Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 9, 1 September 1992 — Council: purchase valley, preserve sites [ARTICLE]

Council: purchase valley, preserve sites

Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council issues H-3 report

by Jeff Clark North Halawa Valley should be purchased and OHA given stewardship as a means of preserving significant ancient Hawaiian sites located there.

1 hat s the recommendation or the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council, whieh was asked by OHA's Board of Trustees to review the archeological and cultural evidence related to the likely traditional functions of Sites 75 and 85, assess the sites* significance, assess the impacts of the current route and proposed realignment on those and other associated sites in the valley, and recommend mitigation actions to enhanee the sites' preservation and interpretation.

OHA is a signatory to the H-3 Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), whieh is required by the National Historic Preservation Act's Section 106 when there is a ehanee that federal projects may affect historic properties. The valley is owned by the Bishop

Estate. According to OHA land officer Linda Delaney, the recommended purchase would be paid for by the federal and state governments in the same ratio that the highway is being funded: 90 percent federal and 10 percent state. The Oouneil believes Sites 75 and 85 should be preserved, but not because they are a luakini and hale o Papa, as some members of the public contend. Earlier this year, Barry Nakamura, then a Bishop Museum historian, announced his luakini/hale o Papa theory and charged the museum with a cover-up.

The Council's report finds that Nakamura's theory is based solely on archeological evidence and lacks eultural or genealogical evidence to support it. The sites, the Council believes, are more likely "related complexes whieh traditionally functioned as a living and planting area for higher-ranking overseers and their families." In reaching its conclusions, the

Council reviewed archeological and cultural evidence, and gathered information, comments, and cultural insight from as many sources as possible through briefing sessions, public meetings and hearings.

The Council's report is entitled "Meanings and Mitigations: Findings and Recommendations Related to Adverse Impacts Associated With the Route of the H-3 Highway and North Halawa Valley Sites." Only the report's executive summary was available at press time. The Council submitted its report to OHA's Board of Trustees Aug. 21, in preparation for the Board's Aug. 26 meeting on Lana'i. After the report was received by the Board, it was

transmitted to the Federal Highways Administration and the other signatories to th£ H-3 Memorandum Of Agreement (the State Historic Preservation Office, the State Department of Transportation, and the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation). OHA Chairman

Clayton Hee and Council Chairperson Lydia Namahana Maioho were to release the report to the public, and copies are to be mailed to Hawaiian organizations and individuals identified at public meetings held last spring. Members of the public may obtain copies of the report through OHA's land division.

The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) is also preparing a report whieh will be transmitted to the Federal Highways Administration and the other MOA signatories. The Council's report acknowledges that there ean never be certainty about the exact traditional function of ancient sites. For this reason, the sites' significance may be viewed on two levels, both of whieh eall for preservation, it says.

On one level, if the sites represent a kauhale or complex of related family structures, they are significant and should be preserved because little is known about the daily living practices continued on page 16

Council report

from page 1

of pre-contact Hawaiians in mauka (upland) settlements on O'ahu.

On another level, archeological information gathered on O'ahu, and particularly in Halawa, may help establish new ways of looking at the past, the report proposes. For example, the conflicting views of the Halawa sites have resulted in the recognition that archeological and cultural interpretations often ignore the roles of, and sites associated with, women. In addition, it's possible that present theories may be unreliable in their application to O'ahu because, in light of Kamehameha's conquest, the information on whieh they are based may reflect too strongly the practices of the Big Island.

Impacts of the current route and proposed realignment The realignment proposed by the state DOT at the request of OHA "offers substantially more preservation and protective mitigation for the high concentration of sites found in the lower half of the valley," the report states. The realignment also avoids and allows for the preservation of sites 77/86, 108. 109. 120 and 123. In addition, the realignment results in a wider buffer zone and protection from the freeway for Sites 85 and 106. These protected sites "represent the 'heart' of the settled living area of Halawa and offer the best opportunities for experiencing and enjoying the overall sense and meaning of the val-

ley's Native Hawaiian pre-history," the report says. However, neither route would avoid all the sites. Sites 76, 83, 107, 119, 121 and 122 would be impacted by both the current and proposed routes. With the exception of sites 83 and 119, however, these sites are comparatively small, the report states. Sites 83 and 119 are larger than the other sites that cannot be avoided, but are not of the scale or significance as the sites identified for preservation, the report explains.

Preservation and interpretation Onee ffeeway construction is eompleted, the Halawa sites should be the subject of "maximum active preservation accompanied by the development of a formal interpretive plan." The preservation aspect of this would be the "public purchase of the surviving ahupua'a lands," i.e., public purchase of the entire valley. This plan would protect the area from any future development.

