Native American Graves Protection and

Repatriation Review Committee

Dispute Findings

Federal Register / Vol. 58, No. 71 / Thursday, April 15, 1993 /
Notices 19689
_______________________________________________________________________

NOTICE

NATIVE AMERICAN GRAVES PROTECTION AND REPATRIATION REVIEW COMMITTEE:
FINDING

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior

ACTION: Finding Regarding Human Remains Identified as 12-10738-39,
From Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii

_______________________________________________________________________

After full and careful consideration of all information and arguments
submitted and presented by representatives of the P.A. Hearst Museum of
Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, and Hui M lama I
N K puna O Hawai i Nei, the Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Review Committee finds that the preponderance of the
evidence indicates a relationship of shared group identity which can be
reasonably traced between present day Native Hawaiian organizations and
those human remains identified as 12-10738-39.

The human remains, currently in the possession of the P.A. Hearst
Museum, consist of two mandibles, two hand bones, and one foot bone
acquired in 1887 by the former Geological Survey of the University of
California and accessioned by the University Museum of Paleontology. A
small card with the remains indicates that the remains were collected
from the beach at Waimanalo, Oahu. The Committee considered
archeological, historical, geographic, osteological, and spiritual
information in arriving at their finding.

In arriving that their finding, the Committee noted that:

1) Native Hawaiians have demonstrated a preference for burial of their
dead in sand dunes along the island shorelines;

2) The beach and sand dunes at Waimanalo, Oahu, are well known to be
one such Native Hawaiian burial location;

3) The only known non-Hawaiian cemetery in the Waimanalo area is
located considerably inland from the beach;

4) That while non-Native Hawaiians represented slightly over 50% of
population of the Hawaiian Islands in the 1880s, the vast majority
of burials in the Waimanalo area discovered at that time would have
been of Native Hawaiian origin;

5) Spiritual information or expert opinion asserted the identification
of these human remains as Native Hawaiian; and

6) Osteological evidence neither confirmed nor refuted the
identification of these human remains as Native Hawaiian.
Based on these findings, the Committee recommends that the P.A. Hearst
Museum revise its determination regarding the cultural affiliation of
the human remains identified as 12-10738-39 and notify Native Hawaiian
organizations directly and through a notice of inventory completion
published in the Federal Register that these remains are available for
repatriation.

Dated: March 28, 1993

Ms. Tessie Naranjo
Chair
Native American Graves Protection
and Repatriation Review Committee