Question: Whatever happened to the 83 artifacts recovered from the Kawaihae Caves Complex following a 2006 settlement that required Bishop Museum and Native Hawaiian group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai‘i Nei to share the $330,000 cost to recover the objects?

Answer: Bishop Museum is currently storing and caring for the Native Hawaiian artifacts known as the Forbes collection. The items were recovered in the Kawaihae Caves Complex on Hawaii island in September 2006. Five of the objects are stored at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The Bishop Museum recently issued the following statement: "The items from the Kawaihae Caves Complex are and have been securely stored and cared for at Bishop Museum during the consultation process with the various claimants. Bishop Museum has continued to seek and accept consultation from claimants and expects to soon finalize the summarization of information amassed throughout the (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) process to make a determination as to the classification of the items."

Edward Halealoha Ayau, executive director of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna O Hawai‘i Nei, said he disputed the museum’s statement. Noting that the museum does not always return his emails, Ayau added, "It’s been eight years. Cases like this shouldn’t take this long."

Ayau said that by 2008 Volcanoes National Park officials had obtained a classification of artifacts stored there as scenery objects.

In February 2000, the Bishop Museum "loaned" the items to the group. In an act Ayau described as "repatriation," Hui Malama then stored the artifacts in an area also known as Forbes Cave and refused to give them back. In 2005, two other Native Hawaiian groups — Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa and the Royal Academy of Traditional Arts — sued Hui Malama and the museum in federal court, contending that they had been deprived of having a say in deciding where the artifacts belonged.

In 2006, Ayau and three others were found in contempt of court by a federal court judge, and Ayau was ordered to home confinement for 11 months.

In December 2006, a settlement was reached in the case, ordering the museum and Hui Malama to share the expense tied to retrieving the items, which were later returned to the museum. The museum said the costs incurred were satisfied, but Hui Malama did not have the funds to pay its $146,667.16 share.

Jim Wright, attorney for Campbell Estate heiress Abigail Kawananakoa, one of the plaintiffs in the federal case, said Kawananakoa paid Hui Malama’s share of retrieval costs and was able to get some money back from the group. Ayau said the group no longer has money to operate.

Consultation with the 14 claimants, including Hui Malama, regarding the repatriation of the objects restarted in 2007.

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This update was written by Joie Nishimoto. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To…” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.