RESTRAINING ORDER FILED TO PROTECT HAWAIIAN RELIGIOUS SITE
West Hawai`i Today - Tuesday, June 26, 2007
The Ahuena Heiau preservation group, Kulana Huli Honua, has filed suit against the new owners of the King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel and the state.
Robert Kim, attorney for the group, filed a civil action late Friday requesting a temporary restraining order to keep the hotel's new owners from evicting the group until a hearing concerning a preliminary injunction can be held to clarify the situation regarding Mikahala Roy's and Kulana Huli Honua's stewardship of the heiau (Hawaiian place of worship.)
Mikahala Roy is one of the authors of the Ho`ala Statement: Call for Congressional Hearings on the Akaka Bill in Hawai`i Now!
"We are taking this action to prevent an injustice by marginalizing the authentic leadership of the heiau," said Kim, referring to Mikahala Roy, the heiau's kahu, or priest.
"We are taking this position because they haven't articulated it but they are seeking to terminate the relationship, we do not know whether they are picking or choosing which portions of the agreement to agree with...."
...Although the hotel is keeping Ahuena Heiau Inc. to maintain the heiau, Kim claimed the situation will have adverse effects on the heiau and the community.
"What this creates is a cultural war between the Hawaiian community and the business developers who come into our town and take this kind of action," said Kim.
"It's going to hurt everybody, it's going to create bad feelings on both sides."
