Maui Has A New Plan To Prevent Desecration Of Significant Cultural Sites 0 The proposal for an interactive mapping tool is the last act of one of the most progressive councils in the county’s history.
It was the spring of 1997, and the front page article in the Haleakala Times began with a story of bulldozers tearing up one of Wailuku’s busiest streets, exposing burial sites and other “significant archeological remains.”
After the crew’s discovery, Maui’s Cultural Resources Commission set out to create a new county law to map out areas known to have cultural and archeological resources. The goal: To protect the heiaus, historical trails and other remnants of Maui’s past and prevent developers from ever digging up the sacred resting places of iwi kupuna which halt development in its tracks.
But the proposal didn’t go anywhere. In the decades that followed, the battles over the desecration of iwi kupuna continued — despite another county-wide plan in 2010 calling for such a map.
Until recently, when council member Shane Sinenci of Hana took up the cause once again.
