A group dedicated to protecting and preserving Native Hawaiian burial sites was ordered by a federal judge yesterday to return to Bishop Museum 83 lots of sacred burial objects that the group said it had placed in a sealed Big Island cave.

But a leader of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei, which has resisted efforts to return the items, said the group planned to appeal the decision by Chief U.S. District Judge David Ezra. The Hui Malama official also said he wasn't sure what the group would do if the appeal fails.

"I would hope that a federal court doesn't put Hawaiians in a position of having to violate their own spiritual beliefs and the practices of their kupuna (ancestors)," Hui Malama spokesman Edward Halealoha Ayau said after the court hearing.

He indicated that the group might not be able to return the sacred items.