Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 2, 1 February 1993 — Preservation Act allows Hawaiian input [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Preservation Act allows Hawaiian input

by JefF CIark A major victory in the struggle to preserve ancient Hawaiian culture was won recently with the passage of amendments to the National Historic Preservation Act. A site's cultural importance is now sufficient to save that site from being destroyed by development, and native Hawaiians will now be included in the process of determining significance.

Previously, in order to be eligible for preservation, sites were evaluated on their historical and/or archeological signifieanee. With the passage of these amendments, "traditional religious and cultural importance" has been added as a criterion for protection. A site ean now be eligible for placement on the National Register of Historic Places-and the protection that comes with it-if it is culturally significant to a native people. The other significant part of the act is the formal inclusion of native Hawaiians in the process. Federal agencies and the State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) must consult with native Hawaiian organizations to assess cultural significance when determining whether a site is eligible to be nominated to the Nahonal Register. Hawaiians will also be included in the way sites are preserved. Not only must the SHPO consult with native Hawaiian organizations in assessing sites' cultural significance, but the agency also must work with Hawaiians "in developing the cultural component of a preservation program or plan." The Act defines "native Hawaiian organization" as one that serves and represents the interests of native Hawaiians and has demonstrated experi.-

enee in historic preservation. That definition includes, but is not limited to, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the burial group Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawai'i Nei. The Act was also amended to require that one member of an Indian tribe or a Native Hawaiian organization be given membership on the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, helping ensure Hawaiians another aspect of inclusion in historic preservation law. "Separating the culture from the people is a little awkward," said OHA land officer Linda Delaney, in stressing the importance of including Hawaiians in the process. "I think the eventual goal is

that native Hawaiians will develop all the skills and powers that are needed to manage and eonserve our own cultural resources," Delaney said, calling the amendments "an important first step" toward that goal. The National Historic Preservation Act, passed in 1966, has provided funding to state preservation programs, but the amendments will now also make grants available to tribes and Hawaiian organizations to assist them in carrying out the terms of the Act. "I would like to see the (Act's) 1 06 process opened up so people ean be aware of impending development before the bulldozers show up," said state Sen. Eloise Tungpalan, who chairs the Senate's committee on his-

toric preservation. "If it somehow could be adjusted to allow for community input in the beginning," we ean avoid a lot of the kind of eonfrontation we saw with H-3, Tungpalan said. She stressed that not merely community inpuL but community input early on in a project, may be a way "to resolve potential conflict and eome up with plans that are acceptable to all." Tungpalan said that during the new legislative session she will try to establish something similar to the 106 process in state law. "I'd like to see our law reflect nahonal law," she said. The amendments were passed by Congress in the final days of the session, and signed into law by Presidenl Bush on Oct. 23. Hawai'i's entire congressional delegation deserves credit for getting the amendments passed, according to Delaney, who said "eaeh one had a part to play at different times." "I love it," Lydia Namahana Maioho, Native Hawaiian Preservation Council chairperson and Mauna 'Ala curator, said of Native Hawaiians' inelusion in historic preservation law. "I'm in favor of all those amendments."

Speaking for Hui Mālama, Kunani Nihipali said, "It's effective if we have enforcement. There ean be all kinds of laws but unless there's enforcement and monies put in that direction, they still ean go on doing what they've been doing. "We're grateful that eommunication and cooperation is taking hold between the native Hawaiian organizations and the State Historic Preservation Office," Nihipali said, but he is anxious for the day when Hawaiians ean take care of their own business.

Kapuaiwa coconut grove, Moloka'i.