Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 22, Number 12, 1 December 2005 — In other burial news [ARTICLE]

In other burial news

• The Office of Hawaiian Affairs and three other Hawaiian organizations have requested that they be included in the consultation process to decide the fate of more than 20 Hawaiian artifacts inadvertently found during construction in Kailua-Kona. The items, said to be akua images, some standing between 3 and 4 feet tall, were discovered when construction workers at a luxury golf and residential development punctured a lava tube. See HUMAL NEWS on page 13

BURIAL NEWS

Cūntinued fram page 9 In a written statement, the Hawaiian groups Kohanaiki 'Ohana, Pono i ke Kānāwai and Nā Keiki He'e Nalu o Hawai'i threatened legal action if they were not included in the eonsultation process, whieh they characterized as a "conspiracy to defraud the Hawaiian eommunity and keep secret a significant archeological find that represents

the values and beliefs of our people." The archaeologist for the developer of the project told loeal media that that they are following state burial rules and working with a group of Hawaiians with family connections to the property. • The 200-year-old Native Hawaiian skull that a California man took from a Maui construction site in 1969 and attempted to sell on eBay last year is finally back in Hawai'i. In November, Ayau and

Melanie Chinen, the administrator for the state Historic Preservation Division (SHPD), retrieved the skull from New Mexico, where it was being held by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Maui/Lāna'i Burial Council and SHPD will now determine where the skull will be reburied. After failing to auction off the skull on eBay in February 2004, Jerry David Hasson, 57, sold the skull to an undercover federal agent for $2,500. He was convicted for breaking federal burial law and ordered to pay a $13,000 fine,

perform 600 hours of community service and to apologize in several newspapers for his actions. • The state Board of Land and Natural Resources will hold a contested case hearing in the next few months to detennine whether two archaeological firms will have to pay $210,000 in state fines for alleged infractions eommitted while conducting work on Hawaiian remains unearthed during construction of the WalMart superblock on Ke'eaumoku Street. SHPD recommended that

Aki Sinoto Consulting and the International Archaeological Research Institute be fined for violations that include writing on a child's skull with indelible ink, and using tape and modeling clay to hold remains together. In a written statement, the two archaeological firms denied any wrongdoing. "We are professionals and carried out our work in the most professional manner possible to insure full eomplianee with applicable statutes and regulations," the statement said. □