RESUBMITTING CLAIM FOR THE REWARD REGARDING THE STOLEN KAAI/IWI FROM THE BISHOP MUSEUM
Claiming the Reward for Submitting the Name of the Person(s) who Stole the Kaai /Funerary Basketry from the Bishop Museum
| Wed, Aug 11, 12:09 PM | |||
c/o the State of Hawaii Attorney General, et. als. Acting as Trustee for Abigail Kawananakoa
Many Interested others
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii 96814
Re: Claiming the Reward for Submitting the Name of the Person(s) who Stole the Kaai/Funerary Basketry from the Bishop Museum
Greetings,
I understand there is a reward of $8,000 + for the stolen Kaai/Funerary basketry of our Alii which was stolen from the Bishop Museum.
Claims were made that it would be an issue of the Police, and the F.B.I.
Although multiple reports were made, nothing came of it.
The name of the culprit(s) is David Keanu Sai, his cousin Kalama (deceased), and others who explained to all attending the Hawaiian Genealogy/Genealogical Society meeting held at the Pearl City Library.
Sai spoke in front of kanaka maoli and admitted that he removed the basketry from the Bishop Museum and carried if off with others and took it to the Big Island without the consult of the descendants whose ancestors iwi/bones were in the basketry.
Over the years, I have posted information about Sai, written Police Reports and no one has done anything.
Instead, I have received only negative comments by those who have put Sai on a pedestal, and who disregard the fact that Sai has collected exorbitant amounts of monies in claiming to defend kanaka maoli against Mortgages, etc. partnering with Dexter Kaiama, et. als.
A monetary reward of $8,000 + was made by Abigail Kawananakoa in the past, and I, Amelia Gora, have now directly exposed David Keanu Sai, his cousin Kalama (dec.) for the records and seek to be awarded the monetary reward of $8,000.
The following was posted on Facebook for all to see:
Mahalo,
Amelia Gora
P.O. Box 861781
Wahiawa, Oahu, Hawaii 96786
email: hwngensoc.akg@juno.com or goraamy69@gmail.com
Theft of relics is Hawaiian mystery
HONOLULU -- Someone has spirited away two of Hawaii's most hallowed historical relics and, in so doing, has cut sharply into the native culture's soul.
"It's hard to explain just how significant this is," said Lynn Lee, the land planner for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. "It would be a little bit, to Christians, as if somebody had stolen the bones of Jesus."
Like the missing antiquities -- woven baskets purportedly holding the deified bones of 15th and 16th century royalty -- the theft is shrouded in mystery.
No one seems sure exactly when or how it happened, but it was discovered a few weeks ago, when authorities at the Bishop Museum here opened a guarded, locked storage cabinet and found that the two "kaai" were missing.
Almost daily since then, pleas have been made for their return: by police, who say they have no clues in the case; by museum officials, who express bewilderment about how this could have happened; by state leaders, who despair at the loss of such important artifacts; and by the islands' kupuna, or elders, who met throughout last week discussing how to respond to the theft.
The elders, representing all of Hawaii's islands, reached a consensus that they should use their moral authority to persuade the thief or thieves to return the priceless caskets.
However, the decision reportedly was not unanimous, and the kaai's disappearance has revealed an anguished division among Hawaiians about the disposition of remnants from their tightly intertwined historical, spiritual and cultural pasts.
A stark illustration of that split emerged on Saturday, two days after the kapuna committee issued an order for the caskets' return.
Rather than join that call, Dana Naone Hall, chairwoman of the Maui/Lanai Islands Burial Council, released a statement saying that many natives consider the incident a "rescue" rather than a theft because the bones should have been buried according to ancient custom and not been consigned to a museum.
"My instinctual response tells me that the kaai were taken for the right reasons by the right people," Ms. Hall said. She added that it was "possible" that the bones' spiritual power was "actively involved" in their removal, that they somehow wanted to be properly interred on the Big Island of Hawaii.
While other officials denounce the robbery, most believe it was carried out by people who share Ms. Hall's religious and historical perspective. Indeed, on Feb. 15 -- three days before the disappearance was discovered -- Edward Haealoha Ayau, administrator of the state's burial program for Hawaiian remains, received an anonymous telephone call.
