Honolulu MagazineNovember 2007The ProcessWHAT HAPPENS WHEN HAWAIIAN BURIALS ARE FOUND AT DEVELOPMENTS?It depends on whether they're found before or after construction begins.A simplified version of the process:Before ConstructionSTEP ONE:A developer submits a permit application for a project to a county or state agency.STEP TWO:The agency forwards the application to State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) for review.STEP THREE:SHPD determines if there’s a potential impact to historic or cultural sites.STEP FOUR:YES—SHPD asks the developer to hire a consultant to conduct an archaeological inventory survey, which includes identifying historic sites and burials on the property. Burials found during this phase or earlier are considered previously identified.STEP FIVE:The consultant creates a burial treatment plan, recommending whether the burials should be preserved in place or relocated. The document includes comments from any known descendants of the property as well as the developer’s plans for protecting the burials and ensuring descendants’ access to them.STEP SIX:The Island Burial Council has 45 days to decide whether burials should be preserved in place or relocated. The council gives higher priority to preserving in place remains that are in a concentration, associated with important individuals or events, lie in a context of historic properties or have known lineal descendants, i.e. people who can prove they’re related to the remains.STEP SEVEN:SHPD approves all other details of the burial treatment plan.STEP EIGHT:The developer either accepts the council’s determination or appeals it within 90 days.During ConstructionSTEP ONE:Burials discovered after construction has begun are considered inadvertently discovered.STEP TWO:An archaeologist or medical examiner determines whether the burial is over 50 years old.STEP THREE:[YES] SHPD orders all activity in the immediate area to cease.STEP FOUR:If the burial is on Oahu and contains a single skeleton, SHPD has one working day to determine whether to preserve it in place or relocate it. In that time, SHPD also contacts a Burial Council member and the Office of Hawaiians and gathers information about the burial site. If there are multiple skeletons, SHPD has two working days. If this occurs on the Neighbor Islands, SHPD has three or four days.STEP FIVE:SHPD ascertains whether the burials are in imminent harm.STEP SIX:SHPD uses the same criteria for preserving remains in place as the Island Burial Council. It also considered whether the burials could be damage if left in place.
A state historic preservation agency recommends that $210,000 in fines be
levied against an archaeological firm and others for tampering with human
remains at the construction site of the Ke'eaumoku Street Wal-Mart complex.
Among the infractions cited in an agency report were "writing on a child's
skull with indelible red ink, taping a child's teeth to an index card,
using duct tape and modeling clay to hold remains together, and writing
the words 'Handbag Louis Vuitton' on a paper sack that contained a human
hand."
The recommendation is part of a report filed by the State Historic
Preservation Division to the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and
comes on the heels of an investigation by state attorneys. The board
will consider the recommendation at its Nov. 18 meeting.
Besides unauthorized examination and tampering of the iwi, or bones, the
report also accuses Aki Sinoto Consulting, the archaeological firm, and
others of failing to notify the proper authorities about the inadvertent
find of human remains in a timely fashion, moving human remains without
permission and failing to examine human skeletal remains in a respectful
manner.
Messages left at Sinoto's home and cell phones were not returned.
According to the report, the remains examined in 2003 and 2004 were pre-
sumed to be "Native Hawaiians, juvenile remains, including the remains
of infants, and remains for which requests for examination had been
specifically denied by the state."
Besides the Sinoto firm and principal archaeologist Aki Sinoto, others
cited within the 21 counts were Sinoto employees L.J. Moana Lee and Paul
Titchenal, the firm of International Archaeological Research Institute
Inc., and two of its employees, J. Stephen Athens and Rona Ikehara-
Quebral.
Besides the fines, the report recommends that the Sinoto firm's permit
to conduct archaeological activities in the state be revoked for the
remainder of the year.
Ikehara-Quebral, lead osteologist for the International Archaeological
Research Institute, which had been hired as a subcontractor by Sinoto,
said she would reserve comment on the specifics of the allegations until
she could thoroughly review Historic Preservation's report.
