Ahu'ena Heiau

What protection for cultural sites?

by Ana Currie

Hurricane Flossie brought an eerie sense of déjà vu to those preparing for the 24-hour vigil at Ahu'ena Heiau on August 18-19. Four years ago, the last time that Kanaka Maoli from around Hawai'i gathered for a vigil to protect a cultural site in Kona, Hurricane Jimena was bearing down on the island. In September 2003, the sacred site Pu'u Ohau was threatened by Hokulia developer Oceanside 1250. Some spoke of the ho'ailona (a spiritual sign or omen) in the swirling winds.

Neither Jimena nor Flossie materialized into a full-blown assault on Hawai'i Island, but, at the opening of last month's vigil at Ahu'ena Heiau, the Maoli were very mindful of the deliberate and mystical power of unseen forces. Some also recalled the earthquakes from the belly of Kilauea that rocked Hawai'i Island the day before the anticipated arrival of both hurricanes.

When Jak Hu, General Manager of the adjacent King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel in Kailua-Kona, sent a terse notice of eviction to Mikahala Roy of Kulani Huli Honua, expelling her non-profit organization from its offices on the hotel premises, he could hardly have imagined what that action would unleash.

Hokulia redux?

"This issue," said Jack Kelly, a lead plaintiff in the precedent-setting Hokulia case who participated in both of these sacred vigils, "is of Hokulian proportions."

At the heart of the conflict are questions that relate to the Hawai'i State Constitution's protections of traditional religious practices of native Hawaiians and the state's responsibilities to protect sacred cultural sites, particularly those located on so-called "ceded" lands-lands seized from the Kingdom of Hawai'i at the time of the overthrow that were later placed under the stewardship of the state on behalf of the Hawaiian people.

The eviction notice was merely the spark that lighted the powder keg of explosive issues that many Maoli say have been buried for too long.

In ancient times Ahu'ena Heiau, in the area then known as Kamakahonua, was a luakini (sacrificial heiau) for the god Ku. Its foundations date back to 450-1100 A.D. The heiau was restored and rededicated to Lono, a god of peace and prosperity, by King Kamehameha the Great-who lived there from 1812-and was the place of his death in 1819. Kamehameha's body was prepared for burial on the adjacent Hale Lua platform. Believed to be buried in the area are the 'iwi (bones) of Hawaiian ancestors.

"Ahu'ena Heiau and Kamakahonu are the sacred sites where our international nationhood began," says Roy.

Conflicting uses

The profound significance of Ahu'ena Heiau and Kamakahonu as a wahi pana (sacred place) is well known. Regular religious cultural protocols take place here. In stark contrast to this reverence are the ways in which the area is used by others; tourists swim and frolic in the sacred waters around the heiau, and five nights a week King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel stages a tourist lu'au, where "Hawaiian culture" is presented for the entertainment of partying visitors.

For the last ten years, Kulana Huli Honua a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, has served as the caretaker and guardians of Ahu'ena Heiau. Mikahala Roy and Kaleookalani Nakoa share the role of kahu (priest) of the temple.

Mikahala is the daughter of David Kahelemauna "Mauna" Roy, who began restoring the heiau in 1975 (the original was destroyed in the 1820s). When the first stage of the restoration was completed, Ka'imi Spinney served as its first kahu 'aina (on-site guardian) living until his death on the premises in a structure built for that purpose. Manua Roy then served as its kahu until his death in 2005. Prior to his passing, he named his daughter and Kaleookalani to carry on the kuleana (responsibilities).

The formal pact regarding the stewardship of the heiau was agreed upon between the State, the County, and the original developers of the King Kamehameha Hotel in 1975. There had been a small family hotel on the site, but when the developer, Amfac Hotels, came before the county Planning Commission for its major expansion project, the requirement for an ongoing program of restoration and maintenance of Ahu'ena Heiau was made as a condition of the hotel approval.

A community partnership was formed and the State DLNR was charged with the responsibility of overseeing the care of the heiau and surrounding lands.

By the early 1990s the care of the heiau had waned, and in 1993 AHI was formed to take up the work of fundraising and grant-writing in support of the heiau. Mauna Roy, whose dedication to the care of the heiau had been ongoing since 1975, was selected as the kahu and recognized as such by the state of Hawai'i.

Although some of Roy's restoration work was funded by AHI, internal problems with the organization began to surface. According to Mikahala Roy, that "community based" organization experienced conflict because several members worked for the hotel: the commitment to kuleana for the heiau and the surrounding area faltered.

In 1999, Mauna Roy, along with a wide spectrum of community members, created a new organization, Kulana Huli Honua, and transferred the kuleana to the new group. Since then it operated under a verbal agreement with former hotel owners to provide stewardship and education programs about Ahu'ena Heiau in exchange for space in the hotel's retail shop area.

When the hotel was sold earlier this year to Santa Barbara-based Pacifica Hotel Co. and Hawai'i-based Black Point Capital Advisors (collectively known as IWF KKH LLC), Roy was given 20 days to vacate the premises; AHI would be the new stewards of the heiau. On June 22, Kulana Huli Honua filed suit against the owners of the hotel and the state.

Who controls religious practices?

In the ensuing legal melee, it quickly became clear that this was much more than a simple landlord-tenant dispute. The new hotel owners' response to the lawsuit: that they have ultimate responsibility for the heiau, as it is on land "owned" by the previous resort owner and leased by IWF KKH LLC.

"Our sacred sites absolutely cannot be privately owned or managed," said Jimmy Medeiros of Protect Keopuka 'Ohana and the Kanaka Council. "Our sacred sites have never been for sale."