Mr. Ayau said he did not understand at the time what the male caller meant when he said, "Chief Liloa is home."
Liloa's bones are believed to be in one of the 2-foot-high baskets, which are woven into humanlike shapes; the other is said to contain the bones of his great-grandson, Lonoikamakahiki.
Most Hawaiians today are Christians who live in a modern Western society, but their culture still has strong tribal influences and is in fused with ancient beliefs and rituals.
On Saturday evening, for instance, the Royal Order of Kamechamcha I -- a 125-year-old group whose members include Gov. John Waihee -- held a ceremony at the Nuuanu Mausoleum, which houses the remains of Hawaiian royalty. The intent was to inform the dead of the kaai's theft and to "issue a challenge for their return," according to a Kamechamcha spokesman.
The ritual included a torchlight procession to a crypt containing the remains of Queen Liliuokalani and Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole, the last royal guardians of the kaai before the prince turned them over to the Bishop Museum 76 years ago.
The museum was to hold onto the relics until agreement could be reached on their final resting place, and they were considered so cherished that they were never put on public display. Rather, they were accessible only to researchers who obtained special permission and were escorted to the viewing area by a staff member who watched the entire process.
Linda Delaney, a government spokeswoman on historical and cultural matters, compared the symbolic importance of the kaai with that of the bones of Abraham or Joseph to the Jewish people.
She lamented that the "most unfortunate impact" of the relics' theft has been how it has divided residents.
"The kaai represent something central, something extremely significant of the Hawaiian people. . . not just to survive but to prevail," Ms. Delaney said. "Looked at in this way, the idea that any one segment of the population or any one place should have the right to decide what happens to the bones is destructive and a disservice to all of us."
Reference:
http://starbulletin.com/2004/11/21/news/story2.html
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, November 21, 2004
Campbell heir ups stakes for artifacts
Her organization earns status as a "native Hawaiian" group
By Sally Apgar
Abigail Kawananakoa, a descendant of the royal line of Kalakaua, has been haunted by the mysterious theft in 1994 from the Bishop Museum of the Ka'ai, two burial caskets that held the 400-year-old bones of two important chiefs from the Big Island, according to people close to her. By 2002, Kawananakoa was so pained by the thefts that she and a close adviser, Edith McKinzie, a kumu hula and noted Hawaiian genealogy scholar, visited the secret, climate-controlled room in the Bishop Museum from which the sennit caskets had been stolen. They wanted to see that other Hawaiian treasures stored there were safe. The Ka'ai have never been found.
Some say Kawananakoa, a wealthy Campbell Estate heiress, would pay anything for the return of the Ka'ai or other precious Hawaiian artifacts that may have slipped away onto the antiquities black market.
Now, Kawananakoa, 78, is emerging from her private world of philanthropic works and California quarter-horse farm to enter what has become a very public fight over the reclamation of Hawaiian artifacts among competing native Hawaiian groups. In her first formal step onto the battlefield, she gained recognition this week of her newly formed group, Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa, as a "native Hawaiian organization" under the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Congress created NAGPRA as civil-rights legislation, aimed at righting wrongs of the past by creating a process for Native Americans and native Hawaiians to repatriate human remains and sacred items from museums.
A Bishop Museum official, who asked not to be named, confirmed Friday that the board of directors voted unanimously at its Thursday meeting to recognize Kawananakoa's group as a native Hawaiian organization. The official also confirmed the board found her organization eligible to join the fray with several claimants already competing under NAGPRA rules for three sacred items in the museum's collection that were found on Molokai.
The three items, believed by some native Hawaiians to hold strong spiritual powers, are: a 5-inch, hook-shaped pendant carved from a rock oyster; a "kii," which is an 8-inch stick figure with a human face; and a cowry shell. Those items are already at the center of a possibly precedent-setting legal dispute between Bishop Museum and Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawaii Nei, one of two native Hawaiian groups listed under NAGPRA law as native Hawaiian organizations. All three items were found in burial sands and later sold or donated to the Bishop Museum.
