Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu

The Oahu Island Burial Council is part of a grassroots network created under state law to make sure someone with familial ties to the land is looking out for the iwi kupuna. They are the bones of the ancestors that are buried throughout the islands rather than sequestered behind fences in Western-style cemeteries.

The Hawaiian word for burial, kanu, also means “a planting,” so the clear sense is that Hawaiians view iwi as belonging to the land.

Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, who chairs the council, once met for an interview in a Hawaiian graveyard that overlooks a city bursting with development, as if to underscore the presence of kupuna. At 40, the teacher of hula, chant and culture at Halau Lokahi Hawaiian Charter School came late to the issue of iwi protection, and to advocacy generally.

On top of that have been the events in her personal life. Wong-Kalu is the focus of an upcoming documentary, “Kumu Hina: The True Meaning of Aloha,” which touches on her transgender status, her marriage to a Tongan immigrant and her work as a teacher. There’s a Facebook page about it, and a producers’ website (www.itvs.org/films/kumu-hina).

Wong-Kalu has no issue discussing being transgender, but would rather think of herself as being part of the larger community. She was honored at the state Legislature last week (she proudly showed off the framed award) for various roles including OIBC and as a cultural adviser to the U.S. Army.

It’s all been a steep learning curve, especially considering that the OIBC is now part of the planning conversation about the planned rail project. That’s the big one, but Wong-Kalu also toted up nearly a dozen other projects involving the council, as well as the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) staff. SHPD has been in the throes of reversing a chronic staffing shortage in the midst of all that.

There are lots of openings for contentiousness, but Wong-Kalu says she works to maintain a good rapport with all the players.

There’s no pay in that job, she said, but a lot of satisfaction.

“If I felt that I wasn’t going to be effective, if I felt that my voice would be for nothing, then I wouldn’t do it,” she said. “But I feel that I can influence things.”

QUESTION: When did you first get involved in the burial council work?

ANSWER: I started on the burial council in 2008 … as the Kona representative, for Kona, Oahu.

Q: Meaning the south shore area?

A: Yes. Honolulu has two other names: Kona and Kou. … I understand it as an old name for the area. And it’s also used in chants.… “Honolulu” is only limited to its good port — that doesn’t refer to this entire section.

Q: And why? What drew you in?

A: I was drawn in to this because it was an area that I had not yet ventured into, with regards to taking on kuleana or taking on responsibility. As a kanaka ‘oiwi, kanaka maoli, I was raised by my grandparents, especially with my Hawaiian grandmother, Mona Kana-niokalani Kealoha. … I was raised to always remember to do things with fortitude and integrity and great resolve, in that which was the world of the Hawaiian, be it language, be it practices, the practice of anything. Hula, cooking, you name it.

Q: Were you born on this island?

A: Yes. So with the potential for me to serve in a very important way that needed representation, I said yes. So that’s led me up until now. 

Q: Did your years with your grandmother include any training on iwi care? Or did you learn as you went?

A: On-the-job training. But that’s only because I sought opportunities for me to learn more. Previous council members and their leadership, as I have been told by those in the community, recognized descendants who have been in the iwi discussion for much longer, have said that the current burial council composition and membership is by far very, very different from preceding councils.

Q: In a good way?

A: Yes.

Q: What has improved?

A: Because I avail myself. The one difference is that as Kona rep, there’s two of us, myself and the vice chair, Jonathan Scheuer. … Since coming on, he, too,has endeavored to attend as many meetings as possible. …

Kona, Oahu, has the largest amount of development on the radar, and what’s happening now is developers are doing much more active consultation. They hold consultation with descendants or potential descendants. In the event that there aren’t any immediate concerns for iwi — they haven’t gotten to that step yet — but they are in the planning stages, they still have their option to consult early, and that’s what they’re doing.

Q: More so now than before?

A: Yes. Now Jonathan and I are availing ourselves to as many of these meetings as possible.

Q: So these are outside the normal meetings of the OIBC?

