Re: Honolulu building site a virtual graveyard

On Oct 28, 9:50 am, "Peter Alaca" <p.al...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Jack Linthicum <jacklinthi...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > wrote:



Pic at the cite. "Diamondhead", "Ewa" and "Makai" are directions in
Hawaiian and local usage. East, West and Seaward are translations,
Mauka meaning towards the mountains is the other.

Posted on: Sunday, October 28, 2007

Honolulu building site a virtual graveyard

By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

About 335 individuals may be buried at the Ward Villages construction
site, raising concerns with some Native Hawaiians and archaeologists.

ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

Data collected from the Ward Villages construction site in Kaka'ako
suggest there may be 335 individuals buried there, a calculation that
should have been included in archaeological reports accepted by the
state, according to a review by a panel of outside archaeologists.

The three-member panel of members of the Society for Hawaiian
Archaeology said the state Historic Preservation Division demonstrated
"serious instances of nonfeasance" in failing to demand further
investigation of the site, and also failed to demand information
necessary to determine how widespread the burials were within the area
to be affected by construction.

Tim Lee, administrative assistant to state Historic Preservation
Division Administrator Melanie Chinen, said the archeological site
survey done last year by Cultural Surveys Hawai'i Inc. met all
requirements under state law, and said his agency will not be
demanding additional survey work.

"Construction has already started, so the survey is done. We cannot
have concurrent survey and construction. That would be very
difficult," Lee said.

Very strange. Overhere that is done all the time
It is one of the usual options after initial survey.
Digging by the builders, with archaeologists
on site to keep an eye to what is in the ground
and to call a halt to the works when necessary.
But I don't think it is an option when there is a
cemetery. Then there are only the options of
not building on the site at all, or a complete
excavation before destruction.

"Anyone can critique in hindsight. It's a matter of opinion."

No it isn't. At least it is a matter of decency

[...]

--
p.a.

and possibly of law, IIRC recovery of buried progentors is a basic
part of the Native American laws.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102401652.html

House Passes Native Hawaiian Bill

By JIM ABRAMS
The Associated Press
Wednesday, October 24, 2007; 5:20 PM

WASHINGTON -- Native Hawaiians should regain some of the self-
governance powers lost when the islands' queen was overthrown more
than a century ago, the House decided Wednesday.

The White House threatened a veto, saying the legislation that passed
by a 261-153 vote would divide Americans "along suspect lines of race
and ethnicity."

The bill would give the 400,000 people nationwide of Native Hawaiian
ancestry the right to form a governing entity that could negotiate
with the state and federal governments over such issues as control of
natural resources, lands and assets. The interior secretary would have
to approve that governing body.

Native Hawaiians, who long have sought the bill, insist they deserve
many of the self-autonomy rights provided to American Indians and
Native Alaskans.

The legislation is backed by Hawaii's Republican governor, Linda
Lingle, its Legislature and the state's all-Democratic congressional
delegation, including Native Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Akaka.

The vote on the proposal was the first in the House since the chief
sponsor, Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, won passage in 2000. Last
year Akaka fell four votes short of the 60 needed to advance the bill
to a final vote in the Senate.

To win over critics, the legislation spells out that the Native
Hawaiian government could not take private land or set up gambling
operations similar to those allowed to Indians.

The bill would not affect military facilities in the state and Native
Hawaiians would not gain new eligibility for programs and services
available to Indians.

Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii said the measure would begin to "provide a
measure of justice" to Native Hawaiians who "have an inherent
sovereignty based on their status as indigenous people."

Abercrombie said Native Hawaiians have ceded some 1.8 million acres
since Queen Lili'uokalani was driven from the throne in 1893. "This
creates the opportunity for Native Hawaiians to take responsibility
for their own actions with regard to the control and administration of
their own assets," he said.

But the White House said the bill "raises significant constitutional
concerns that arise anytime legislation seeks to separate American
citizens into race-related classifications rather than according to
their own merits and essential qualities."

The House GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio, said "granting broad
government powers to an exclusive group based on race is simply
unconstitutional."

Republican opponents of the legislation also said it could open the
door for Native Hawaiians to declare territorial independence from the
United States.

The rights of Native Hawaiians have been an issue since the 1893 coup.

In 1959, when Hawaii became a state, the federal government pledged to
use lands and assets to the benefit of Native Hawaiians. In 1993, on
the 100th anniversary of the coup, Congress approved a resolution
apologizing for the illegal overthrow and acknowledging that Native
Hawaiians never directly relinquished their claims to sovereignty over
their lands.

The legislation still needs to be considered by the Senate, where it
is backed by two of the chamber's most senior members _ Hawaii's Akaka
and Sen. Daniel Inouye.

Akaka said in a statement that the House vote "provides great momentum
in our effort to extend federal recognition to Hawaii's indigenous
people."

___

.

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