The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-02-10
THE CEMETERY QUESTION
EXHAUSTIVELY DISCUSSED
Old and New Burial Customs in Hawaii---Pres-
sent Great Need of Cemeteries for
Honolulu Considered.

Following IS the report Of the Gem
etery Committee. of the Civic Fedora
ton:
air. A. F. Grifhths, President, civic
! Federati
Sir: In addition 10 the preliminary
| report submitted to the Executive
| Committee of the Civic Federation in
| January last. the Subcommittee on
Education, Charities and Public
| Health herewith presents its final
statement on the general subject Of
[ cemeteries. This report is final only
| in the sense of presenting all infor-
nation which the committee has been
able up to the present time to obtain.
| Considerable has been added to the
preliminary report, but the. matter
herein presented is far from complete
and exhaustive While it . is likely
some further facts Of interest and i'm
portance might be obtained by ener-
getic personal inquiry, il is deemed
better to present the matter as it is,
thus closing long inquiry. Some Of
the facts learned have led the COM
mittee to modify TO some extent views
first presented For the purpose of
presenting the information in as con-
else a form as possible, the main facts
have been reduced TO tabulated form,
and the table presented herewith rs
practically the report. AS, however,
explanations and suggestions may be
of value, we have added the follow
ing statements.
ORIGIN OF CEMETERIES IN HA-
WATI.
In ancient times, bodies of the dead
wrapped in tapa and other material
were deposited in caves, sometimes in
places difficult of access. Remains CT
the chiefs particularly were taken to
localities which were hidden from the
people, and generally the possessors
of the secret died without making
known the last resting place. of the
chief. The poorer natives, while some
times using nearby caves or shelves
in the rocks as places. to deposit their
dead, more often dug a little pit, into
which the body was thrown and COW
cred, sometimes even under the floors
of their own homes, but generally in
the ground in the immediate neigh
borhood. This accounts for the fact
that frequently. in digging the ground
almost anywhere in the country, an
cient human homes are occasionally
With the introduction of Christian
civilization the custom of interments
in the immediate vicinity of the houses
was gradually discontinued, and GEM
eteries for the burial Of the dead We're
esta blished. These. however. were
chiefly for those associated with the
churches, and thus we find in connec-
ton with nearly every one of the lit
tie Hawaiian churches scattered over
the country a cemetery in which re-
pose the remains of nearly all of those
who from early times were members
Of these churches. But the custom of
the remains Of land holders
on their own land still continues,
though in decreasing ratio, TO the
present time. Oftentimes in the sale
of a kuleana at the present day, the
native survivors of the ancient hold
ars insert a clause reserving the graves
Of the original owners and ancestors. .
1t may, however. be said that gener-
ally the remains of the dead are now
taken to the cemeteries.