History of Hawaii Land Claims

 

Written by: Jendayi Day


https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/post/what-if-great-m-hele-wasnt-foreign-imposition#stream/0 


        When considering the ownership of Hawaiian lands, most people would assume the majority of the province is owned by Pacific Islanders. However, people are now coming to realize that such an optimistic outlook is not the case in real life. Native Hawaiian people have been struggling with land disputes for an extremely long time and though progress is being made, the issues remain largely unchanged. 

 

         Native Hawaiians inhabited these islands decades before non-natives, who came mostly to create and profit off of plantations and convert the locals to Christianity. However, Hawaiian leadership began to slowly lose power in the face of colonization. Along with many major losses came land restrictions that favored non-hawaiians above all. This made clear in the Newlands Resolution which handed Hawaiian territories over to the United States. White people within this territory now had authority over the indigenous population. Acts like the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act limited Native ownership through bloodline while also restricting said ownership further by giving them 3rd and 4th tear lands. 

 

        Later on further actions would be taken to limit Hawaiians. The Hawai’i Admission Act of 1959 was supposed to allocate money toward operations such as public improvements, and farm/home development. However, all of this money instead went solely toward public education. Part of the reason for this might be the strong military presence on the island and demand for better schooling as a result. But it is a popular belief that this was also an effort to prevent the rise of land ownership among  Native Hawaiians. 



https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/five-things-know-about-liliuokalani-last-q ueen-hawaii-180967155/ 
 

        There were efforts to restore ownership to Hawaiian people, most notably the opposition made by the first and last Queen of Hawaii. Queen Liliuokalani argued that the Crown Lands were her private property and attempted to sue the U.S. government. The attempt was not successful, in fact, it was entirely ignored under the understanding that she forfeited her rule and thus her ownership. Pointedly ignoring how she was forced to sign over her position or the significance of land to Native Hawaiians. 

        Since then plots of land have been allocated to Native Hawaiians for different reasons, though the ability to govern themselves and their own lands has been severely restricted.  It is a fight that Hawaiians are continuing to this day. The Apology Act, admitting that overthrowing the Hawaiian empire was illegal, is formally recognized yet no U.S. government action has been taken as a result of this admission. Though the Supreme Court has decided that until these Native Hawaiian claims are addressed,certain annexed lands which are referred to as Ceded Lands, will not be allocated elsewhere. These Ceded Lands consist of spaces within Honolulu, Kahului, Hilo, Keahole. Income and proceeds from these areas are placed into a public land trust that works toward the betterment of Native Hawaiians. 

 

        These land disputes are not the only issues that plague the Islands of Hawai’i. Problems within education are also worth noting. Because of Hawaii’s annexation, cultural practices and norms were restricted and some lost overtime. This may be leading to non-natives misunderstanding the importance of land to the native populations there. This is a subject the U.S. government in general has been terrible at addressing or even acknowledging. The concept of sacred lands and landmarks is an aspect of European cultures, though not one they respected when venturing into new lands in the name of “Manifest Destiny.” Hawaiians also have the unique positioning in the U.S. of not being the minority of their ancestral land, and yet having less protections in relation to mainland Natives. Giving Native Hawaiians ownership and the ability to govern their lands can change the future of Hawaii for the better. 





        Those efforts are difficult to achieve, as many peoples from the mainland look to settle in Hawaii and often use ‘bottom of the beryl’ tactics to take lands already owned or lands already protected. Mark Zuckerburg is a popular example, as his attempt to sue land owners in 2017 went viral, leading to him dropping the suit to “Find a better approach”. Rather than developing open land sitting on the island already, Zuckerburg intended to force Native Hawaiians off of their lands through legal action he knew the majority of them could probably not keep up with. His plan was to take 700 acres of land for his family. He also claims that it was not his intention to kick people off their land and that he and his wife plan to assist the Island in various ways. But there's reason to distrust his claims, as the Hawaiian people in general have heard claims such as these plenty of times I’m sure. Claims that, in the end, leave the local people fruitless and further away from secure land ownership. 

        There is also the issue of the Ceded Lands, as many families have not received their portions of land or their payouts. Some of the original citizens who waited for this form of reparations are still waiting today and are even teaching their children to keep up the fight. Despite the years of colonization and U.S. rule, there is still hope and native Hawaiians hold on to it.  





Sources:


“Aloha Aina: Native Hawaiian Land Restitution.” Harvardlawreview.org. Harvard Law Review, 

April 3, 2020. 

https://harvardlawreview.org/2020/04/aloha-aina-native-hawaiian-land-restitution/. 


Hawaii Aviation. “Ceded Lands.” State of Hawaii, 2021. 

http://aviation.hawaii.gov/airfields-airports/ceded-lands/. 

 

Murdock, Jason. “Petition for Zuckerberg to Stop ‘Colonizing’ Hawaii Island Doubles in a Day.” 

Newsweek. Newsweek, July 3, 2020. 

https://www.newsweek.com/facebook-mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-island-kauai-change-petit ion-signatures-land-deal-1515228. 



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