Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 10, 1 October 1995 — OHA may prevent state burials program layoffs [ARTICLE]

OHA may prevent state burials program layoffs

by Jeff Clark State budget cuts continue to affect cultural programs in Hawai'i. The latest casualty: the state's burial sites program. When ancient Hawaiian burial sites are disturbed, the state takes action. Developers, who because of their heavy equipment use are most often the ones doing the disturbing, are required to stop work and notify the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) when they uncover bones. DLNR's burial sites division, in concert with the appropriate Island Burial Council and sometimes Hawaiian organizations such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Hui Mālama o nā Kūpuna o Hawai'i Nei, tries to identify the remains and arranges for reburial.

The burial sites program has performed more than 2,400 reinterments during the last five years. After reinterment, the state monitors the site to ensure it remains free of tampering. This reburial process, a kind of ho'oponopono in that it corrects and heals the cultural hurt caused by the disturbance of ancestral bones, is in jeopardy. The state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) in late August announced its intention to halve the number of employees in the state's burial sites program by laying off director Edward Ayau and culture specialist Kana'i Kapelieala. The layoffs would have left in plaee one secretary and the program's

assistant director. Ayau told OHA trustees that there are areas where he and his staff know developers have disturbed remains. "We won't be able to investigate those cases and enforce them," he said. Ayau spoke Aug. 29 during a special meeting of OHA's Education and Culture Committee.

Trustee A. Frenchy DeSoto said the work must continue despite budget cuts. "It is our duty to nā kūpuna kahiko, to mālama," she said. "I'm really disturbed the governor let this happen." Options discussed included giving DLNR the money it needs to retain the two and continue the program, and hiring Ayau and Kapelieala to continue their work as part of OHA's culture division. Trustees DeSoto, Rowena Akana and Moanike'ala Akaka said they didn't feel comfortable giving money to DLNR and so favored the second option. "For me, it is worth it," DeSoto said. "We cannot just go on and on and on and pretend we're Hawaiians while we neglect this basic duty." Said Akaka, "I think I'm in favor of absorbing these two positions into our office because this job has to be done." The trustees also variously expressed eoneem that moving the positions to OHA would strip the program of its legal power because the 1990 law that established the program specified that it be part of DLNR. "We don't have the legal clout in the public

or on the lands to stop developers," said Kamali'i, adding that a change in the law would be neeessary to avoid de-toothing the program. Whatever it takes, Kamali'i said, "It is important for us to continue to take care of our kūpuna." DLNR director Mike Wilson discussed the layoffs with the burial councils in late August, and he later told the Honolulu Advertiser that he was reconsidering the layoffs. Ayau and his eoworkers were excluded from that meeting with the councils, however. "We have not been allowed input or any kind of eommunieation with Mike, so we don't know what he's doing," Ayau eomplained.

DeSoto had someone telephone Wilson during the Aug. 29 meeting, and by the end of that eall, Wilson reportedly promised to keep the two positions at DLNR through September, whieh would provide time to decide on an alternative to the layoffs. Trustee Billie Beamer said the committee members need to meet with Wilson, the Burial Councils, the other trustees, and OHA's Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. The eommittee voted to form an ad hoe task force consisting of DeSoto, Akana and Kamali'i. Ulunui Kanaka'ole Garmon, member of the Hawai'i Island Burial Council, said of the employees, "These boys have worked hard; we cannot do without them." She added, however,

that the members of her group would try to continue its work as best as they ean without the Administration's support. "I still see the iwi as number-one," she affirmed, declaring that she was counting on kōkua from the kūpuna and iwi themselves. On Sept. 19 OHA's budget committee approved funding the DLNR positions at $95,519.46

per year for this fiscal year and next. That amount will cover salaries and benefits; DLNR will contribute office equipment and secretarial support, said OHA land and natural resources officer Linda Delaney. Details of the plan need to be worked out and the funding must be approved by the OHA board of trustees.