Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 24, Number 2, 1 February 2007 — Burial concerns [ARTICLE]

Burial concerns

A coalition of concerned Native Hawaiians and archaeologists is calling for a statewide moratorium on development projects until the state complies with its mandate to protect Hawaiian burial sites and remains. At a press conference last month, the group calling itself Friends of the Burials Protection Program criticized the Lingle administration for allegedly turning a blind eye to state burial law violations in order to ensure that construction projects progress smoothly. The group also said that the state Historic Preservation Division is inadequately staffed

to assure that developers adhere to the law, and complained that boxes of Hawaiian remains, or iwi, sit in storage containers while the developments that displaced them are allowed to proceed. In addition, David Brown, a former top archaeologist with the state preservation division, said that the department's staff is overworked and that the agency's administrator, Melanie Chinen, isn't qualified to hold her position because she lacks a background in archaeology. State officials responded that they are working to fill the eight vacancies in the 24-person division, and that the agency's director needs management credentials, not necessarily experience in archaeology. They also denied giving preference to developers and said they are working to improve the state's burial protection efforts and reburying iwi.