Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 38, Number 6, 1 June 2021 — An Unpleasant Experience in Providence, R.l. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

An Unpleasant Experience in Providence, R.l.

V I MANA I KA 'OIWI V ^ EMPOWERED BY OUR ANCESTRY "

By Edward Halealoha Ayau In 1998, there were seven repatriation cases involving a federal agency and two museums with muhiple returns of iwi kūpuna and moepū pursuant to the authority of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). In February, 20 iwi kūpuna and moepū were repatriated from the Haleakalā National Park by the the kia'i of Hui Alanui o Makena including Dana Nāone Hall, Unele Charley Kauluwehi Maxwell, and Unele Les Kuloloio, and respectfully reburied. Then in August, we heeame involved in a case involving a ki'i lā'au (wood image) - it was a "spear rest" used to transport a chief's spears on a eanoe.

The intriguing case began when a news article was anonymously faxed to me announeing the pending sale of this ki'i at Sotheby's, an auction house in New York. The Roger Williams Park Museum in Providence, R.I. was the seller. I immediately consulted Linda Delaney of the OEhee of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). OHA joined us in submitting a cease and desist letter because the sale would violate NAGPRA. We were able to halt the sale and submit a NAGPRA elaim for the ki'i as a sacred object

based upon the expert testimony of Pualani Kanaka'ole Kanahele. However, the museum denied our elaim. We appealed the decision to the NAGPRA Review Committee. At a hearing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., we presented information meeting all NAGPRA requirements, including the laek of right-of-possession. The review committee recommended repatriation. In response, the city of Providence sued OHA and Hui Mālama in federal district court. Eventually, a settlement was reached - with OHA being forced to "contribute" $125,000 toward Roger Williams Park Museum exhibits in exchange for the ki'i. Unfortunately, despite their "win," the settlement failed to halt a war of words with abrasive Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci, resulting in an intense press conference. The ki'i was finally returned, but after 20 years has yet to be exhibited at the Bishop Museum. In November, a staggering 1,026 O'ahu iwi kūpuna and moepū were repatriated ffom the Bishop Museum. Significant effort was required to identify suitable locations for reinterment, acquire landowner approvals, and hold workshops to teach our people how to prepare the iwi for reburial. This was Hui Mālama's largest repatriation to date. That same month, another 95 iwi kūpuna and moepū whose islands of origin were unknown were repatriated ffom the Bishop Museum. Identifying whieh island to whieh to return them is always difhcult. We relied on our ceremonial training and pule to guide our decision-making and returned the iwi to Papahānaumoku. Finally, in December, there were two additional repatriations from the Bishop Museum - one involving 35 iwi kūpuna and moepū from Moku o Keawe, and a separate case that returned the cofRn of a child to Keauhou for ceremonial reburial. Ola nā iwi! ■ Edward Halealoha Ayau is the former executive director ofHui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawai'i Nei, a group that has repatriated and reinterred thousands of ancestral Native Hawaiian remains and funerary objects. To read this article in olelo Hawai'i, go to kawaiola.news.

Halealohū Ayou carefully handles the ki'i Iū'ūu retrieved from Roger Williams Park Museum. - Photo: Courtesy