"A quick review reveals it's full of inaccuracies," Ikehara-Quebral said.
"And the State Historic Preservation Division, DLNR, continues to misre-
present our work to the public."
She added: "We were instructed by SHPD to inventory every set of human
remains from the Wal-Mart site, separate commingled burial remains into
individuals and to determine their ethnicity, as required by law, which
we did using standards of the profession. We always handled the remains
in a respectful manner."
Melanie Chinen, SHPD administrator, said the recommendation was based in
large part on a report given to her by the state attorney general's office.
Chinen said the $210,000 in fines recommended by her office is the maximum
amount allowed under the law.
"There was total disregard for the laws, for the rules, for our warnings
that unnecessary handling and examination is considered desecration by
many Native Hawaiians," Chinen said. "We're talking about human beings."
Partly in reaction to the Wal-Mart case, Chinen said, state lawmakers
last session passed legislation increasing the maximum fine for violating
burial laws and rules from $10,000 a day to $25,000 daily.
Regina Keana'aina, whose family was recognized by the O'ahu Island Burial
Council as a lineal descendant to iwi in the area, opposes the fines.
"The archaeologists were doing the right thing," she said. "They did not
desecrate any of our iwi kupuna at the Wal-Mart site."
Keana'aina, who helped Sinoto and the other archaeologists on a voluntary
basis, said some of the personnel at Historic Preservation are unqualified
to deal with finds. "I think the state needs to be hiring more qualified
people to be running Historic Preservation."
But Paulette Kaleikini, whose family was one of several designated
cultural descendants to bones on the site, said she was pleased with
Historic Preservation's recommendation.
"It's very disturbing what they did, how they desecrated the iwi,"
Kaleikini said. "They shouldn't be let off the hook so easily."
Kaleikini said both Wal-Mart and contractor Dick Pacific Construction,
which hired Sinoto, also should bear some responsibility for what happened
to the bones.
A lawsuit filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of Kaleikini's
family and the nonprofit Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei named Wal-
Mart, the city and the state as responsible for the mishandling of the
iwi.
Wal-Mart, however, was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge from that suit.
The claim against the state was settled while a judgment in favor of the
city is expected to be appealed.
Moses Haia, an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said proper
action by the city planning officials and Historic Preservation also could
have prevented the desecration.
"This could have been avoided," Haia said.
At least 61 sets of remains have been found on the site. After taking
possession of the remains, state officials initially were prepared to
rebury them on the site in February. That date was postponed indefinitely
after state attorneys began their investigation.
The remains continue to be housed in a trailer on the Wal-Mart site that
is secured 24 hours a day. Chinen said when they are reburied could depend
on what the Land Board chooses to do with her division's report, and
whether one of the sides will appeal that decision......Honolulu
Advertiser
Comments
Andre Perez Press Conference 10.8.08 Part 1
http://uk.youtube. com/watch? v=LPq87sYVNkk
Andre Perez Press Conference 10.8.08 Part 2
http://uk.youtube. com/watch? v=d_vmxcANnVk
Honolulu Police Department
Andre Perez does a tactical surrender
To challenge the hewa done in Naue Kaua..i
And the kupuna ..iwi
Honolulu Advertiser
Friday: November 11, 2005
A state historic preservation agency recommends that $210,000 in fines be
levied against an archaeological firm and others for tampering with human
remains at the construction site of the Ke'eaumoku Street Wal-Mart complex.
Among the infractions cited in an agency report were "writing on a child's
skull with indelible red ink, taping a child's teeth to an index card,
using duct tape and modeling clay to hold remains together, and writing
the words 'Handbag Louis Vuitton' on a paper sack that contained a human
hand."
The recommendation is part of a report filed by the State Historic
Preservation Division to the Board of Land and Natural Resources, and
comes on the heels of an investigation by state attorneys. The board
will consider the recommendation at its Nov. 18 meeting.
