HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

181

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the state historic preservation division of the department of land and natural resources to require construction projects to have cultural consultants and monitors.

 

 

WHEREAS, iwi kupuna (ancestral bones) discovered at construction sites must be treated with the utmost respect; and

WHEREAS, Hawaiian burial sites fall under the jurisdiction of the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) of the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR); and

WHEREAS, when such a burial site is found, all construction must halt, and the police and SHPD must be notified immediately; and

WHEREAS, SHPD then evaluates the site and makes a decision on the disposition of iwi kupuna found; and

WHEREAS, descendants desire proper treatment and respect of iwi kupuna; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Water Supply of the City and County of Honolulu (BWS) recently sought residents to volunteer as cultural consultants and monitors at a large construction project on Farrington Highway along the Waianae Coast; and

WHEREAS, BWS' initiative was well received and greatly appreciated by the Hawaiian community as a means of displaying the respect due iwi kupuna; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2004, the Senate concurring, that SHPD is requested to study the feasibility of requiring construction projects to have cultural consultants and monitors; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the cultural consultants and monitors:

(1) Be lineal descendants, if at all possible;

(2) If no lineal descendants can be identified, be Hawaiian elders; and

(3) Watch over a culturally sensitive area, provide guidance regarding the construction project, and serve as intermediaries with the community;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that SHPD:

(1) Research a fee structure to pay such cultural consultants and monitors; and

(2) Report its findings to the Legislature about:

(A) The feasibility of requiring construction projects to have cultural consultants and monitors; and

(B) A fee structure

no later than 20 days prior to the Regular Session of 2005; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Administrator of SHPD and the respective chairs of the Island Burial Councils for the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Niihau, Maui, and Lanai, Molokai, and Oahu.

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaiian Burial Sites; Cultural Consultants and Monitors