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Lawsuit seeks to block Maui Halloween celebration

WAILUKU >> A lawsuit claims a Halloween celebration on Maui violates Native Hawaiian rights.

A Native Hawaiian group filed the suit Friday in 2nd Circuit Court.

The Maui News reports the suit seeks a restraining order and claims Mayor Alan Arakawa improperly circumvented the county Cultural Resources Commission to move the event forward. 

According to the complaint, the annual Lahaina Halloween party known as the “Mardi Gras of the Pacific” has in the past involved nudity, drinking and other offensive behavior. The complaint says participants urinated on a sacred Hawaiian site. 

The Cultural Resources Commission had denied event permits for the past four years. This year the county removed any elements of the event that would be under the commission’s purview. 

County spokesman Rod Antone says the complaint is under review. 

 

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