Stone marker’s destruction called disrespect of culture

The first traditional Hawaiian dry-stacked stone marker or ahu used to designate an ahupuaa (land division) in an ongoing project, erected July 27 at Castle Junction, was destroyed Saturday afternoon.

The state hired master stone mason Billy Fields, renowned for his work in rebuilding heiau and stacking Hawaiian stone walls, to build the ahu, which was to have served as a template for future ones across the state.

Hawaiian civic clubs and cultural leaders are appealing to the public for help in identifying the vandal who destroyed the marker, valued at $2,500, and are calling it a desecration of the ahu, which was blessed by several kahu.

“It’s really sad,” said Mahealani Cypher, spokeswoman for the Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, which spearheaded the ahupuaa boundary marker project for Windward Oahu.

The stone marker, part of an initiative launched by the Oahu Council of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs in cooperation with the Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club, identifies the boundary between the ahupuaa of Kaneohe and Kailua at the intersection of Kamehameha and Pali highways.

“We wanted to re-establish the ahupuaa and help (people) know where they lived,” Cypher said. “It was also to connect people with the idea of kuleana or stewardship of the natural and cultural resources within their ahupuaa and to malama aina (care for the land).”

The Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club obtained funding for the project, roughly $25,000, from two grants from the Castle Foundation and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, to put up 16 brown signs designating the 11 ahupuaa in the Koolaupoko District from Waimanalo to Kualoa.

Ahupuaa boundaries were traditionally marked by an ahu. However, enough room for an ahu was not always available for every location, Cypher said.

Part of the first project was to have a stone ahu built that was highly visible, Cypher said.

“People would see it and understand its purpose,” she said. “Unfortunately one vandal didn’t.”

A witness to the destruction captured cellphone video of it and turned it over to police, Cypher said.

The incident occurred between 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and others driving by reported seeing it.
Police have opened a second-degree criminal property damage case. Police said the damage was reported Sunday.

Kumu hula Mapuana de Silva said the desecration of this ahu, celebrated by Hawaiian organizations, neighborhood boards, funders and elected officials just weeks ago, was a display of disrespect for the Hawaiian culture, the Koolaupoko Hawaiian Civic Club said in a news release.

“All we ask is that there should be respect for our culture, as there should be for all cultures,” de Silva said.