I lost my home in the August wildfires, and I haven’t been able to pay the mortgage since then. Could I lose my property to foreclosure?
By Sharla Manley, Of Counsel Attorney, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) started as an anti-eviction law firm aimed at addressing the crisis of Native Hawaiians increasingly being evicted from rural areas to make way for residential and industrial developments. Originally named the “Hawaiian Coalition of Native Claims,” the organization fought against a then-new wave of dispossession from the land to make way for a boom in urban development. The disaster resulting from the August 2023 wildfires threatens to dispossess Native Hawaiians again in a place that was once the capital of the Hawaiian nation. This spring ...
Proposed Project Threatens Culturally, Ecologically Important Black Sands Beach
The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation and the Center for Biological Diversity will appear before the Windward Planning Commission on Monday to urge commissioners to protect the natural resources, cultural practices and pristine landscape of the wahi pana of Punaluʻu, Kaʻū, from a 147-acre development. The proposed Punaluʻu Village project would include 225 residential and vacation rental units, a retail and wellness center, and the rehabilitation of an existing golf course and tennis facilities. The resort would replace the now defunct Sea Mountain at Punaluʻu. “Punaluʻu must be protected and we’ll fight this development tooth and nail,” said Maxx Phillips, Hawaiʻi ...
On World IP Day, Celebrate Native Hawaiian & Other Indigenous Peoples’ IP Rights
By Makalika Naholowa’a, Executive Director April 26th marks World Intellectual Property Day. Intellectual property (“IP”) law creates intangible assets from inventions, creative expressions, trade identifiers like brand names and logos, and trade secrets. IP rules in the United States (“US”) have pre-colonial roots going back centuries in the British Isles and Europe. As colonists from those societies established the US, they contemplated the recognition of intellectual property at the outset with specific reference in Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the Constitution, referred to by various names including the Intellectual Property Clause. IP has evolved into a complex legal ...
What is Huamakahikina?
Every spring, the week-long Merrie Monarch Festival celebrates King David Kalākaua and his legacy of reinstating the public practice of hula after it had been outlawed in the 1830s. In honor of this year’s 61st Merrie Monarch Festival, we are using this month’s column to provide general information about the Huamakahikina Declaration on the Integrity, Stewardship, & Protection of Hula. What is Huamakahikina? Huamakahikina is a coalition of Kumu Hula from Hawaiʻi, the continental United States, and various countries around the world and recognizes that Kumu Hula have a unique kuleana to the integrity, stewardship, and protection of hula. All ...
How can a deceased owner sign a RoE to participate in the free Maui Wildfire Debris Removal program?
My ʻohana’s home burned down in the Lahaina wildfire. The property is owned by me and my deceased sibling. I want to sign up for the free Maui Wildfire Debris Removal program, but the county needs all owners to sign the Right-of-Entry Permit. What do I do? Do I have to participate in the debris removal program? By Liʻulā Christensen, NHLC Senior Staff Attorney The government debris removal program provides owners of homes lost in the Maui wildfires with debris removal paid for by FEMA and any insurance earmarked for debris removal. If there is no insurance, then the program ...
Hawai‘i Law Restricting Midwives Challenged in Court
Native Hawaiian midwives and others sue state to block law that prevents them from serving communities in traditional ways. Today, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation filed a case in the First Circuit Court of Hawai‘i challenging a new Midwifery Restriction Law that is preventing pregnant people in Hawai‘i from using skilled midwives for their pregnancies and births, as they have for generations. The Midwifery Restriction Law also endangers constitutionally protected Native Hawaiian traditional birthing practices. The nine plaintiffs include 3 midwives and 3 midwifery students who, under the Restriction Law, could now face criminalization for ...
The legacy of Clarabal v. the Department of Education
Six years ago this month, the first Hawaiian language rights case was heard by the Hawai‘i Supreme Court, Clarabal v. Department of Education. The oral argument was conducted in early February 2018, a month in which ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i is honored and celebrated. At the heart of the case were two schoolchildren on Lāna‘i who were prohibited from communicating in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in the classroom. The Hawai‘i Supreme Court was asked by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) to decide that the State had a constitutional duty to provide reasonable and equal access to a Hawaiian language medium education to these ...
I Ola Loa ka ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi: Ma ka pūkaʻina Ka Wai Ola i hoʻopuka ʻia ma Iune 2019, hōʻike ʻia e ke Keʻena Equality and Access to the Courts o ka Māhele Hoʻokolokolo o ka Mokuʻāina ʻo Hawaiʻi, ke kākaʻikahi o nā māhele ʻōlelo ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi ma nā ʻAha Kaʻapuni a pau o ka pae ʻāina. ʻŌlelo ʻia, he ʻeono wale nō māhele ʻōlelo i kū i ka hana māhele ʻōlelo ma nā ʻaha hoʻokolokolo; ʻekolu ma Hawaiʻi mokupuni, ʻelua ma Kauaʻi, hoʻokahi wale nō ma Maui, a ʻaʻohe mea ma Oʻahu. I kēia makahiki hoʻi, ua wehe ʻia ka papa māhele ʻōlelo ʻōlelo ...
NHLC Asks HI Supreme Court to Hold State Accountable to Trust Duties After Seizure of Hawaiian Home Lands Underlying Mauna Kea Access Road
By Senior Staff Attorney Ashley K. Obrey On December 14, 2023, the Hawai‘i Supreme Court held oral argument in Kanahele, et. al. v. State, et. al., SCAP-22-0000268, a breach of trust case against the state Department of Transportation (“DOT”) as well as the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Hawaiian Homes Commission (hereinafter, collectively, “DHHL”) to ensure proper management of Hawaiian Home Lands trust lands underlying the Mauna Kea Access Road (“MKAR”). Prior to 2018, the 65 acres underlying the MKAR were recognized as a part of the Hawaiian Home Lands trust. The trust was created by the ...
Can the Department of Hawaiian Homelands cancel my lease?
I missed some mortgage payments for my DHHL homestead and got a letter saying my lease might be canceled. Can DHHL cancel my lease? Is there anything I can do to prevent losing my homestead? By Henderson Huihui, NHLC Staff Attorney If you miss mortgage payments, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (“DHHL”) can seek to cancel your lease. To save the lease, you will need to make those payments or work out a plan with your bank and DHHL to get the account into good standing. If you have experienced hardship preventing you from making the payments, contact your bank ...
