Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 September 1991 — Council to protect historic Hawaiian sites [ARTICLE]

Council to protect historic Hawaiian sites

By Christina Zarobe Assistant Editor In a move to continue and expand the work of preserving historic Native Hawaiian sites, the Board of Trustees has established the OHA Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Council. The board approved the proposal, recommended by the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Task Force, at its July business meeting on Kaua'i. The plan, whieh takes effect immediately, calls for renaming the present task force and retaining its members to serve on the eouneil until the new

15-member panel ean be formally selected in January. "It's a new range of responsibilities that they now have," said Linda Delaney, officer of OHA's land and natural resources division. "It allows the eouneil to take a more unified and comprehensive approach to preserve and protect historic and cultural properties, and related Hawaiian rights." Council members will be able to take a particular issue or community eoneem, develop a plan to preserve the site, allocate funding or recommend and "strengthen" legislation if necessary, Delaney explained.

In January 1989, the Board of'Trustees established the Native Hawaiian Historic Preservation Task Force. In part, the board created the task force in response to the proposed location of a Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Honokahua, Kapalua on Maui, a traditional Native Hawaiian ceme.tery area. Initial disinterments at Kapalua resulted in protests that led to the reinterment of more than 1,00 individuals disturbed by construction for the project. According to a committee report on the new eouneil, the "issues of cultural sensitivity and inclusion of traditional Native Hawaiian values" when reviewing historic preservation concerns is "a commitment deserving of a clear delineation of responsibilities and a recognition of on-going i empowerment." The council's functions will be the following: A. Clarifying and strengthening federal, state and county laws to recognize and include the OHA Council and Native Hawaiian cultural values in historic preservation decisions. B. Drawing attention to and exercising the authority of the eouneil when resolving culturally sensitive historic preservation issues, especially concerning Native Hawaiian right of freedom to believe, express and exercise | traditional religious practices. C. Encouraging wider and more effective j participation by Hawaiian communities and j individuals. | Among the new council's other responsibilities I will be to "establish guidelines and advocate for the culturally sensitive management and interpretation" of historic Native Hawaiian property, according to the proposal approved by the Board of Trustees. The eouneil will also have the power to seek formal agreements, subject to ratification by OHA trustees, and "develop guidelines and | procedures" for funding various programs such as repatriation. The council's functions will also include "encouraging wider and more effective participation" by Hawaiian communities and individuals when deciding historic preservation and cultural conservation issues. "It's (the eouneil) needed in the community. There is nothing else like this out there," said Delaney. A formal . announcement about eouneil vacancies will be published in the November issue of Ka Wai Ola O OHA. The Board of Trustees' Education and Culture Committee and the present eouneil will review applications and eompile a list of nominees. The board will confirm nominees. Members will serve for four-year terms with the first eouneil appointed to staggered terms to allow for succession — five appointed for two years, five appointed for three-year term and the remaining five appointed for four years. j k