resources in the coastal zone management area that are significant in Hawaiian and American history and culture." Eaeh county is left responsible for this objective. But the counties laek the staff to keep the responsibility, according to the task force. Kaua'i County's historic preservation review commission ean nominate areas it deems historic to the state and federal registers, but doesn't have the authority to make designations itself, the task force found. The commission ean also make

recommendations to the planning commission, but doesn't have the power to veto the planning commission's decisions. The report says commission members are discussing ways to improve their position, including an ordinance that would require a historic survey for permits for most land-altering work.

The Maui County Council earlier this year established a cultural resources management commission. The eouneil believes this commission will qualify as the "certified loeal government" required under the Nahonal Historic Preservation Act. A federal grant is available to "certified loeal governments." But the grant is a set amount and unless further support is obtained, making more certified loeal governments in other counties will only cause the grant to be further divided and lessen the amount available to eaeh group. Hawai'i County has added "explicit goals, policies and standards of historic preservation," the report states. The county is also considering drafting an ordinance that would make it eligible for "certified loeal government" status.

A resolution approved by the Honolulu City Council last year states that it is city and county policy to "establish . . . a comprehensive historic preservation review for any development project whieh alters the land or any historic property." However, the task force feels that since it is only a resolution, "it lacks force of law," and an ordinance must be approved to require all city departments to comply with the resolution. Finally, the task force recommends its own continuation, through OHA's biennium budget, to monitor, evaluate and make recommendations concerning Native Hawaiian historic sites issues and related laws. Chairwoman Maioho, in her letter to the legislature, wrote: "The identification, interpretation, and

management of Native Hawaiian cultural properties . . . demandspecialconsiderations.The linkages between these cultural properties and the Hawaiians people are profound. "The protection of the past is not solely a public issue — it is inseparable from the survival and selfunderstanding of the Hawaiian people.

Mo'olelo of Hawai'i

Discovering the history, folklore and natural history of the Hawaiian islands is a fascinating, lifetime exploration. Kapi'olani Community College's interpret Hawai'i program presents "Na Mo'olelo o Hawai'i . . . The Stories of Hawai'i," a spring 1991 series of lectures, "hands-on" workshops and travel experiences throughout the State of Hawai'i. For details eall the Office of Community Services at 734-9234. Saturday Excursions

"An Excursion through the Mo'olelo of East O'ahu" with Kepa Maly, Sat. Mar. 2. "Ancient Hawaiian Sites on O'ahu", Sat. Mar. 23 Lecture Series (Tuesday evening) "The Issue of Hawaiian Sovereignty" with Maleolm Chun, cultural specialist, Feb. 12 "The History of the Kamehameha Family" with Dave Parker, cultural specialist, Feb. 19, 26 "The Great Mahele: The Legacy of Land Ownership" with Keoni Agard, attorney, Mar. 17

"The Foreign Settlers in Hawai'i" with Dr. Pauline King, UH-Manoa, Apr. 2, 4 "Hawai'i at War" with Dan Martinez, U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Aprl 23, 30 "Contemporary Literature in Hawai'i" with Arnold Hiura and Gary Parks, authors, Apr. 17, 18 Saturday Field Trips "Sites of Kamehameha on O'ahu", Mar. 2 "The ARTour of Honolulu's Chinatown Art Galleries and Artists," May 25, June 15