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Dawn Wasson stood in front of a large, green metal storage container Wednesday evening in Kahuku with tears running down her face. A Native Hawaiian skull has been sitting in the container, surrounded by construction trucks and equipment, for the past two months.

She and about 30 other local residents, many of them Native Hawaiian and descendants of the old sugar mill plantation workers, had come to protest the treatment of the iwi, as well as honor the deceased ancestor. They waved signs along Kamehameha Highway reading “Respect Our Iwi” and “Stop Desecrating our Kupuna.” Then they marched to the storage container, where they prayed and offered a traditional Hawaiian blessing.

“We are so happy that we could come this day to remember you,” Wasson told the ancestor. “To make sure that your bones are never desecrated again.”

The bones were removed to the container after state officials decided that is where they would be safest. Deborah Ward, spokeswoman for the Department of Land and Natural Resources, said the iwi had initially been covered up, but someone disturbed them so they were put in the storage container.

But residents are angry that a better protocol wasn’t followed.

And it appears that the embattled State Historic Preservation Division never reviewed the project to determine whether an archaeological inventory survey was necessary before the landowner, Florida-based Continental Pacific, started road, sewer and water work in January on a housing project.

Ward said the city never notified SHPD when it had issued permits that would have triggered a state review.

“Under a City law, if they require a permit (say for grading) for a project, that would trigger SHPD review,” she wrote by email.

The city planning department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brent Raymond, a worker for Johansen Contracting, which is conducting the work, said that the city had approved all required permits, including one for grading and grubbing.

“Once the permits get issued, we start work,” he said.

The Kahuku controversy is fueling more concerns over SHPD, which has been at the center of criticism over the way it operates. The agency, which is part of DLNR, is in danger of losing its federal funding and certification because of problems with staffing, management and a backlog of permits that require processing.

State Sen. Clayton Hee, who attended the rally and represents the district, says SHPD isn’t handling the situation well, especially in light of the recent Hawaii Supreme Court decision that sidetracked Honolulu’s $5.26 billion rail project. The high court said SHPD had violated its own rules when it allowed construction of the rail project to begin without finishing a full archaeological inventory survey.

“SHPD’s track record is so dismal that no one should be surprised that the situation is as it is today,” Hee said.

Now, members of the Kahuku Plantation Residents Association are calling for the construction work to stop.

And they want the skull taken out of storage and given a proper burial.

“We believe, number one, we want it reinterred, we want construction stopped until an archaeological survey is done,” said Margaret Primacio, vice president of the association.