Posted by Free Hawai`i on August 7, 2008 at 9:16am
BULLETIN!Occupation Protests Desecration Of Ancient Hawaiian CemeteryNaue, Kaua`i - In a surprise show of force, Kanaka Maoli (native Hawaiians) from throughout Hawai`i have converged on the residential property of Joseph Brescia in a dramatic attempt to stop further luxury home construction over an ancient Hawaiian cemetery on Kaua`i’s North Shore.Over thirty protestors and cultural practitioners from O’ahu, Maui, Molokai and Hawai`i Island arrived this morning and secured themselves to each other and the property by means of a popular activist lock-down device that will result in law enforcement authorities spending several hours in an attempt to remove them.“Our goal is to make them forcefully remove us,” states protestor Andre Perez of Pohaku O Kane. “This is not just about Kaua`i. We’re serious about protecting our iwi kupuna, our `aina, and our lahui. "The property, formerly owned by actor Sylvester Stallone, and purchased by California luxury homebuilder Joseph Brescia seven years ago, is considered culturally sacred and contains at least thirty ancient burials as well as numerous artifacts.With legal challenges currently in progress, previous protests had stopped construction until recently when concrete was poured directly over the well-documented bones of ancient Hawaiians on the property.”We’re sick of rich foreigners coming over here and destroying the resting places of our families,” remarked Keli`i Collier. “Hawaiians do not desecrate the graves of others, why do they desecrate ours?”Construction of a home or any other substantive structure on a cemetery is considered an extreme cultural affront.Moreover, claim of property ownership is also in dispute since specific Hawaiians can trace their families having lived on that parcel going back centuries, and no clear title on property exists throughout Hawai`i.
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