A settlement reached yesterday in the long dispute over Forbes Cave artifacts requires Bishop Museum and the group Hui Malama I Na Kupuna o Hawai'i Nei to share the $330,000 cost of recovering the objects from a Kohala Coast cave.

The agreement appears to bring to a close a chapter involving the fate of the 83 cultural items, which are among the most cherished Hawaiian cultural objects known to exist and include a famous wooden female figure and several renowned stick 'aumakua.

However, what ultimately happens to the objects remains up in the air.

Repatriation proceedings involving 14 Hawaiian organizations that were halted six years ago are expected to restart with the conclusion of the case.

The settlement and release agreement, presented by the parties yesterday to U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang, also confirms for the first time that the items were retrieved by museum staff, with assistance from engineers and the state, from the Kawaihae Caves complex, also known as Forbes Cave, and taken back to the museum in September.

The agreement requires the museum to be responsible for $183,333.82 of the costs, and Hui Malama to pay $146,667.16.

It also raises questions about the future of Hui Malama, a group formed in 1989 with the mission of protecting burials and reburying iwi, bones and moepu (burial objects) that have been removed.

Moses Haia III, an attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which represents Hui Malama, said the settlement allows the organization to "continue to go forward and do the work that they were created to do, and that is to take care of the remains of our ancestors."

But Haia also said that Hui Malama "is currently unable to pay" the amount stipulated in the settlement. Asked how the group would meet its obligation, Haia said "that's something that we're working on."

Haia said he did not believe the cost of the settlement would be detrimental to Hui Malama's future. "Their work does not depend on whether or not they're going to be financially solvent," he said. "This is their duty, this is their obligation to their ancestors."

FROM FORBES CAVE

Abigail Kawananakoa, one of the plaintiffs in the case, was reflective in winning the case. "This is a turning point in saving the authentic history of the Hawaiian people," Kawananakoa, a Campbell Estate heiress, said in a statement. "We are just beginning."

Hui Malama had taken the items on loan from the museum in 2000 and placed them in the cave they are believed to have been taken from by three men known as the Forbes Expedition in 1905 and sold to the museum.

Hui Malama leaders said because the items were stolen by the expedition, the act of returning them to the cave constituted repatriation.

STILL MANY CONTENDERS

Two Hawaiian organizations — Na Lei Alii Kawananakoa and the Royal Hawaiian Academy of Traditional Arts — filed a lawsuit in August 2005 against Hui Malama and the museum, seeking the return of the objects.

At the time they were removed from the museum, the items were the subject of repatriation proceedings by 14 organizations that filed as claimants under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act to have a say in the fate of the items.

Some of those groups, including Na Lei and the Royal Hawaiian Academy, believe that at least some of the items were hidden away to be preserved for the benefit of future generations. But others, such as Hui Malama, believe the artifacts' rightful place is in the caves where they were found and that they should never have been disturbed.

COURT SPAT

When District Judge David Ezra last year called for the retrieval of the items from the cave pending the outcome of the case, Hui Malama officials refused, stating that not only would it be wrong to disturb the artifacts, but that doing so would be dangerous to those attempting entry.

Hui Malama leader Edward Halealaoha Ayau and three others were found in contempt of court.

Ayau spent three weeks in the Federal Detention Center until Ezra let him out on supervised release so he could participate in mediation hearings.

BOTH SIDES BENEFIT

The case, and Ayau's imprisonment, caused an uproar among Hui Malama supporters, many of whom demonstrated and held vigils in front of the courthouse and the detention center.

Ayau is technically still under a home confinement order. He is expected to be released from that constraint at a hearing before Ezra at 1:30 p.m. today.

George Van Buren, an attorney for Na Lei and the Royal Hawaiian Academy, said that while no party admitted to liability or wrongdoing, Hui Malama agreed to a judgment against it in favor of the Bishop Museum, which had filed a counterclaim against the organization.

Van Buren also said that Hui Malama will not be able to claim that the items have been repatriated, unless sued.

"We're gratified that all of the items have been returned and that the consultation process and the repatriation process can now be completed in a full, fair and inclusive manner," Van Buren said.

Donna Kalama, an attorney for the museum, said her client is pleased with the settlement, which also leaves the institution without any admission of guilt or wrongdoing.

"It means that the next step will be going forward with restarting the consultation and repatriation."

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.