Rites will dedicate
restored burial ground

It is the resting place of 300 Hawaiians
killed in a musket battle in 1819

By Rod Thompson
Star-Bulletin

KEAUHOU-KONA -- A ceremony tomorrow will commemorate the renovation of a burial ground for more than 300 Hawaiians killed in an 1819 battle.

The restoration of the Lekeleke Burial Grounds seven miles south of Kailua-Kona was done last year at a cost of $150,000 by Kamehameha Investment Corp. employees and others hired on a temporary basis after the desecration was discovered.

Because the burial ground is rocky, the bones of the dead were buried in rock platforms. The undeveloped site was used for many years for cattle grazing.

"Over the years the rock platform graves were desecrated," said Kamehameha Investment president Louis Kau. "Bones were actually unearthed and exposed."

"Whether this was done intentionally or by sheer ignorance, this was the highest form of desecration," said a statement from the company's parent Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.

More than 300 Hawaiians are buried there as the result of the Kuamoo Battle of 1819. The battle was fought after the death of Kamehameha I, when Kamehameha II (Liholiho) abandoned traditional Hawaiian religion.

The battle pitted forces of Liholiho and regent Kaahumanu against traditionalists headed by Kekuaokalani, custodian of the war god. Both sides used muskets, with the traditionalists losing, historical artist Herb Kawainui Kane said.

Bishop land manager Lurline Naone-Salvador explained the need for proper burial of bones (iwi).

"A person's mana, or inner strength and power, is retained in one's bones."

The restoration of the burial ground took place between August and November of last year.

A blessing to protect workers was performed before the work began.

The ceremony tomorrow begins at 9 a.m.