I just recently saw a link that was on my facebook that read “Save Our Ancestors - Stop the Digging at Kawaiahaʻo Church.” I clicked on it, read a little bit, and then quickly joined the cause. I couldn’t believe that digging up of kupunas bones are still happening till this day. I wanted to learn more about what was going on there at Kawaiahaʻo Church in Oʻahu. They reportedly have been digging up ʻiwi kupuna - the bones of Hawaiians buried in the Kawaiahaʻo Church so they can build a new social hall. They have recently uncovered 23 separate gravesites and have unearthed 69 sets of native Hawaiian bones already. The church intends to remove any and all ʻiwi kupuna from the former site of Likeke Hall and its surrounding areas in order to build a multi-purpose building. The construction of this site will perpetuate a tragic legacy of the removal of over 100 bones in 1940 when Likeke Hall was first built. Those ʻiwi kupuna were taken to the Kamoʻiliʻili cemetery, removed again when that cemetery was sold, and removed once again, cremated with other ʻiwi kupuna, and re-interred on Kawaiahaʻo's grounds. It was quoted that “Some of these ‘iwi kupuna currently lie in baskets on shelves at the bottom of the church and have been there for more than a year. Empty baskets are in this room waiting to be filled with more bones. When will the horror stop?” The building of the new social hall is a $17 million project that is turning out to be much more costly (non-money wise) than expected. It just breaks my heart. I used to attend Pūnana Leo o Kawaiahaʻo as a preschooler and I remember graduating in the Kawaiahaʻo church like it was yesterday. It’s an amazingly beautiful place; I would have never guessed that digging up of ancestral bones would ever take place there. I saw in some news reports that some Hawaiian protestors got arrested on site just for voicing their concerns. And I believe that they have a right to, especially those that are descendents of the kupunas that are being dug up. The kahu of the church said that “there’s not life in the bones, their lives are in heaven with our Lord God...” and I’m a believer of that. I’m a 100% Christian, was raised a Christian my whole life. BUT what he said does NOT justify digging up and removing bones from their resting place one bit! That is the ultimate disrespect in Hawaiian culture. I can’t believe this is happening in our present day. What is happening to Hawaiʻi? What happened to respect? Common sense? I guess now days, that’s a rare thing.. All we can do is pule for those who are blinded by the dollar.
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