Long-simmering differences between Native Hawaiians and the military over access to Makua Valley have flared anew, with the Army notifying two prominent groups that they will no longer be allowed access to four sacred sites they've visited in the past.

Malama Makua and Hui Malama say the Army's notice, contained in a June 12 letter, may violate a 2001 court order guaranteeing cultural access to many sites in the valley, including the four sites they can no longer enter.

"The 2001 court decree said that Malama Makua and other groups must be allowed a minimum of two daytime accesses per month and one overnight visit a year for cultural activities at the sites," said William Aila, a member of Hui Malama, a Native Hawaiian faction that has conducted cultural practices at the sites along with Malama Makua. "Now, these activities have been severely restricted."

Denying access to sacred sites denies Native Hawaiians the ability to honor their ancestral spirits within those locations, Aila said. He said the Native Hawaiian groups will continue to seek access to the restricted areas. If their requests continue to be denied, they'll let a judge make the decision.

The Army allows the Hawaiian groups access to other areas near the front of the valley.

But since 2005, Malama Makua and Hui Malama have been banned from the four sites within the valley's south firebreak road. The groups had hoped to be allowed back into those sites this year. Around two dozen cultural practitioners with Malama Makua hoped to visit the four sites yesterday morning during a scheduled visit to the valley. While they were allowed into the valley, their request to enter the four sites was denied.

The Army cited safety concerns for its 2005 ban. After two years of ordnance removal, Hawaiian groups expected they would soon be allowed back to the sites. Instead, they received the June 12 letter, saying they will no longer have physical access.

It stipulates that only visual access to the firebreak road sites will be allowed from trails and overlooks. Cultural practitioners and other members of the public will no longer be allowed to physically touch or enter the areas in order to preserve and protect those locations, the letter said.

The letter, signed by Steven M. Raymond, director of public works at Schofield Barracks, cited two reasons: Unnamed "lineal descendants" object to the visitations and contend that access to the areas "by malihini (newcomers), and non-family members" will harm and desecrate sacred family sites.

Also, it said past studies by the National Park Service on archaeological locations had found that "unlimited and/or unrestricted access physically damages cultural sites."

'DELAY TACTICS'

On Friday, the Army issued a statement in response to objections raised by Malama Makua and Hui Malama, saying it "is providing access consistent with the 2001 Settlement Agreement, federal laws and safety concerns. Safety is and will continue to be one of the Army's foremost concerns. Makua Military Reservation is a live-fire training range, and as such, safety hazards like unexploded ordnance are present."

Fred Dodge, a board member of Malama Makua, said the letter is just the latest attempt by the Army to deny, limit and restrict access to Makua Valley, which the military uses for training purposes and which many Native Hawaiians believe holds great religious, ancestral and cultural significance.

"The Army has been doing delay tactics all over the place," Dodge said. "It's been one excuse after the other."

The Makua Valley access debate dates to World War II "when the Army took over the valley in early 1943 and kicked out the residents," Dodge said. "And there was an agreement that six months after the war was over, the valley would be returned in a condition satisfactory to the state.

"And when that didn't happen, the territory sued and it was in and out of the courts until statehood. It was a condition of statehood that the issue be resolved."

In 1964, for the sum of $1, America's youngest state leased the lower third of Makua Valley to the Army for 65 years, Dodge said.

DISAGREE WITH FINDINGS

David Henkin, an attorney with Earthjustice, a leading ecological law firm that represents Malama Makua, said for more than three years after the court settlement — between 2001 and 2005 — Malama Makua, Hui Malama and other cultural practitioners visited south firebreak road sites with no apparent harm to either people or archeological features. Then the Army abruptly halted access to those locations, citing safety concerns.

According to Henkin, the Pentagon insisted that areas being accessed must first be cleared of all ordnance to at least a foot below the ground surface. That clearing process lasted through the end of 2006, after which the areas were safe to visit, he said.

"And now the Army is erecting this fictitious argument about possible damage to the sites, and they're also claiming that these so-called 'lineal descendants' have some sort of primacy to the area," Henkin said.

Henkin's July 11 response to the Army said: "We strongly disagree with both of these findings."

Since none of the cultural practitioners ever sought or was given "unlimited and unrestricted access" to any valley sites, and because visitations have all been closely monitored and controlled by the military, that argument has no bearing, the response said.

"Malama Makua objects to the Army's reference in its letter to certain consulting parties as 'lineal descendants' and its apparent deference to the wishes of these unnamed individuals," Henkin wrote.

"No one consulting party has a monopoly on 'lineal descendants.' "

However, the Army insists the June 12 decision is not a case of favoritism.

"The Army did not favor any Native Hawaiian group and/or individual in making the decision to provide access along designated pathways," the Friday statement said. "Instead, we based our decision on providing access in a reasonably safe manner that will protect both the public and the cultural features from physical harm while complying with applicable laws and regulations."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.