Who is appointed to care for our aliʻi at Maunaʻala – and how they are selected – became a point of contention in our community recently when the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) eschewed tradition and excluded Native Hawaiian royal societies, aliʻi trusts, civic clubs and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) from the selection process for new Maunaʻala curator Doni Leināʻala Chong.
Concerns regarding the selection process were vetted publicly at an informational briefing at the state Capitol on May 28 attended by nearly 100 stakeholders representing at least a dozen different Native Hawaiian organizations. In response to the outcry, on June 4 DLNR announced the creation of a second, “culturally focused” position at Maunaʻala to work alongside Chong.
It is important to note that there have been long-standing concerns about DLNR’s ability to steward Maunaʻala in a manner commensurate with its cultural and historical significance. The recent exclusion of stakeholders from the curator selection process is only the most recent.
These concerns prompted OHA to reach out in June and July to DLNR, the Governor’s office, and to Native Hawaiian stakeholder groups (royal societies, aliʻi trusts, civic clubs and Hawaiian-supporting organizations) to begin exploring the idea of having OHA assume co-stewardship of Maunaʻala in collaboration with the aliʻi trusts.
This would include the formal transfer of authority over Maunaʻala from DLNR to OHA – from one state agency to another.
Built in 1865, Maunaʻala (The Royal Mausoleum) is the resting place of more than 50 aliʻi from the Kamehameha and Kalākaua dynasties along with a handful of royal consorts and close advisors.
In 1900, seven years after the overthrow and two years after Hawaiʻi was annexed by the United States, Maunaʻala was removed from the public lands inventory by a joint resolution of Congress (Public Resolution No. 28).
Prior to statehood, Maunaʻala was overseen by the Superintendent of Public Works, part of the Territorial Government. After statehood, Maunaʻala became the kuleana of the Hawaiʻi State Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) which assumed management of most state buildings and grounds.
In 1967, all state historic areas and buildings were transferred from DAGS to DLNR, and then in 1979, via Governor’s Executive Order No. 2966, kuleana for Maunaʻala was placed within DLNR’s Division of State Parks where it remains today.
For stakeholders like OHA and other Native Hawaiian organizations, DLNR’s inability to provide general maintenance and upkeep of Maunaʻala is a key concern.
In the 1970s, when renovation and maintenance work was needed for Maunaʻala, then-curator Lydia Taylor Maioho reached out to royal society Daughters and Sons of Hawaiian Warriors Māmakakaua for kōkua.
Māmakakaua established a nonprofit, Hoʻonani Maunaʻala Mai Nā Māmakakaua (Hoʻonani) to serve as a fiscal sponsor to Maunaʻala to assist with the needed renovations. They raised more than $400,000 from the state legislature to do so.
When renovations were needed in the early 2000s, then-curator Bill Maioho (Lydia’s son) sought kōkua from the aliʻi trusts.
OHA Sr. Director of Hawaiian Cultural Affairs Hailama Farden recalls that Maioho was very disappointed by DLNR’s failure to provide adequate support for the maintenance of Maunaʻala. “The state was somewhat neglectful in providing needed funding,” said Farden. “Maunaʻala would not have needed to be renovated again if they had kept up with maintenance.”
In 2013, DLNR entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the aliʻi trusts (Lunalilo Trust, Queen Liliʻuokalani Trust, The Queen’s Health Systems, Kamehameha Schools, Charles Reed Bishop Trust and the Abigail Kawānanakoa Foundation) to “address the needs for ongoing maintenance, renovation and repairs to the tombs, gravesites, chapel, buildings and landscaping at Maunaʻala.”
Although not part of the MOU, OHA’s board of trustees nevertheless approved a contribution of $180,000 towards the renovation of Maunaʻala.
Several years later there was a failed effort to transfer stewardship of Maunaʻala from DLNR to one of the aliʻi trusts.
OHA already stewards more than 28,000 acres of legacy land in an effort to protect some of Hawaiʻi’s precious natural and cultural resources, including Waimea Valley on Oʻahu, Wao Kele o Puna on Hawaiʻi Island, the Palauea Cultural Preserve on Maui, and the sacred Kūkaniloko Birthstones in Wahiawā, Oʻahu.
Prior to the uproar around the selection process for the newest Maunaʻala curator, OHA’s leadership was already in discussions with DLNR regarding the possible transfer of several other wahi pana in its inventory to OHA.
“We believe that OHA is mandated to assert leadership on critical matters and issues that preserve and protect our Hawaiian cultural practices, protocols and wahi pana,” said OHA Board of Trustees Chair Carmen “Hulu” Lindsey. “To this end, by helping to lead the stewardship of Maunaʻala, OHA can ensure that the community stays connected and has a voice in how we care for the final resting place of our aliʻi.”
DLNR manages about 1.3 million acres of state lands, beaches and coastal waters – including 750 miles of coastline. Included in this vast inventory is Maunaʻala. Given the magnitude of its land management kuleana – and the fact that DLNR admits to being under-resourced – it made sense to include stewardship of Maunaʻala in the ongoing discussions.
“OHA has the capacity and capability to steward Maunaʻala, which has been demonstrated by the way we have stewarded Kūkaniloko and other sacred wahi pana,” said OHA CEO Stacy Kealohalani Ferreira. “I believe it’s fitting that OHA stewards Maunaʻala, as we would then be able to care for sacred sites of our aliʻi from birth to final resting places.”
OHA continues to meet with key stakeholders about stewardship of Maunaʻala and, as of press time, those conversations are ongoing.
“We are encouraged by the very promising conversations we are having with our colleagues and beneficiaries,” said Farden. “And we look forward to continued conversations in our community.”
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