Who owns the heiau? The initial lawsuit, which focused on the illegality of the eviction proceedings, has since been expanded by a second and a third amended complaint. More are likely to follow as new plaintiffs join the fray to seek redress against the hotel and the state over various related issues.

"One of the questions," says Roy, "is whether a corporate entity has the right to decide which Hawaiians are sanctioned to conduct their own religious practices, and which are not.... Pacifica Hotel Co. and Black Point have no kuleana whatsoever to our land, our history, and our spiritual and cultural practices," she maintains.

At a June rally at the site one onlooker asked what was going on. When informed that the new corporate hotel owners had attempted to appoint a new caretaker of the heiau, he laughed and said, "Kind of like the Chinese government appointing the next Dalai Lama."

IWF KKH LLC states in their court filings that "the Hotel does not seek to terminate anyone as 'kahu,' and it would not purport to determine whether any particular person is kahu or not." But the same document specifies over and over that the hotel recognizes AHI as the stewards of the heiau.

Neither hotel management, IWF KKH LLC officials, nor AHI president Tommy Hickcox returned HIJ's phone calls to clarify this or other questions.

The reason for the new hotel owners to assert their right to choose the kahu of the heiau isn't a mystery to those who support Kulana Huli Honua's right to continue in the role of stewards of Ahu'ena Heiau.

The current members of AHI's board of directors are Tommy Hickcox, Irvin Villacorte, Jacqueline Awa, Alana Yamamoto, Kalani Nakoa, and Kealoha Kaopua. Villacorte, Awa, and Yamamoto are all employees of the hotel; Kaopua runs the lu'au concession, and Nakoa operates a beach rental concession on Kamakahonu Beach. Nakoa, who was named by Mauna Roy to share the kahu duties with Mikahala Roy, is the only one active in both organizations.

While the dominant presence of hotel employees on the AHI board may make it easier for the hotel to control access and activities at the heiau, it also violates that organization's own bylaws and the laws governing nonprofit organizations, says Kulani Huli Honua attorney Robert D.S. Kim.

"The original agreement specified that the stewards of the heiau were to be a community-based 501(c)3 organization, and in the beginning, AHI was that," says Kim. "But over time, the board shrank and became populated by hotel employees and others with financial affiliations with the hotel. That's not community-based."

"This is a state-wide issue," explains Hanalei "Hank" Fergerstrom, who is closely linked with Ahu'ena Heiau in his role as a priest of Lono and conducts regular religious protocols there. "It's about all the heiau in Hawai'i and our right to have our religion and our sacred sites."

"It's really puzzling," he continues, "because this is a right that is supposed to be offered to everybody in the United States-but somehow it doesn't apply to Hawaiians."

Land use quagmire

The hotel's claim to ownership of the heiau sparked many questions not only about that claim, but also about the ownership of the land under the heiau and the surrounding area, including the area that the hotel uses for its lu'au grounds.

In past years, there have been territorial skirmishes between various users of the beach area, which is not owned by the hotel, but by the State of Hawai'i. One attempt by past hotel owners to remove canoe club canoes from the lawn area fronting the hotel was met with resistance from the canoe clubs and a subsequent clarification of the fact that this is state-owned land, all the way from the water up to the beachfront bar. The canoe clubs stayed put.

Kulani Huli Honua and the additional plaintiffs in the case are planning to mount a full-scale investigation regarding ownership of the area under and surrounding Ahu'ena Heiau. Among the issues to be determined is whether the hotel even owns the land on which the lu'au operations take place. Should this be determined to be state land, the plaintiffs may challenge the right of the state to grant an exclusive use directly adjacent to one of Hawai'i's most sacred sites for the purposes of a tourist lu'au.

"This is a public trust issue," says Fergerstrom. "Who says the state has the right to give exclusive use of our sacred areas to private corporations? It's time to put a stop to these kinds of actions throughout Hawai'i.

"Bottom line is, the state needs to come forth and be accountable," he continued. "How can they justify what they are doing? What is their compelling interest in my temple?"

Regardless of how the land tenure issues may play out-and that could take months or even years of painstaking research-there are myriad other issues regarding the state's responsibility regarding cultural sites.

The State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) of the Department of Land and Natural Resources regards Kamakahonu and Ahu'ena Heiau as "extremely significant." It is also designated a National Historic Landmark.

"The state is mandated by the constitution to protect, preserve and promote ongoing Hawaiian cultural activities," says Kelly. "As the cultural landscape shrinks, it becomes more important for citizens to act as the eyes and ears, because the state is just not up to the job."

Besides the constitutional protections, Hawai'i Revised Statutes Chapter 6E provides for protective buffer zones around historic and cultural sites and burials. If the state is compelled to carry out its legal responsibilities regarding buffers for the sites and burials in the area of Ahu'ena Heiau, the hotel may have to find a new spot for its lu'au activities.

First issue resolved: more coming

At the August 28 hearing before Third Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra, the initial conflict that set off the chain of events was resolved: the parties agreed that Kulana Huli Honua will vacate its space at the hotel by December 1.

But the issues being unearthed will not be resolved soon.

"Now is the time to discuss the ultimate protection of all of our sites," says Roy. "This issue has been under the cloak of silence for too long." She, along with the Maoli supporters who gathered peacefully to pray for the future of Ahu'ena Heiau and all the treasured sites of Ka Pae 'Aina, intend that the "opening" created by the Ho'owehewehe vigil will lead to a new paradigm in Hawai'i-one that deeply acknowledges the value and sanctity of Hawaiian cultural and religious beliefs and practices.

To Roy, the path is clear. "My father said, 'Follow your heart, be true, and carry it on."

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