HONOLULU -- Arguments over who owns native Hawaiian artifacts are being heard by a federal review committee at a hearing that began Sunday at the East-West Center.

One of more highly debated cases the Native American Graves Protection Committee is reviewing during the three-day session is the "Forbes Cave" case.

The Bishop Museum said it loaned priceless native objects from the cave to a native Hawaiian group called "Hui Malama".

The Museum said the items were never returned.

Hui Malama said it reburied the objects.

"The objects were not carved for present generations. There were carved for people 200 to 300 years ago and it was their moe pu to follow them into eternity," said Hui Malama spokesman Charles Maxwell.

Officials from the Bishop Museum argued that the native objects were only loaned to Hui Malama and should be returned.

"'I feel very strongly that we as Hawaiians need to know more about our cultural past. Therefore, they should be somewhere where they are available for the Hawaiian community to see and to learn from," said Dr. Charman Akina, a Bishop Museum spokesman.

The Native American Graves Protection Committee only has advisory power.

Ultimately, many of the cases will likely end up in court if the claimants cannot reach agreement on ownership.