HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

194

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE OFFICE OF HAWAIIAN AFFAIRS TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO REVIEW THE SYSTEM AND PROCEDURES FOR THE REVIEW OF NATIVE HAWAIIAN BURIAL SITES.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, it is important to protect and preserve prehistoric and historic native Hawaiian burial sites, to ensure that native Hawaiian ancestors are afforded dignity and respect; and

 

     WHEREAS, in Hawaiian culture, ancestral bones, or iwi, possess the person's mana, or spiritual essence; after death, only the iwi were considered sacred because they contained the person's mana or spiritual essence; and

 

     WHEREAS, native Hawaiians interred the remains of the deceased at night to prevent enemies from locating them, in an attempt to steal, degrade, or otherwise use the spiritual power contained in the remains; and

 

     WHEREAS, for Hawaiians today, the proper treatment of ancestral bones remains essential to avoid insulting the person's spirit or bringing trauma and harm to living descendants; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is the wish of many Hawaiians that ancestral burial sites be left in place and undisturbed; however, construction in Hawaii has often resulted in the inadvertent finding of iwi, the bones of ancestral Hawaiians; and

 

     WHEREAS, because the disinterring of ancient Hawaiian burial sites has such far reaching implications for Hawaiians based upon the importance of the proper treatment of the ancestral iwi, the island burial councils were created in 1990 within the Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and were authorized to determine whether to preserve in place or relocate previously identified Hawaiian burial sites and to make recommendations on the treatment of inadvertently discovered native Hawaiian skeletal remains; and

 

     WHEREAS, in ancient Hawaii, caves and lava tubes were sometimes used as burial sites because of their remote locations; and

 

     WHEREAS, although current law does not expressly include burial caves in the definition of a burial site in section 6E-2, Hawaii Revised Statutes, section 6D-8, requires anyone traversing a cave who discovers a burial site to immediately leave the cave and report the discovery as soon as possible to the Department of Land and Natural Resources, who is required to take follow express steps relating to an inadvertent discovery of a "burial site", as required in section 6E-43.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fifth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2009, that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is requested to convene a working group to review the existing system and procedures for the review and preservation of native Hawaiian burial sites, including the inadvertent discovery of such sites; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is requested that the working group include a representative of the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii, Kanaka Council, Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the island burial councils, and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is requested that the working group's review include:

 

     (1)  Procedures relating to the recovery, reburial, preservation, and protecting of ancestral Hawaiian remains, including known native Hawaiian burial sites and inadvertent discovered sites, particular during construction; and

 

     (2)  Consideration and discussion of the definition of the term "burial cave" proposed in House Bill No. 1662 (2009), that states that a ""burial cave" means a cave or lava tube, or a portion of a cave or lava tube, where sufficient physical or cultural evidence suggests that the cave or lava tube, or a portion of the cave or lava tube, was used for or viewed as a burial site"; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is requested that the working group submit its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2010; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Administrator of the State Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Director of the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaii, the Chairperson of each island burial council, the Director of the Kanaka Council Moku o Keawe, and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei, respectively.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Historic Preservation; Burial Site