In the summer of 2020, members of Kia\u02bbi Kauaula met with an archaeologist with Scientific Consulting Services. SCS had been retained by West Maui Land Construction to oversee excavation it was undertaking to install irrigation lines for Launiupoko Irrigation Company near Mill Street in Lahaina. The group consists of Native Hawaiians who conduct traditional practices, including \u201crevering and protecting\u201d iwi kupuna burials from desecration, according to a petition filed with the Public Utilities Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to an affidavit from Kaipo Kekona, one of the group\u2019s members, the archaeologist was informed that the waterline \u201cwould hit iwi kupuna burials based on the route they had determined to trench, which route would pass through Pioneer Mill Cemetery amongst other sensitive areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The trenching began according to plan, and Hawaiians began to protest near the work site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On September 30, at a meeting of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the concerns over trenching arose, albeit obliquely, in a discussion over protection of burials more generally. Ceridwen Kahi McClellan, talking about an issue in Kahoma Valley, went on to say, \u201cI just hope that OHA would investigate further into the people who are there occupying the land because they are not descendants of that particular parcel. \u2026 The whole occupation of different lands in Lahaina is really sensitive right now\u2026 I just wanted to acknowledge that there is another side to the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlene Rowland said she was concerned with the development \u201cand the pipes that are being laid and the iwi kupuna. \u2026 It just hurts me to see these things that are going on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As to McClellan, Rowland said, \u201cI really hope that she would, you know, try to help the Hawaiians as well. Try to help us and not be against us and not demean\u2026 It seems to me that she\u2019s not helping anyone but herself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Magalianes weighed in, saying that maps of the trenching plans showed that \u201cthey\u2019re going to go through cemeteries that I knew as a little girl.\u201d She went on to accuse McClellan of having been hired by the developer, although she could not identify who had told her this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OHA took no action on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 8, the Maui\/Lana\u02bbi Islands Burial Council heard testimony about the trenching and passed a motion calling for \u201cthe immediate cessation of all utility installation and work in the area of Pioneer Mill cemetery, Jacobson Cemetery and Puehuehuiki Cemetery in order to avoid burial sites and cemeteries associated from this area\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On October 13, five Hawaiian women were arrested at the site. They were charged with trespass, although the county later dropped all charges, saying the matter was a civil matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ten days later, at 9:45 a.m., an excavator removed a boulder from the trench floor, exposing what were determined to be bones from a human skull. Further trenching was stopped and a new route for the waterlines was selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Launiupoko Irrigation Company, that was hardly the end of the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Invoices and records of expenses provided to the Public Utilities Commission show it spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal services and archaeological consultants addressing the issue of \u201ctrespass\u201d on the \u201cAB waterline,\u201d the line that was being installed when human remains were exposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But those same records disclose payments made to Ceridwen McClellan as well, retained, evidently, to gather information on Hawaiian protesters and to attempt to spin public opinion in a direction favorable to LIC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a ledger showing \u201cextra job costs\u201d related to the A\/B waterline, a payment shows up of $2,552.07 to McClellan, for \u201ccollect, record, identify people for trespass.\u201d McClellan was also paid $187.66 for unspecified services relating to \u201cwaterline complaint,\u201d $103.46 \u201cfor Facebook page 10\/5\/20,\u201d and $1,170 for a \u201cpresentation waterline stop 2019 Namauu\/kapu Affida[vit].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2014 Patricia Tummons<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the summer of 2020, members of Kiaʻi Kauaula met with an archaeologist with Scientific Consulting Services. SCS had been retained by West Maui Land Construction to oversee excavation it was undertaking to install irrigation lines for Launiupoko Irrigation Company … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[528],"tags":[7],"class_list":["post-16139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-september-2024","tag-patricia-tummons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}