Kawaiaha’o, OHA split over burials

As Kawaiaha‘o Church continues to excavate human burials in preparation for building a multipurpose center, a rift has emerged between Hawaii’s oldest church and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which helped finance the $17.5 million proj­ect.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which donated $1 million in 2007 for the multipurpose building, recently chastised Kawaiaha‘o leaders for pushing ahead with disinterment, and expressed regret at not making its gift contingent on the church following usual practices under a state law created to protect and respect Native Hawaiian burials. As of this month the church has removed about 400 burials.

OHA, a state agency that works for the betterment of Native Hawaiians, also has raised questions as to whether the church properly spent its grant. OHA communicated the concerns in a pair of letters sent to Kawaiaha‘o on Feb. 23.

Disinterment work began last year after controversial decisions by the state Department of Health and a state court judge cleared the way.

Protesters have rallied outside the church, objecting to what Hawaiian cultural tradition considers desecration of ancestral remains, or iwi kupuna, resting in unmarked plots on the site slated for the new building.

"After months of observing Kawaiaha‘o Church’s handling of the iwi controversy, I write on behalf of our trustees to express our despair and disappointment with the church’s decision to proceed with disinterment, under the legal justification of the Department of Health’s ruling, despite violating centuries old Hawaiian cultural burial protocols and traditions," said the letter signed by OHA board Chairwoman Colette Machado.

"We are particularly disappointed that church leaders chose at times to pit Christian teachings against Hawaiian burial law with respect to processes and protocols guiding disinterment and reburial," the letter continued.

OHA disagrees with the court ruling and Health Department approval that determined the burials didn’t deserve protection under state law regarding Hawaiian remains because they are on cemetery grounds. Under the burial law, lineal and cultural descendents of iwi are given a say through county burial councils in whether burials should be relocated or left undisturbed.

OHA’s criticism of Kawaiaha‘o followed a letter it received from the church Jan. 11. The church’s letter complained about an OHA employee testifying as an expert witness for someone who sued the church to prevent construction of the multipurpose building.

"Given the grant agreement with OHA, Kawaiaha‘o Church does not understand why a representative of OHA would provide expert testimony against Kawaiaha‘o Church and impede the church’s ability to move forward with the proj­ect or to fulfill its obligations under the OHA grant," said the letter signed by Frank Pestana, chairman of the church’s board of trustees, and senior pastor Curt Kekuna.

The OHA employee is Kai Markell, a cultural specialist and director of the agency’s Native Rights, Land and Culture division. Part of Markell’s job involves monitoring construction proj­ects for compliance with the burial law.

Markell testified in a lawsuit Paulette Kaleikini filed in November. Kawaiaha‘o Church said in the letter that Markell also provided information to another proj­ect opponent, Dana Naone Hall, in an earlier suit. Markell also had served on a committee the church formed to build a consensus plan for dealing with the iwi issue before it decided to push ahead with disinterment.

Kaleikini’s suit sought to prevent the church from building the multipurpose center on top of the burials, a plan the church had pursued but later abandoned.

OHA defended Markell and called Kawaiaha‘o’s letter a surprising and disappointing attack against its employee.

"Mr. Markell’s testimony on Hawaiian practices and traditions should not have hurt Kawaiaha‘o Church as long as it was following the law and honoring those practices," said the Jan. 30 letter signed by Machado and OHA interim CEO Richard Pezzulo.

"One would think that Mr. Markell’s conclusion would be well known to you and that you would have taken all reasonable steps to make certain that kupuna buried in the footprint of the proposed building and elsewhere on church grounds would be identified and sanctified in a culturally sensitive manner," OHA’s letter said.

OHA suggested the church could better spend its efforts reconciling with descendants of the burials so the expansion can be completed in a pono, or moral, manner.

As part of OHA’s response regarding Markell’s testimony, the agency also noted that it was reviewing the church’s compliance with its grant.

In a Feb. 23 follow-up letter, OHA said the church maintained poor rec­ords and spent the grant inappropriately on nonsecular aspects of the proj­ect as well as pre-construction activities including archaeological surveys.

OHA doesn’t intend to seek repayment of its grant, in part because litigation would be costly. The agency in fact still supports the concept of a multipurpose center, which is intended to benefit church members as well as community organizations — nonsecular and secular interests that include OHA beneficiaries.

OHA officials have met with church leaders since late February in an effort to find common ground, but differences over disinterment remain.

Kekuna, in a statement last week to the newspaper, said, "OHA officials and Kawaiaha‘o Church have been in contact with each other and we both agree the highest priority must be given to treating any disinterred na iwi kupuna with respect and dignity."

The church plans to reinter remains elsewhere on its grounds, and said remains are being cared for respectfully.

Through April 7 the church has disinterred 398 burials by hand, according to reports filed with the state by church contractor Cultural Surveys Hawaii.

More recent reports, which are filed weekly, were not available from the state Historic Preservation Division, and the church is not making the reports available.