A Native Hawaiian group formed to care for Hawaiian burials and funerary objects rightfully obtained 83 priceless lots of Hawaiian artifacts from Bishop Museum and has them in a sealed cave safe from harm, the organization said this week in a response to a lawsuit.

Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei and the museum were sued last week by two groups, including one headed by Abigail Kawananakoa. The suit asks for an injunction that would order Hui Malama to return the artifacts to the museum so that they can be given to their rightful claimants.

In the response submitted to the court Monday, Hui Malama said the two groups don't have the legal standing to ask for the court order and asked that the injunction be denied.

But the museum responded that it agrees with the suit and supports the request for the injunction.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra will hear the request Friday in what will be the latest development in the continuing dispute over who should get the artifacts known as the Forbes Caves collection. The artifacts include a female figure carved of wood and gourds decorated with human teeth.

Kawananakoa, a Campbell Estate heiress and a descendent of Hawaiian royalty, is the president of Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa, which filed the suit along with the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts. The two groups and Hui Malama are among 13 that have claims to the artifacts.

The suit alleges Hui Malama improperly obtained the artifacts from the museum in 2000 in violation of the federal Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which establishes a process for museums to return cultural items to groups, including Native Hawaiian organizations.

In its response filed by Native Hawaiian Legal Corp. lawyers, Hui Malama said the museum consulted Hui Malama and three other claimants — the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Hawaii Island Burial Council — before handing over the artifacts. Nine other groups later filed claims.

The claimants could not agree on a final disposition of the artifacts, but they "agreed to disagree" on that point, Hui Malama said.

Hui Malama said it has refused to return the items to the museum because the group has a claim on the objects and does not have a legal duty to return them.

The group said it is not necessary to give the items to the museum for a determination on which claimants should get the artifacts.

The artifacts were unlawfully taken from the Kawaihae caves on the Big Island in 1905 and purchased by the museum, Hui Malama said. The injunction would again "disturb" a Native Hawaiian burial site in violation of state laws, the group said.

"There is no harm with the items in a sealed cave and no threat of damage with the items lying in their natural state in the burial cave," Hui Malama said.

In its response, Bishop Museum said the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act set up procedures for the return of the artifacts, but a review committee in 2003 found that the process was "flawed and incomplete."

The museum said that in 2000 it "unwittingly" lent the items to Hui Malama "without the knowledge or concurrence" of all claimants.

Hui Malama later sealed the items in the cave, again without the knowledge of the other claimants, the museum said.

The museum disagreed that the rightful claimants could be determined without the return of the artifacts. Until they are returned, the museum cannot complete the consultation process required by federal law, the museum said.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.