Three native Hawaiian organizations, including two led by sovereignty activist Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, filed papers in federal court yesterday seeking to intervene in a lawsuit over 83 native Hawaiian artifacts that were reburied in a Big Island cave in 2001.

Kanahele's groups -- the Nation of Hawaii and Pu'uhonua I Waimanalo -- joined with the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council in asking that U.S. District Judge David Ezra include them as federally recognized claimants to the artifacts in negotiations to decide their disposition.
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In court papers, the three groups argued that they are recognized claimants to the artifacts and have rights "on equal footing" with claimants involved in the lawsuit and therefore should not be excluded from the ongoing court-ordered mediation process.