OUR ORIGINS
In 1989, Hui Mālama I Nā Kūpuna O Hawai‘i Nei (Hui Mālama), which was established by Edward and Pualani Kanahele in response to the removal of over 1,100 iwi kūpuna and moepū from the sand dunes of Honokahua, Maui prior to the construction of the Ritz Carlton Hotel.
Original members were taught cultural protocols both traditional and contemporary to reconnect to their own ancestors and the ancestors being rescued to communicate with and engage them in a meaningful way to support the practitioners with the tools required to be successful. Restoration of ‘ike pāpālua, or avenues of communication is one of the fundamental practices taught by Mr. and Mrs. Kanahele that led to the repatriation and reburial of several thousands of ancestral remains and funerary objects, as well as sacred objects. These results of course inherently recognizes that the ancestors responded in kind, and were an integral part of their own rescue and return.
The totality of these efforts were intended to restore the ancestral foundation upon which ka lāhui Hawai‘i, the Hawaiian nation could be resurrected and rebuilt.
Ola na iwi - the bones live.
ABOUT HUI IWI KUAMOʻO
In 2015, at the direction of Mrs. Kanahele, Halealoha dissolved the non-profit corporation ending the organizational formality but certainly not the cultural responsibility. Halealoha established the successor organization and named it Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o, to represent the backbone of the efforts required to care for the ancestors, their possessions and sacred objects.
A key undertaking of Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o is the training of the next generation of repatriation and reburial practitioners, which is the extension of the genealogy of ‘ike (knowledge) restored to our awareness and conscience by Edward and Pualani Kanahele. This ‘ike brilliantly recognizes that while native Hawaiians did not have protocols for reburial since disturbing iwi kūpuna was traditionally considered so egregious, that it could start a war between families, we do have traditions and the responsibility to evolve our cultural practices to responsibly address contemporary problems including those caused by the theft of our ancestors, their possessions and sacred objects.From this perspective, the Kanahele’s created contemporary protocols that have become traditional following over three decades of practice.
OUR MISSION
The missin of Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o is to restore and maintain the Native Hawaiian ancestral foundation by assisting families to resume the kuleana to care for the ancestors and to strengthen and foster a healthy Hawaiian cultural identity by dutifully asserting Hawaiian humanity.
OUR GOAL
The goal of Hui Iwi Kuamo‘o is to provide care and protection for iwi kūpuna (ancestral bones) and moepū (funerary possessions) through repatriation, reburial and in-place protection and to return care for mea kapu (sacred objects) and mea makamae (cultural treasures).