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December 20, 2007
INGENIOUS, YET BORING
(Editor's note: the following letter was posted on Mauitime.com in response to Anthony Pignataro's Dec. 13, 2007 LC Watch "Talk to the Fence.")
No offence Mr. P, but this case was boring. Why don't you keep digging up bigger cases to keep people interested in really hating how these guys do business? Sometimes we can't figure out if you are for or against the LC. Even though it's pretty ingenious how you poke fun at them and they have no clue.
-Jon Doughnut, via Mauitime.com
LESS INGENIOUS, BUT ALSO LESS BORING
Mr. [Greg] Mebel quotes [David] Brown's allegation that human remains are kept in a closet at the Maui [State Historic Preservation Division] SHPD office in Wailuku ("Skeletons in the Closet," Dec. 6, 2007). I would like to clarify that at the time SHPD moved to its current office, a special room was newly constructed adjoining the existing building, so that human remains could be stored in a separate, undisturbed area that was not used by anyone or for any other purpose. Respectful treatment of the iwi was the intended result. At the time it was built, the room was more than adequate in size to house the remains that were awaiting reburial on Maui.
It is certainly larger than any closet I am familiar with. It has since filled to capacity, due primarily to the high rate of shoreline erosion and the need to recover relatively large numbers of endangered burials before they wash into the ocean. Since the SHPD staff arrived on Maui in 1991, a priority has always been the care and preservation of Na 'Iwi Kupuna. I know these things to be true because I was the Maui Island SHPD archaeologist between 1991 and 1998.
Two points regarding the information presented on the Honokahua Burial Site at Kapalua: The actual number of individual burials recovered from that site was 867; remains representing a minimum of 133 additional individuals were recovered from disturbed contexts, for a total of 1,000 individuals. This information is readily available in the summary (first page) of the report that was written for this project.
Secondly, the recovered remains were NOT kept in a steel container. A special building near the site was turned over for the sole purposes of the project, and all the remains were kept in this building until they were reinterred on the site. There was cultural oversight for all of the archaeological activities that were conducted during this project, which actually began in August 1987.
I know these facts to be true because I was the archaeological field director for this project. When Gov. [John] Waihe'e ordered the project to cease on December 23, 1988, myself and all of the archaeologists involved were celebrating along with the Hawaiians. Contrary to popular belief, most archaeologists do not enjoy disintering human remains, nor do we seek out the opportunity to do so.
-Theresa K. Donham, via Mauitime.com
Maui Time welcomes letters commenting on our coverage, but only if they're complimentary. If you still wish to complain about something, please have the decency to use plenty of bad punctuation and grammar—that makes it easier for us to make fun of you when we respond. We also reserve the right to edit your letters. Send your letters to the editor via e-mail (letters@mauitime.com), regular mail (Letters to the Editor, Maui Time Weekly, 33 N. Market St., Ste. 201, Wailuku, HI 96793-1742) or fax (808-244-0446). All correspondence must include your full name, hometown and phone number.
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