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HONOLULU (AP) - With Hawaii undergoing a building boom, big corporations such as Wal-Mart and Whole Foods Market are running into an obstacle almost as formidable as the environmentalists and the protectors of the islands' laid-back charm: the dead.
Construction projects keep unearthing graves 100 years old or more, leading to legal battles, costly delays and redesigns, reburials, and hurt feelings among some Native Hawaiians, who say the dead should be allowed to rest in peace.
"What if they built a Wal-Mart at Arlington? How would people feel?" Native Hawaiian activist William Aila asked. "Those individuals were buried there with the thought that they would be undisturbed for the rest of the eternity."
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