The Office of Hawaiian Affairs held a meeting Thursday on Maui with some discussion focusing on the need for more advocacy in protecting native burials. Photo courtesy Office of Hawaiian Affairs

State Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Carmen Hulu Lindsey said a new position is being created to serve as an advocate for protecting traditional and customary rights on Maui after hearing complaints about the lack of protection of Hawaiian burials.

“In general, I think we need to look at what people are doing when iwi (an ancestral burial) is found,” she said. “It doesn’t seem to be taking the right direction as far as protection. We need to advocate.”

Lindsey, the Maui trustee, said the OHA is now looking for a qualified individual to be the compliance officer for Maui and Molokai.

The creation of the position follows complaints by native Hawaiians about a lack of oversight and advocacy in light of a conflict among a native Hawaiian group, an archaeological company, and the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

The nonprofit Mālama Kakanilua has been involved in the past with trying to ensure the remains of Hawaiian ancestors are treated properly.

“The compliance thing is good,” Mālama Kakanilua president Clare Apana said. “We also feel the need of a kupuna advisory committee who works with the compliance officer to make sure they get the right information.”

She said her group would like to see real legal advocacy by OHA.

Apana’s group has sometimes found itself at odds with government agencies, including the state Board of Land and Natural Resources.

In March, the Hawai’i Intermediate Court of Appeals issued a finding in favor of Mālama Kakanilua in a case involving the state Board of Land and Natural Resources and its handling of the state’s archaeological permitting process.

The case stems from Mālama challenging annual permits from the State Historic Preservation Division for Archaeological Services Hawai’i, known by the acronym ASH.

The intermediate appeals judges held that the land board, in a contested case, “erroneously placed the burden on Mālama to prove ASH failed to comply with its permit conditions for calendar years 2015-2017.”

The judges also held that Mālama was entitled to a contested case on the archaeological services company’s 2021 permit because of the board’s procedural error in the contested case for a 2020 permit.

In the past, Mālama Kakanilua has expressed worry about disturbing ancestral bones at a number of projects, including sand mining at Maui Lani and the expansion of 137 guest rooms at the Grand Wailea, a project that requires a special management area permit.

The OHA job description for the compliance officer requires promoting advocacy efforts to include the protection of traditional and customary rights of native Hawaiians, as well as assuming that federal, state, and county resources are proportionally directed to Native Hawaiian needs.

The job requires the compliance officer to report to communicate with the compliance enforcement manager and compliance specialist.

The annual salary range is $61,728 to $75,792. The deadline to apply is 4:30 p.m. June 20. The opening is posted at www.oha.org/jobs/.