Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 39, Number 2, 1 February 2022 — Development at One'ula and the Discovery of an Unknown Chiefess [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Development at One'ula and the Discovery of an Unknown Chiefess

By Kai Markell, OHA Compliance Enforcement Manager Twenty-one years ago, while digging in the sand at One'ula Beach to start a fire to eook his dinner, a Kanaka 'Ōiwi uncovered human bones. He immediately notified the poliee. As required by law, the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) was also notified. The iwi kupuna was buried in an extended position with an extensive array of neeklaee beads made of clay, shell, bone, glass and ceramic. Determined to be a female, there were also two whale teeth around her neek in the lei opu'u style (uncarved cetacean teeth), five whale ivory kupe'e around her wrists, and in her hands, nestled together, were two large lei niho palaoa. She was clearly a Hawaiian chiefess of significant rank, and the fact that trade beads were among her burial possessions indicated that she was buried after 1778. Over the years, the mystery of her identity deepened as she awaited some type of hnal disposition. Eventually, her discovery would alter 200 years of Hawaiian history. This is my personal testimony and only part of the story. Mo'olelo of One'ula One'ula Beach is in 'Ewa, O'ahu, and has long been a gathering plaee for the community. One'ula, arguably, translates into "blood sands" or "royal sands." Conditions there are ideal for limu. It is said that the area seeds limu in the currents from Waikīkī in the east and as far as Nānākuli in the west. Limu practitioners referred to the area as "Hale o Limu." At One'ula, the ffesh waters of Kāne flow both overland and through the underground karsts, limestone and coral caverns, whieh permeate the 'Ewa region, to meet and embrace the salt waters of Kanaloa. Some accounts also describe these caverns as where the mysterious olohe (hairless ones) resided. Kalo'i Gulch, whieh empties at One'ula, originates mauka not far ffom Mauna Kapu in the Wai'anae Range at Pālehua in a plaee called Waiwānana (prophetic waters). This is where Hawaiian life begins, in the powerful, healing shoreline waters where coral, limu, fish fingerlings and other important elements of Papa thrive. Development at One'ula In the 1970s, a Japanese corporation began planning to develop the 1,100acre coastline of One'ula with luxury homes, resorts, commercial properties, a golf course, and a marina. As was standard, an archaeological survey of the area was conducted. The dry coral plains of 'Ewa, overgrown with keawe and haole koa trees, were viewed as a desolate wasteland with no significant habitation or use by ancient Hawaiians. But the 'Ewa Plain has changed over time. It was onee a plaee where wiliwili and diminutive 'ōhi'a lehua

trees flourished. In mo'olelo, a spring there called Hoakalei was visited by Hi'iakaikapoliopele during her epie journey. Because of its relative isolation, an ancient name for the area was Kaupe'a (crisscrossed) a name that references kapu, as with pūlo'ulo'u (kapu sticks) crossed to indicate something forbidden. The region had a reputation for being "ao kuewa," a plaee where ghosts wander. The developers archaeological survey recorded 56 cultural sites in the area, however, only six were deemed "worthwhile" and identified for preservation. Of the remaining six, several were carelessly destroyed during eonstruction activities. In the early 1990s, the developer sought a Conservation District Use Permit (CDUP) from the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) to traver.se and use state lands. includ-

Cultural practitioners, government aaencies, community members ond elected officiofs gothered ot One'ulo for 0 site visit in December 201 1 to discuss buriol sites and proctices. ing submerged lands, to construct a marina entrance ehannel through the heaeh and reef. Despite passionate opposition by Native Hawaiian and environmental groups, BLNR approved the permit in 1993. In 1994, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) and other advocates initiated a contested case. For weeks, evidence and witness testimony was presented, but BLNR confirmed their previous approval of the CDUP stating that "there are no fishing villages, burial grounds, or other spiritual sites in the area where the proposed ehannel is to be constructed." OHA appealed BLNR's decision to the First Circuit Court, where the Honorable Judge Wendell Huddy found in favor of BLNR. OHA then appealed Huddy's decision to the Hawai'i State Supreme Court. More Challenges and Controversy The prophetic waters of Pālehua emptied into the sea as a controversy arose and bulldozing at One'ula began while the matter was still before the SEE DEVEL0PMENT AT ONE'ULA ON PAGE 20

