Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 13, Number 12, 1 December 1996 — Kiʻi 'aumakua to be returned by federal decree [ARTICLE]

Kiʻi 'aumakua to be returned by federal decree

by Deborah L. Ward

A federal review committee says the ki'i 'aumakua, or sacred wooden image now in the collection of the Roger Williams Park Museum of Natural History, _^^**SJshould be returned to

|the Hawaiian people. | The Office of I Hawaiian Affairs ■ and Hui Mālama i B nā Kūpuna o ■ Hawai'i Nei filed a ■ formal elaim this B spring for the H return of the Wm sacred object li§g§i| under provisions of the federal Native Ameri- | ean Graves , Protection and Repatriation

Act (NAGPRA). The elaim was filed when the Providence, Rhode Island museum planned to sell it through Sotheby's, a New York

auction house, to an anonymous buyer who had offered $200,000. Outgoing OHA Trustees Kīna'u Boyd Kamali'i and Sam Kealoha, who chaired the Land and Sovereignty and Education and Culture committees, had worked toward the return of the ki'i 'aumakua. "It's about time our artifacts eome home," said Kealoha. "It's time we go around the world to collect our artifacts and bones. They belong at home, not in museums, including our own museums." The return of artifacts to Hawai'i is an integral part of the rebuilding of

strength necessary for our future Hawaiian nation, Kamali'i said. "Imua e nā 'ōiwi o Hawai'i Nei," she said. OHA and Hui Mālama assert that the wooden ki'i — onee lashed to a chief's war eanoe to

hold his spears — is a sacred object imbued with an ancestral spirit, and of critical importance to the Hawaiian people

and culture. The seven-member claims review committee met on Nov. 3 in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, to hear the claims of both OHA and the Roger Williams Museum. OHA was represented by its land officer Linda Delaney and by Lani Ma'a Lapilio of the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. Hui Mālama was represented by Edward Halealoha Ayau and Kunani Nihipali. Their lengthy elaim included written testimony by

-iy Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele and Richard Paglinawan on Hawaiian sacred objects under the kapu system. Both experts testified they believe the ki'i 'aumakua is a ritually deified ancestor called on to support the spears of an ali'i kaua (warrior

chief.) The NAGPRA claims review committee is eomprised of nationally-recog-nized museum professionals and scientists as well as equally distinguished representatives of Native American peoples. The ki'i 'aumakua is consistent wth the NAGPRA definition of a sacred object. The ki'i aumakua was made before 1819, during whieh time the Hawaiian kapu system was still intact, and that therefore the object was an intrinsic part of the Hawaiian religious system whieh could not be alienated from the native culture. "No one really knows how the ki'i 'aumakua left Hawai'i" said Delaney. "It is likely that it might have been collected by Captain Aborn whose ships were in Hawai'i during the period between 1815 to 1818. But how would he have obtained it, since no one had the authority to give it away?" Delaney said that a delegation may be sent to accompany the ki'i 'aumakua home. Plans will be made for a respectful and safe placement of the ki'i 'aumakua, she said.

"It's about time our artifacts eome home. It's time we go around the world to collect our artifacts and bones" Sam Kealoha

mHHL mnm . IPIpPII ' JPfe- n