Subject: He Halawai: Traditional Cultural Properties Meeting
Aloha Hawaiian Ohana and Organizations,
He Halawai: A “Traditional Cultural Properties – TCP” Meeting (FEBRUARY 12TH)
A meeting is being planned to look at Traditional Cultural Properties along the Rail Project corridor.
It is tentatively being planned for February 12th, 2011, in Kapolei. Can you please save that date and have a representative (s) attend and represent your ohana or Native Hawaiian Organization.
See the following link for more information on traditional cultural properties:
http://www.nps.gov/nr/publications/bulletins/nrb38/nrb38%20introduction.htm
Replies
preventing disturbance during construction;
• protecting the site from erosion that could result from grading or other earthmoving activities related to construction;
• protecting the site from normal landscaping and everyday activities once construction is completed.
Keeping the iwi on disturbed and keeping it in place will be a difficult task since the Naue case was so humuliating in nature. And the Kalakaua Ave and Fort DeRussey turned into a mound of sorts at the corner of Kalakaua and the Kapiolani Park.
I did not thoroughly read through the posted web site publication, however, I simply don't know how to approach this body of 'authority' so to speak and express all the reasons why I am objecting to the Rail Project corridor.
It seems to me that the Traditional Cultural Properties will have an assessment by an anthro and archeologist as the over see'er of our traditional cultural properties to delay the light of day. I've gone through this on Kahoolawe, Wahiawa, 40 plus years of bottle collecting, and much more and the process is the same.
We want the TCP, however, we are expected to accept the antro/arche'gist interpretation of their fact findings by their authority--and it is because we gave them that authority based on their fact finding missions.
And the iwi is disturbed and turned into a bag or box of bones to be tossed into a pit like hole along with the other iwi as if it is a Holocust murder.
Like the Kawaihao burials, the judge was deciding between Christian burial cemetary vs. Hawaiian burials and decided Christian burials had more validity.
What they are saying is that Christian racist WASP values and practices are superior and have more validity than any other religion with their practices and customs which should be discounted and ignored. It's like the Humane Society; all unwanted animals should be destroyed, spaded, or eliminated and forgotten as if they never existed as long as there are a few "samples" alive as a curiosity. It's about property to dispose or use as one chooses and possession rights.
The disillusion and hypocrisy practiced by the Christian congregation had led me from participating in their churches and rubbing shoulders during their pseudo-services. They don't seem to practice what they preach nor do they really understand their religion; but go through the motions. I was raised that the more you know about your religion, the more you are obligated to it and to practice it to the best of your ability.
What ever happened to, "love they neighbor as thyself; ...turn the other cheek..; ...give unto Caesar what is Caesar's...;,,blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the world..." etc. They shouldn't be coveting thy neighbors wife or goods either.
They came to Hawaii to embrace its culture and Polynesian Hawaiian society; if they don't, why are they here? All the more reason why the U.S. must de-occupy the Kingdom of Hawai'i. Love us or leave us and leave our iwi alone!
Tane
WASP racist ethnocentrism is based on the Roman Catholic Church's Papal Bulls (edicts) which developed the Manifest Destiny doctrines and practices in Europe, their colonies, ill-gotten territories, Anglo/Euro-countries and all Christiandom societies.
In Hawaii, they make the mistake of universalizing our cultural protocol and practices throughout Ko Hawai'i Ka Pae 'Aina to fit their limited comprehension of other societies. My Tutu would always caution me that all historians are correct depending on where they come from and were raised. This means interpretations will vary a bit.
It's like dialects, slangs, colloquialism, and connotations based on regional, career/profession,and community interaction and life-style. One cannot condense everything into one simple box for knowledge and understanding. We don't learn to revere our lineal ancestors in school; we learn it at home. Americans came to the islands with their own beliefs and outlawed our practices which made many Hawaiians go underground and secretly conduct their practices.
O'ahu is the most desecrated island within the chain of islands. This is due to the over-population of the island and the illegal occupation and enforcing western laws and their religious hypocrisy. This is a great disrespect for the culture of the true people of this land, its citizens and unique Polynesian society.
How we deal with our dead is not often talked about publicly and at times secrecy was maintained for various reasons; primarily to prevent desecration of na iwi. Preparation for burial was done in various ways and according to one's station in life. Family burials can be on the lands where the family resides or caves or pits in certain areas.
Sometimes an appointed family member is chosen to take care of the family burial cave which is the only one aware of its location which is usually camoflaged or the entrance hidden so no intruder would enter. This is usually passed down through the many generations. Other cases, the caretaker and the descendant that inherits the responsibility of another family is used and it is their duty to guard and protect the burial site he has been entrusted with and to maintain the secrecy of its location.
I know of two other families that still know where their cave is and who may still be maintaining them. One family on Hawai'i has used their cave as late as the 1950s. Another family has a member still going to their cave on Hawai'i to maintain the burials and moe pu to preserve them.
My family have two burial caves (one on Mau'i and another on Kaua'i.) The one on Mau'i has an entrance during low tide in which one has to crawl for about a quarter of a mile before it widens enough to stand and hike in towards Haleakala to the bottomless pit located half-way down it. That's what I heard but luckily I don't know where the entrance is located. There is a family cave entrance at Ha'ena, Kaua'i that goes into the mountain from that side which after going through a maze, it opens into a fairly large cavern near a waterway within the mountain. Again, I don't know the entrance and the burials are from different time periods.
When I was a child, Tutu Edith and her chosen descendant took care of certain caves and pits at Wai'anae, O'ahu mountainside and plain. We all knew about the leina at Ka'ena and the secret caves within Lihue, Makua and Ka'ala. We were raised with this general knowledge. On all islands, home burials were described as having a tree or stone marker or some landmark.
The reason I share this is that the burials are not forgotten, and those ancestors are revered and some have become aumakua in one form or another and have a name, usually a name they are known by the family. Unlike Christian burials, we don't publically visit the grave and put flowers and a headstone or man-made monument to tell the world where they are buried. Nor do we build a shrine and place food for the spirits to eat where they are buried. Today, western-style cemetaries as prescribed by the law of the government in control.
Our family burial at Honokahua where they dug up my great-tutu's siblings, Lahaina, Ka'anapali, Olowalu was the burials of my kupuna; Wainiha, Kaua'i was another assault on my family's iwi. If they start doing it in Puna, Hawai'i, then I will take it as being personally singled-out to do my family harm and disrespect, specifically.
There was a time growing up that I accepted a cemetary burial. Because of the desecration of na iwi Hawai'i, I've come to the decision to be cremated; something I would have never choose to do before the rampant desecration of burials.
Tane
Tane,
This is a bit scary--huh? Like with what the Army did just wiped out Lihue with their bulldozers and got away with it seems another inside job coming our way that is supported by a populace.
From a bundle of carefully wraped iwi to a bag of bones with no care in the world. How do we stop this atrocities! Digging deeper for fish scales is the only unsettling options available to our ancestors in the peaceful rest!
We need Letters of Assurance to abide by our culture of interpretations not the status quo of Anthropologist and it's procurement contracts.
So the question is, who as the authority?