DEVEL0PMENT AT ONE'ULA

Continued from page 19 Supreme Court. In February 1998, cultural practitioners from across the pae aina descended upon One'ula. Vigils and protests were staged as a kāhea went out to bring attention to the area's imminent destruction. Protestors were unified in their objection to the archaeological survey findings (the evaluation and significance of sites) and the destruction of the cultural landscape. The Association of Hawaiian Evangelieal Churches, representing 18 Hawaiian churches, and the Hawai'i Eeumenieal Coalition submitted a petition stating that One'ula holds a rich array of sites with "great historic and religious significance." By March, as protests mounted, the Hawai'i State Supreme Court issued a decision, by way of an unpublished "Memorandum Opinion," finding that the CDUP violated the state's duty to protect the traditional and customary rights of Native Hawaiians "to the extent feasible." They returned the case to BLNR and directed the board to address the following questions: 1. Are traditional and customary native Hawaiian rights exercised in the petition area? 2. If such rights exist, to what extent will they be affected by the proposed action? 3. If these rights are found to exist,

what feasible action should be taken by BLNR to protect these rights? These questions formed the genesis of the landmark three-tier test used in the seminal Native Hawaiian rights case, Ka Pa'akai o ka 'Āina v. Land Use Commission, State ofHawai'i. To comply, BLNR held another contested case but, onee again, they determined that there were no culturally significant sites in the area and, onee again, granted the CDUP to the developer - ultimately leading to the destruction of countless irreplaceable cultural sites. Less than a year later, in January 2001, the remains of a high-ranking ali'i wahine were discovered almost dead-center of the proposed marina entrance. Identifying the Chiefess Determining the identity of the chiefess buried at One'ula took almost a decade. In April 2010, after reviewing an array of historical documentation and discerning spiritual messages and hō'ailona, the O'ahu Island Burial Council (OIBC) identified her as Kaomileika'ahumanu, or the "lei that causes suffering to Ka'ahumanu." Kaomilei was a chiefess of Kalanikūpule and her name in life was Namahanakapukaleimakali'i. She was the half-sister of Queen Ka'ahumanu. They shared a father, Ke'eaumokupapa'iahiahi. She endured the jealous wrath of Ka'ahumanu when she heeame pregnant with SEE DEVEL0PMENT AT ONE'ULA 0N PAGE 21

Despite the discovery of the iwi, and passionate opposition from OHA and other Native Hawaiian and environmental groups, construction on the proposed marina continued in 2011-2012.

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Continued from page 20 twins, not by Kalanikūpule, but by Kamehameha I. She died from blood loss while giving birth to the twins at the birthing stones of Kūkaniloko and was buried beneath the sands of One'ula within an underground cave system known as Waipouli. Driven by vindictive rage, Ka'ahumanu erased the genealogy of Namahanakapukaleimakali'i from the chants, and upon her sister's death, renamed her Kaomileika'ahumanu. On a dark, quiet night in 2014, in a solemn, torch-lit procession of kāhili-bear-ers and chanters, Kaomileika'ahumanu was carried by recognized cultural descendants and other 'ohana and reinterred elsewhere at One'ula. No longer unknown; no longer erased. A Revelation Dismissed in Favor of Development Based on their findings, the OIBC strongly recommended that SHPD recognize and protect One'ula, as it was revealed that along with Kaomileika'ahumanu, other ali'i and commoners were also buried in the Waipouli cave system at One'ula. However, SHPD never took any formal action on OIBC's recommendation. Then, in October 2018, several more burials were disturbed by development activities about 30 yards mauka from where Kaomileika'ahumanu was found. They were again found near the proposed marina entrance where twice befbre BLNR determined that no burial or spiritual sites existed. The iwi, quickly covered up and not properly investigated, reportedly possessed the same type of beads found with Kaomileika'ahumanu, and thus may be her moepu'u (death companions). Mueh like the punitive erasure of the genealogy and existence of Namahanakapukaleimakali'i, the important historical and cultural resources at One'ula continue to be diminished and deliberately erased as development in the area continues. One'ula, the Royal Sands, the Blood Sands, the prophetic waters indeed. He 'onipa'a ka 'oia'i'o - the truth is unchangeable. ■