Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 7, 1 July 1991 — Hawaiian remains will return [ARTICLE]

Hawaiian remains will return

The American Museum of Natural History in New York has agreed to return approximately 24 human remains that have been identified as Native Hawaiians, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Daniel K. lnouye (D-Hawai'i). The remains were identified through an inventory conducted by the museum under provisions of the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act. Signed into law in November 1990, the act requires museums and institutions that receive federal funding to conduct inventories of Native Hawaiian, American Indian, and Alaska Native human remains, sacred objects and funerary objects.

Native Hawaiian organizations or a tribal government must be informea of any findings and if requested, the museum or institution must return the remains or objects. Inouye is chairman of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs and primary sponsor of the act in the Senate. In July 1990, the Smithsonian Institution returned nearly 100 Native Hawaiian remains to Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai'i Nei for reburial in Hawai'i. Additional Native Hawaiian remains currently held by the Smithsonian are expected to be returned within the next few months.