Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 25, Number 8, 1 August 2008 — Ward iwi [ARTICLE]

Ward iwi

A lawsuit filed in First Circuit Court by Paulette Kaleikini regarding iwi kūpuna discovered on the construction site of General Growth Properties' Ward Village Shops in Kewalo, Honolulu, O'ahu, has been resolved. After consulting with Kaleikini and other cultural descendants, an agreement was reached to reinter all iwi disturbed during eonstruction in a central burial site, adjacent to a burial site of 30 sets of remains whieh was previously preserved in plaee pursuant to a State Historic Preservation Division decision. About 30 more sets of iwi had been found at various locations on the site. Cultural descendants completed the reinterment in a ceremony on May 3. The agreement necessitates the redesign of a planned 160-unit residential tower, said lan Yokota, development vice president for General Growth Properties Hawai'i Region. She said construction on the tower will be delayed, but that construction has been ongoing on other components, including the Whole Foods building, whieh is slated to open in 2009.