"Native Hawaiian knowledge will, we believe, be enhanced by possible future archeological research in areas now outside the construction corridor. This work and its anticipated contribution to our understanding of the past of O'ahu will add depth and increased self-awareness to present Native Hawaiian lives," the report says. Educational projects and funds would be pursued with the UH Center for Hawaiian Studies. the UH anthropology department summer field courses, the Bishop Estate, and others.

The sites within the construction corridor would also be the subject of preservation and interpretation. The interpretive plan would be developed in consultation with the Native Hawaiian community, and would be based on a marked walking trail eonnecting the lower makai sites Diamond Head of the stream and then crossing the stream to connect with the mauka sites. Landscaping and appropriate construction would help buffer sites from structural, visual and aural intrusions.

An exhibit and informational materials would also be used to help people understand and protect the sites. Traditional rights of cultural access and religious practice for exclusive use of the interpretative area would be recognized and formalized. The financial cost of the interpretive plan, like the valley's purchase, would be borne by the H-3 project.

Non-archeoIogical impacts In addition to the impact on Native Hawaiian sites by H-3 construction in North Halawa Valley, the Council also addressed the adverse impacts of existing federal historic preservation laws and trust relationships on Native Hawaiian cultural integrity, and the strain on Native Hawaiian and eommunity relationships "related to unresolved entanglements of past disirust." The report states there is a kaumaha, or burden, felt by Native Hawaiians because they are denied their rightful role in determining a future for Hawai'i "based on cultural respect for the traditional past."

In the interest of healing that "deeper harm" of kaumaha, the Council recommends amending the National Historic Preservation Act to include "cultural value" as a criterion in assessing the significance and treatment of historic sites. The Act should also be amended so that OHA and other Native Hawaiian organizations are included and empowered in the historic preservation process. The Council also recommends intensifying efforts to establish a fed-erally-recognized sovereign nation, and including in those efforts discussions on sovereignty's implications for historic preservation.

In a section entitled "Hihia: Entangled Relationships," the report reviews the negative impact of the H3 project on the relationships between OHA, other Hawaiian organizations, and public agencies. The decades of hard-fought but unsuccessful opposition to the project have resulted in the public feeling there is a "well-eon-nected conspiracy whieh will do anything to get the road built." Because of its inclusion in the MOA, OHA has been unfairly viewed as part of this"so-called plot," the report states.

The Council recommends that OHA, in order to mitigate this problem, encourage greater awareness among Native Hawaiians of items coming before OHA's committees and Board. OHA should also use Ka Wai Ola O OHA to list historic preservation and land use reports received by the Office and update information on the status of existing or contemplated memoranda of agreement. eonūnueā on page 23

Council Report

from page 16

The report also makes recommendations to Bishop Museum in an attempt to resolve "issues of credibility" regarding the museum's contract archeology. These recommendations include requiring that archeological staff undergo Uaining to gain experience in studying Hawaiian sites, and holding forums to gain public input on projects.

Council Chairperson Maioho noted that, "While difficult. the learning and sharing involved in the wriUng of this report is just as important to the easing of the pain associated wiih the route of H-3 on North Halawa Valley sites as are Uie formal mifigaUon measures we have recommended. At long last Hawaiian beliefs, values and concerns are truly being heard and acted on."

Other members of the Council are Vice Chairperson Rev. Leon Kapuahelani Sterling, an advisor to the DOT on Hawaiian burials; Gladys 'Ainoa Brandt, a member of Uie State FoundaUon on Culture and Uie Arts and former chairperson of the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents; anthropologist June Noelani Cleghorn; Kina'u Boyd Kamali'i, administrator of the State Heahh Planning and Development Agency and former chair of the federal Native Hawaiians Study

Commission; OHA Trustee Kamaki A. Kanahele, III; Solomon Kaopuiki, kupuna advisor to the Lana'i Archaeological and Cultural Committee and a member of the State Council of Hawaiian Elders; aquaculture specialist Graydon "Buddy" Keala; OHA Trustee Rev. Moses K. Keale, Sr.; Charles Pili Keau, chairperson of the Maui Historic Society's Archaeology Committee; genealogist Lueille F. Meyer; environmental advocate Susan E. Miller; Rudy Mitchell, Waimea Falls Park anthropologist and cultural authority; and Tom Yagi, member of the Board of Directors of the Research

FoundaUon of the University of Hawai'i. "The sensitive issues surrounding historic preservation decisions touch and sometimes fray our deepest emotions. For Native Hawaiians and for those who love Hawai'i, historic sites symbolize the rich and proud civilization of native tradifion. In their vulnerability and disrepair, they also symbolize the historical disruption of the Hawaiian civi-

lizaUon and the broken bond of tradiUon," OHA's Board was told in the report's transmittal letter, signedby all the Councilmembers. "Restored and given an acUve presence in the lives of their heirs, these sites may Uuly become renewed symbols in the rebuilding of a Native Hawaiian naUon inspired by promise and purpose."