admin

67 items

After Injunction Against 2023 Midwifery Bill, NHLC Testifies on Possible Replacements

In the 2025 Hawaiʻi State legislative session, lawmakers introduced two bills in the House as potential replacements for the 2019 Midwifery Law (HRS §457J): HB 1194 and HB1328, both relating to midwives.   Last year, a hui of legal organizations, including Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (“NHLC”), represented maternal caregivers and Native Hawaiian traditional birthing practitioners in challenging the 2019 law in Kahoʻohanohano v. State of Hawaiʻi. The complaint alleged, among other things, that the law unconstitutionally regulated traditional and customary Native Hawaiian birthing practices. The legal team successfully obtained a preliminary injunction from the Courts, barring the State from enforcing ...

February 10, 2025|Categories: Traditional Practices|

Hānai ma ke Kānāwai, Hānai and the law

Na Devin Kamealoha Forrest, NHLC Staff Attorney and Title & Research Specialist E like hoʻi me kā A. Keohokalole i wehewehe ai ma ka hihia ʻo In re Nakuapā (1872) penei; “He wā waiwai ʻole o nā ʻliʻi, a me nā makaʻāinana, ka wā kahiko. ʻO ke Aliʻi Mōʻī ʻAimoku wale nō, nona wale nō nā ʻāina a pau loa, a me nā waiwai lewa a pau, he mālama wale nō kā nā ʻliʻi ʻē aʻe ma lalo iho ona, a me kekahi poʻe makaʻāinana kākaʻikahi i lawe ʻaikāne ʻia e ka Mōʻī a me nā ʻliʻi ʻai ʻāina, a ...

February 4, 2025|Categories: Ask NHLC, Traditional Practices|Tags: |

Standing ʻOnipaʻa for Justice with Aloha

January 17, 2025 is the 132nd anniversary of the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi government, an egregious injustice that the nation of Kānaka, the lāhui, continues to endure with steadfast love for culture, community, and place. Achieving justice and restoring pono in Hawaiʻi is a multi-generational and intergenerational journey, requiring us to sustain our study and practice of ʻike Hawaiʻi. I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope—the future is found in the past. During this time, we reflect on the strategies employed by the treasonous perpetrators of the coup d’état against the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi and our ...

January 18, 2025|Categories: NHLC News|Tags: |

What is the kuleana of the Island Burial Councils to protect iwi kūpuna?

By Terina Fa‘agau, NHLC Staff Attorney To promote the “sensitive treatment of Hawaiian burial sites through cooperative and shared decision making with representatives of the Hawaiian community,” the Hawaiʻi State Legislature established the Island Burial Councils, under the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR), to administer Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes (HRS) § 6E. There are five Island Burial Councils: Hawaiʻi Island; Maui/Lānaʻi; Molokaʻi; Oʻahu; and Kauaʻi/Niʻihau. The governor appoints council members selected from lists recommended by the State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA). The Molokaʻi Council has five members, while all the others have ...

December 18, 2024|Categories: Ask NHLC, Burial Protection|Tags: |

Kauaʻi County Planning Commission Finds in Favor of Kilauea Cultural Practitioners to Protect Nihokū

The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (“NHLC”) recently represented client Nā Kiaʻi o Nihokū before the Kaua‘i County Planning Commission (the “Commission”) at its November 12, 2024 meeting. Nā Kiaʻi o Nihokū includes Jessica Kauʻi Fu, Mehana Vaughan, Hoku Cody, who were named intervenors in the case, as well as Kapua Chandler, Billy Kinney, and other cultural practitioners from Kīlauea.  NHLC began work as counsel for Nā Kiaʻi o Nihokū after owners of a lot in the Seacliff Plantation Subdivision, which sits at the base of Nihokū, applied for permits to develop a 30,000 square foot compound on their property. ...

December 2, 2024|Categories: Access Rights, Traditional Practices|Tags: , |

What is a DHHL RWOTP lease? Is that a homestead lease?

By Henderson Huihui, NHLC Staff Attorney In 2021, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) began offering Hawaiʻi Island waitlisters and those with an Undivided Interest homestead lease a rent-with-option-to-purchase rental (“RWOTP”) agreement. After 15 years of renting a unit, the waitlister can purchase the unit and receive a 99-year homestead lease. DHHL has plans to expand RWOTP offerings to other areas and islands. For some waitlisters, the RWOTP program may be their best pathway to a homestead award, as they may have had to turn down previous homestead lease offers for a turnkey house because they could not obtain ...

November 15, 2024|Categories: Ask NHLC, Hawaiian Home Lands|Tags: |

NHLC Helps Families in Affordable Housing Program Resolve Dispute With Large Landowner Neighbors Who Built Barbed Wire Fence Through Their Backyards

In April 2024, six families in Pepe‘ekeo on Hawai‘i-island were startled by a notice they received from a large lot landowner nearby. The large landowner declared they would be building a barbed wire fence through their properties, starting in two weeks. The families sent the landowner protests and objections, saying they did not agree to the fence. Nevertheless, crews entered their properties and built the fence, cutting them off from a 25-foot-wide stretch of land across their backyards.   From 2019-2021, these families participated in a self-help housing program that provided affordable home ownership. In the program, families provided their own ...

November 2, 2024|Categories: Access Rights|Tags: |

NHLC Honored to Receive Carved Waʻa by Sam & Marena Kahanamoku ʻOhana

  Aunty Marena Kahanamoku and her husband, Uncle Sam Kahanamoku, lived on Uncle Sam ’s homestead in Puʻukapu, Waimea for 18 years. When Uncle Sam died, Aunty Marena needed legal help because DHHL would not process her successorship. She retained NHLC for pro bono assistance. In July 2024, six years after his death, Uncle Sam’s wishes for his homestead were honored and Aunty Marena took over the lease. Her successorship was granted. Aunty Marena presented NHLC with a special waʻa carved by her late husband Uncle Sam Kahanamoku. The waʻa reads, "Huli Koho La (The Belly of The ...

November 1, 2024|Categories: Hawaiian Home Lands|

NHLC Welcomes Jamee Miller, Keʻalohi M. Reppun, and Keolamaikalani Dean to its Board of Directors

The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation is happy to announce the introduction of Jamee Miller, Keʻalohi M. Reppun, and Keolamaikalani Dean to its Board of Directors. As long standing servant leaders to the Native Hawaiian community and people of Hawai’i, they will bring invaluable talents, skills, and perspective to the board that help NHLC to achieve its mission. Jamee Māhealani Miller Jamee Māhealani Miller, EdD, LSW, is the co-founder and co-Executive Director of ʻEkolu Mea Nui, a nonprofit transforming Hawaiʻi's criminal justice system through Native Hawaiian values. She leads initiatives to end intergenerational incarceration and supports workforce development for justice-involved ...

October 28, 2024|Categories: NHLC Board and Staff|

NHLC Mourns the Passing of Puanani Burgess

NHLC mourns the recent passing of Aunty Pua Burgess, a beloved kūpuna, leader, and friend to many including NHLC. Aunty Pua served on our board from July 8, 2010, and as board president from October 2014 to September 18, 2015. Her commitment to justice, Hawaiian culture, and the lāhui was an inspiration to us all. We were honored to recognize her service at our 41st Anniversary Fundraiser in 2015 and again at the CNHA Convention in 2016, where she received the Native Hawaiian Advocate Award. Aunty Pua’s legacy of leadership and advocacy will never be forgotten. Our thoughts are ...

October 12, 2024|Categories: In Memoriam|
Go to Top