The Kawaiaha’o Church congregation and clergy are heartbroken and hurt after a set of ‘iwi kupuna recently discovered at the historic church cemetery were damaged by trespassers.
"This is just unforgivable desecration of a final resting place of our kupuna," says William Ha’ole, Kawaiaha’o Church Board of Trustees.
Ha’ole says on October 10th, Archaeologists contracted to do an inventory of the ‘iwi on site discovered that remains, dating back to the 1900′s, had been charred by fire.
"The remains were charred by the burning of the paper that was covering it," he says.
Ha’ole says a Honolulu Police report describes that a plank of plywood and paper used to cover and cushion the ‘iwi kupuna had been set on fire.
"We had security here at that time and they didn’t notice or see anything," he says.
Ha’ole says an email sent to members of the community a day before the fire was discovered hinted something happened at the church construction site.
"It seemed rather odd to me that they would receive an email notification about something taking place here before we even placed a police report in or the rest of the church was aware," he says.
The fire was in an area where the church is laying the foundation for a $14-million multi-purpose center. A project that’s been the center of controversy for several years. Some native Hawaiians have protested against the building claiming it will disturb their ancestors or kupuna who are buried there.
Ha’ole says he’s not pointing fingers, and will let the police investigation determine who is to blame.
"This particular act is a vicious attack not just on the church, not just on the ‘iwi but also to the cultural beliefs to both of our people – Hawaiian and Christian," he says.
Kawaiaha’o Church has added extra security officers including surveillance cameras and light sensors to prevent any more trespassing.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