Edward Halealoha Ayau, a spokesman for Hui Malama, claims the donors were grave robbers and is challenging the museum's "right of possession" under NAGPRA. Ayau contends that the museum has no ownership rights of stolen goods. If Hui Malama prevails on this legal point, it could trigger battles over hundreds of items in museums across the country. Hui Malama recently filed a dispute with NAGPRA, citing the museum's slow reaction in repatriating the Molokai items. The museum says it is studying the legal issues involved and that if it can establish ownership under state law, then it can claim possession under NAGPRA.
Another outspoken claimant in the Molokai dispute is La'akea Suganuma, who represents the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts. Suganuma has long warred with Hui Malama over various items, including the controversial repatriation of 83 objects from the Kawaihae caves or Forbes cave on the Big Island that were once part of the Bishop Museum's collection. In February 2000, the museum loaned the items to Hui Malama for one year. The items were never returned. Ayau has repeatedly said his organization never meant to return them, the museum staff knew that and that the repatriation is final. Suganuma is among 12 other claimants who have asked for a review of the repatriation. Ayau says any questions among the remaining claimants should be settled in court.
Although Kawananakoa has not made a claim for the Kawaihae cave items, Suganuma and other claimants agree she has the war chest to pay for a court fight. Suganuma and Ayau are also at odds over the repatriation of five items from Kawaihae cave that reside in the collection of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Ayau said his group has made three written claims for the items since November 1999 that have been ignored by the park service. This week, he filed a dispute with NAGPRA over the park's response. Park Superintendent Cindy Orlando could not be reached for comment.
The five disputed items are: a 27-inch-high carved wooden statue of a woman; a konane game board with legs made of unusual carved wooden figures; a cutting tool that incorporates a human collar bone and shark's tooth; a gourd with a shell stopper; and a button. Suganuma is also filing a claim for the items.
Founded in 1989, Hui Malama at one time was the only group to step forward to take care of the bones and artifacts. It aggressively spearheaded repatriation from museums and, in the process, raised cultural consciousness and pride in the past. But in recent years, particularly since the Kawaihae caves dispute, Hui Malama has aroused controversy and some resentment from native Hawaiians who feel it has overstepped its bounds.
"Just who does Hui Malama think it is?" said Suganuma, who feels the NAGPRA review committee has made repatriation decisions biased toward Hui Malama. The NAGPRA review committee "has absolutely disregarded the law and always done what Hui Malama wants them to," Suganuma said in a recent letter to the committee. "We're taking off the gloves. The NAGPRA committee just hasn't shown any respect for the law or other claimants."
Ayau yesterday questioned Kawananakoa's motivations. "Where have they been all of these years while we have been fighting for repatriation?" he said. He noted part of the definition of "native Hawaiian organization" is to provide continuing services to native Hawaiians.
James Wright, an attorney for Kawananakoa, said that for more than 30 years she has funded preservation and research relating to Hawaiian culture. That funding includes translations of old Hawaiian-language newspapers for people to use in establishing their genealogies. According to incorporation papers, Kawananakoa's group includes McKinzie, who authored the two-volume "Hawaiian Genealogies," considered among the most authoritative texts on the subject. A third member is Rubellite Kawena Johnson, a professor emeritus at the University of Hawaii who is a renowned scholar of Hawaiian culture, language and history. Johnson has unsuccessfully challenged Hui Malama over past repatriations, including a spear rest that once resided in a Providence, R.I., museum. Johnson said yesterday, "I have no morbid interest in claiming other people's bones, nor in assuming power to force people to do this or that with ancestral bones."
see: https://www.angelfire.com/hi2/hawaiiansovereignty/nagprakaai.html
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c/o the State of Hawaii Attorney General, et. als. Acting as Trustee for Abigail Kawananakoa
Many Interested others
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii 96814
Re: Claiming the Reward for Submitting the Name of the Person(s) who Stole the Kaai/Funerary Basketry from the Bishop Museum
Greetings,
The Legitimate Government in Hawaii Series: More on the Kaai/Iwi/Remains basketry stolen by David Keanu Sai et. als.
Review by Amelia Gora (2021)
Facebook post:
Amelia Gora
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