Community leaders seek funding and right‑of‑entry to study and protect Waiale burial sites

Kupuna, cultural practitioners and community stewards urged the Maui County Council to fund a comprehensive study and preservation plan for ancestral burials at the Waiale sand dunes and to resolve outstanding right‑of‑entry and reimbursement issues.

Walter Kanamu described longstanding cultural ties and said the community seeks a comprehensive study that would include a geographic survey, cultural and burial site assessment, historical data, flora/fauna inventories, water‑source evaluation and a phased action plan. “It is our goal to preserve, protect, and restore the final resting place of our kūpuna,” he said.

Claire Apana detailed past volunteer efforts and prior work performed under county direction, saying volunteers completed a burial treatment plan and physical cleanups but had not received promised reimbursement. “We did that burial for the county and did everything. We did the burial treatment plan… To this day, we have not been paid the thousand dollars that we put out,” she said.

Why it matters: Testifiers emphasized cultural heritage, ancestors’ reinterment and the need for a right‑of‑entry that supports meaningful, sustained stewardship. They asked the council to include funds—speakers proposed $400,000—to support an ethnographic study, surveys and a phased restoration plan that would involve living descendants and land managers.

Council questions and next steps: Councilmembers asked whether staff had coordinated with the administration; speakers said discussions had begun but that they had not secured a durable right‑of‑entry or funding commitments. Speakers and the council discussed potential coordination with the Office of Economic and Cultural Resources and state agencies.

No vote occurred at the hearing.