The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has told a native Hawaiian group to return 83 priceless artifacts to Bishop Museum so other claimants may get an opportunity to help decide their final resting place.
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Hui Malama representatives criticized the decision.

"The judges got it wrong," said Alan Murakami, an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which represents Hui Malama.

"Hui Malama has been forced to deal with this Western legal system for satisfaction of Hawaiian cultural issues," Murakami said, adding that the judges "weren't impressed that the First Amendment rights (to freedom of religion) of Hui Malama would be violated."

Murakami was considering strategies to appeal the opinion.

Officials with a Native Hawaiian group yesterday asserted that they will continue to fight a federal court order requiring them to return 83 priceless burial objects to the Bishop Museum, despite an appeals court ruling affirming that decision.

The decision calls for Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei to cooperate with authorities in retrieving artifacts believed to be sealed in a Big Island cave.

"We're going to ask for relief immediately," said Alan Murakami, an attorney with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. which is representing Hui Malama.