At least 15 sets of ancestral remains, or iwi, have been found at a construction site in Honolulu.
This is raising questions about whether the state's process for protecting burials is effective enough — an issue taken up by the Oʻahu Island Burial Council Wednesday at its monthly meeting.
Construction continues on two high-rises along Keʻeaumoku Street where developer Nan Inc. said 15 sets of iwi have been found over the last five months.
Kamanaʻo Mills, head of the Oʻahu Island Burial Council, said excavation work on the project is 65% complete.
"Which means there's still 35% more ground-altering activities that need to take place. So the potential of finding more burials is in that other 35%," Mills said.
"Given its proximity to the Walmart burials and other discoveries along Keʻeaumoku Street, I’m concerned," he continued.
Mills said iwi on a project site are typically identified prior to construction with an archeological survey, which involves digging segments or test trenches of the project site. He said those surveys donʻt cover every part of the project site.
"So for instance, you put in these test trenches, and if you find the burials during the test trenches, they go before the burial council, which is like 0.5% of a development. So for the other 99.5% of the development, if you discover it then, it goes to the jurisdiction of SHPD (State Historic Preservation Division). That doesn’t sound right," Mills said.
Mills said he wants to strengthen the protection of iwi by requiring developers to present plans on what they will do if they find additional burials during construction.
