Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 37, Number 6, 1 June 2020 — OIBC Votes to Support Burial Treatment Plan on Kawaiaha'o Church Grounds [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

OIBC Votes to Support Burial Treatment Plan on Kawaiaha'o Church Grounds

By Edward Halealoha Ayau and Kamuela Kala'i Kawaiaha'o Church was established in April 1820 during the rule of Kuhina Nui (Queen Regent) Ka'ahumanu. With its love for God and Hawaiian traditions, the Church has been a beacon of hope, love and aloha for many over the past 200 years. The year it was established, the world faced a cholera outbreak whieh killed millions. Hawai'i was not safe from this pandemic. The Church was there for the people, to pray with the living and to bury the dead. In the years that followed, Kawaiaha'o continued to be aheaeon of light for Hawai'i through the measles, smallpox, polio and

Disinterment of 700+ iwi kūpuna from the grounds of Kawaiaha'o Church occurred helween 2009 and 2012,- Photos: Courtesv

The construction at Kawaiaha'o ihal resulted in the disinterment of the iwi kūpuna was to build a multi-purpose center.

Spanish influenza pandemics. The Church has been there through every major disease since, and we believe it is here for us now.

However, at least three times in its history, Kawaiaha'o Church uncharacteristically took actions to disturb the people whose families chose the Church burial grounds as their final resting plaee. The most recent episode started in 2007 when the Multi-purpose Center Project began with the demolition of Likeke Hall. Most of 2008 involved the Church contriving a way out of having to perform an Archaeological Inventory Survey (AIS), whieh they managed to do by leaving out a planned underground parking garage. The disinterments began despite a year-long formal ho'oponopono in whieh we pleaded with Church leaders, including two former kahu, to not disturb the burials on its grounds. Cultural descendant

Dana Nāone Hall, former Chair of the Maui/Lāna'i Islands Burial Council, filed a lawsuit against the Church, DLNR Chair and DOH Director for violating their own rules by not requiring an Archaeological Inventory Survey prior to issuing a blanket disinterment permit. The lawsuit resulted in a judgment against the Church whereby the Intermediate Court of Appeals determined that DLNR (though the State Historic Preservation Division) violated its own rules by not having the matter of burial treatment eonsidered for formal determination by the O'ahu Island Burial Council (OIBC). The Hawai'i Supreme Court upheld the Intermediate Court's decision and remanded the case. Following years of ho'oponopono and

soul searching, Kawaiaha'o Church recently indicated that it would no longer pursue the construction of the multi-purpose center.

While this appeared to be good news, Kawaiaha'o hesitated to allow the 700+ iwi kūpuna to be reburied in their original loeations. Instead, the Church requested that the burials be relocated, leaving the possibility of building a multi-purpose center in the future. On April 22, 2020, after proper notification of the meeting with the Lt. Governor' s Office, and under the effective leadership of Chairwoman Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, the OIBC unanimously voted to preserve all burial sites in plaee by adopting a Burial Treatment Plan prepared by recognized lineal and cultural descendants. The OIBC's historic action, whieh will allow for the reburial of all 700+ iwi kūpuna, honors the spirit of aloha, the very spirit of Kawaiaha'o, because it honors the families. Many of the burials addressed within this Burial Treatment Plan were themselves victims of past pandemics, some known by name. Chairwoman Wong-Kalu stated, "This Council prides itself on being an open, fair and balanced process where all parties are allowed to express their views in a safe environment; where legal rules are observed and cultural protocols are practiced. The recognized 'ohana did an outstanding job to organize a burial treatment plan and walked the Council through the legal process in a herculean effort to heal themselves from the kaumaha (spiritual, emotional, physical trauma) caused by the intentional disturbance of over 700 iwi kūpuna." The 'ohana shares in the celebration of Kawaiaha'o Church's 200-year anniversary. Please join us in encouraging Kawaiaha'o's Board of Trastees to withdraw their appeal and accept the OIBC determination to preserve in plaee as the final word in the 13-year effort to rebury 700+ iwi kūpuna, whieh is the only way for the living descendants to release their painful kaumaha and for us to collectively heal as a lāhui. We honor the Church for their courage to make things pono so they ean continue to be a beacon of hope, faith and aloha for the people of Hawai'i. Aloha Ke Akua; God is love. ■ Edward Halealoha Ayau and Kamuela Kala 'i represent the opinions of the recognized lineal and cultural descendants with the exception of the Caroline Norman 'ohana.