A: Yes.

Q: I think you’ve met with the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation people a couple of times, right?

A: Oh, I’ve met with HART not a couple of times — too many to count.

Over the last 31⁄2 years, the first year and a half I floundered around, finding my way. But by the time 2010 rolls around, I start to attend all the meetings.

Q: But that’s a good thing, isn’t it — they’re meeting with you at the earliest stages?

A: Yes, because then they develop a relationship. And it’s important. Because unless they know you, they don’t know where you come from, and they don’t know what your perspective and your philosophy is, and they don’t know what level of Hawaiian representation and integrity is.

Q: Can you give me an example of where this went down well?

A: There are several projects. There’s the Kewalo Development, a subsidiary of A&B (Properties Inc.). They’re having active consultation. There’s also Howard Hughes Corp. There’s also GGP (General Growth Partners), for Ala Moana. There’s also Hilton Hawaiian Village, in the Kalia area.

There’s also the Queen Emma Land Co. and the renovation of International Marketplace, through Taubman (Centers).

It all boils down to active consultation, early consultation. When the descendants feel that the developer has reached out, established a rapport and a connection and a relationship, when the developer has learned all that they can about the stories of the people, and what exactly is the connection and the relationship between the people and the land, then they’re far more
inclined to do things that are intended to honor.

As to what the larger perspective is, on what is appropriate and what is not, what exactly does “honor” mean? 

Q: So when you talk about teaching them about your practices, do you mean primarily the burial practices?

A: They’re consulting with us, letting us know that this is their map-out of their intentions, this is where they’re planning to start work, this is the level of trenching and testing they have done … do the descendants want to see more? And the descendants have an option to chime in at that time.

Q: They would want more testing and sampling done because they think burials could be identified there?

A: Yes. Because if you’ve identified something during the archaeological inventory survey, that means it keeps the iwi discussion going in burial-council chambers. … The intent by most of the descendant folks is to keep the discussion in council, where we have a venue for them to share their thoughts, whether they support something or not. …

Let’s say this area over here is surveyed and nothing came up. Books are closed on that survey. Then they come up with something later, in an obscure corner. That’s considered an inadvertent find. SHPD is not required to consult with any of the families (for an inadvertent find).

But if it’s found during the inventory survey, then it’s previously identified, and (the decision over) the proper treatment remains with us (on the council). So, in other words, the developer has to now consult. And when the developer consults, then they eventually have to come before the burial council for the final approval of the burial treatment plan. …

This gives the descendants greater assurance that there will be, No. 1, an advocate for their wishes and their intent. It also gives them a forum and the venue to come and express their concerns and/or positive support for an effort. And this allows there to be a public record for what they felt. It’s more empowering for the descendants.

Q: Do you think some descendants are there for the iwi kupuna but also maybe because they don’t like the project for other reasons? Does that happen?

A: All kinds.

Q: Do you think that happened a lot with the rail controversy?

A: Everybody had their own perspective for the rail. Not everybody gave their personal perspective.

… Some of the recognized descendants came to the table because in every other project they advocated for the highest level of protection and respect for iwi kupuna, regardless of whether they supported the project or not.

Our knowledge of it as a community is that the rail is going to be built. So, do you completely resign yourself from participating in the process because you don’t support the project? And you just let it go and say “never mind,” and nobody’s going to be there?

Q: You feel certain the council will remain engaged throughout the project, regardless?

A: I know I will be engaged, and I know our current vice chair will stay engaged.

Q: You have said in the past that your goal is to help see that this project have a greater Hawaiian sense of place. Do you still feel that way?

A: Yes, that is part of the larger discussion. But again, it’s all through the door of the iwi kupuna. But when we get to the table, we have the wherewithal to advocate for the things we’d like to see.

Q: What do you contribute to the consultations and your advisory role?

A: I have a strong sense of diplomacy, engaging people and ensuring that there is a fair balance in the expression and articulation of any number of perspectives that come to the table, on any topic.