Besides unauthorized examination and tampering of the iwi, or bones, the
report also accuses Aki Sinoto Consulting, the archaeological firm, and
others of failing to notify the proper authorities about the inadvertent
find of human remains in a timely fashion, moving human remains without
permission and failing to examine human skeletal remains in a respectful
manner.
Messages left at Sinoto's home and cell phones were not returned.
According to the report, the remains examined in 2003 and 2004 were pre-
sumed to be "Native Hawaiians, juvenile remains, including the remains
of infants, and remains for which requests for examination had been
specifically denied by the state."
Besides the Sinoto firm and principal archaeologist Aki Sinoto, others
cited within the 21 counts were Sinoto employees L.J. Moana Lee and Paul
Titchenal, the firm of International Archaeological Research Institute
Inc., and two of its employees, J. Stephen Athens and Rona Ikehara-
Quebral.
Besides the fines, the report recommends that the Sinoto firm's permit
to conduct archaeological activities in the state be revoked for the
remainder of the year.
Ikehara-Quebral, lead osteologist for the International Archaeological
Research Institute, which had been hired as a subcontractor by Sinoto,
said she would reserve comment on the specifics of the allegations until
she could thoroughly review Historic Preservation's report.
"A quick review reveals it's full of inaccuracies," Ikehara-Quebral said.
"And the State Historic Preservation Division, DLNR, continues to misre-
present our work to the public."
She added: "We were instructed by SHPD to inventory every set of human
remains from the Wal-Mart site, separate commingled burial remains into
individuals and to determine their ethnicity, as required by law, which
we did using standards of the profession. We always handled the remains
in a respectful manner."
Melanie Chinen, SHPD administrator, said the recommendation was based in
large part on a report given to her by the state attorney general's office.
Chinen said the $210,000 in fines recommended by her office is the maximum
amount allowed under the law.
"There was total disregard for the laws, for the rules, for our warnings
that unnecessary handling and examination is considered desecration by
many Native Hawaiians," Chinen said. "We're talking about human beings."
Partly in reaction to the Wal-Mart case, Chinen said, state lawmakers
last session passed legislation increasing the maximum fine for violating
burial laws and rules from $10,000 a day to $25,000 daily.
Regina Keana'aina, whose family was recognized by the O'ahu Island Burial
Council as a lineal descendant to iwi in the area, opposes the fines.
"The archaeologists were doing the right thing," she said. "They did not
desecrate any of our iwi kupuna at the Wal-Mart site."
Keana'aina, who helped Sinoto and the other archaeologists on a voluntary
basis, said some of the personnel at Historic Preservation are unqualified
to deal with finds. "I think the state needs to be hiring more qualified
people to be running Historic Preservation."
But Paulette Kaleikini, whose family was one of several designated
cultural descendants to bones on the site, said she was pleased with
Historic Preservation's recommendation.
"It's very disturbing what they did, how they desecrated the iwi,"
Kaleikini said. "They shouldn't be let off the hook so easily."
Kaleikini said both Wal-Mart and contractor Dick Pacific Construction,
which hired Sinoto, also should bear some responsibility for what happened
to the bones.
A lawsuit filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. on behalf of Kaleikini's
family and the nonprofit Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei named Wal-
Mart, the city and the state as responsible for the mishandling of the
iwi.
Wal-Mart, however, was dismissed by a Circuit Court judge from that suit.
The claim against the state was settled while a judgment in favor of the
city is expected to be appealed.
Moses Haia, an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., said proper
action by the city planning officials and Historic Preservation also could
have prevented the desecration.
"This could have been avoided," Haia said.
At least 61 sets of remains have been found on the site. After taking
possession of the remains, state officials initially were prepared to
rebury them on the site in February. That date was postponed indefinitely
after state attorneys began their investigation.
The remains continue to be housed in a trailer on the Wal-Mart site that
is secured 24 hours a day. Chinen said when they are reburied could depend
on what the Land Board chooses to do with her division's report, and
whether one of the sides will appeal that decision......Honolulu
Advertiser
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