NHLC Assists Lawaiʻa ‘Ohana to Obtain Special Use Permit for Traditional Cultural Fishing in Honua‘ula, Maui
In 2024, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (“NHLC”) represented Mogul Luʻuwai and the Lu‘uwai ‘Ohana in the process of obtaining a Special Use Permit for the practice of their traditional cultural fishing in Honuaʻula, Maui. Mogul and the Luʻuwai ‘Ohana come from a long line of traditional Hawaiian lawaiʻa and are one of the few Hawaiian fishing families that has continued to reside in the Mākena area since at least the mid-1800s. Over generations, the ʻOhana has acquired specialized, place-based knowledge and skills specific to Mākena and its unique environment. These multigenerational practices were interrupted with the establishment of the ...
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. ...
NHLC Helps Families in Affordable Housing Program Resolve Dispute With Large Landowner Neighbors Who Built Barbed Wire Fence Through Their Backyards GalleryNHLC Helps Families in Affordable Housing Program Resolve Dispute With Large Landowner Neighbors Who Built Barbed Wire Fence Through Their Backyards
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 ...
What are the permit requirements for restoring and operating a loko iʻa?
By Sharla Manley, NHLC Of Counsel Attorney Loko iʻa (fishponds) are integral to watershed management, environmental remediation, and food sovereignty. Restoring them is a critically important matter across the pae ʻāina. For decades, loko iʻa advocates have fought for reasonable permitting processes for restoration. Sadly, these processes have historically been difficult, resource intensive, and lengthy with requirements at the county, state, and federal level. Meaningful reforms in the last 20 years foster hope, but the permit process continues to be complicated depending on numerous factors that differ from site to site. In 1995, the state enacted Act 177 that created ...
Following 9-Day Contested Case Hearing Challenging Development, Kauaʻi County Planning Commission Hearing Officer Recommends Protection of Nihokū
In January 2022, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (“NHLC”) began work as counsel for Hoku Cody, Jessica Kaui Fu and Mehana Vaughan as representative members of Nā Kiaʻi o Nihokū – a group of cultural practitioners revitalizing traditional and cultural practices at the wahi pana known as Nihokū, located on Kauaʻiʻs North Shore in Kīlauea. Since 2015, Nā Kiaʻi o Nihokū members have engaged in a variety of Native Hawaiian practices, including mele, oli, hula, awa, kilo, and Makahiki ceremony at Nihokū, also known as Crater Hill. At the base of Nihokū sits the Seacliff Plantation subdivision, a gated community ...
What is a Ka Paʻakai analysis?
By Ashley K. Obrey, Senior Staff Attorney The “Ka Paʻakai” analysis is a legal framework that government agencies must follow when considering proposals that may impact the exercise of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights. Developed by the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court in Ka Paʻakai O Ka ʻĀina v. Land Use Comm’n, the three-part inquiry operationalizes constitutional protections for Native Hawaiian rights by requiring that state and county agencies conduct detailed investigations and make specific findings as to: The identity and scope of valued cultural historical, or natural resources in the…area, including the extent to which traditional customary native Hawaiian rights are ...
HI Supreme Court Concludes that State DOT, DHHL, and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Breached Trust Duties on Mauna Kea when DOT Seized Control of Access Road GalleryHI Supreme Court Concludes that State DOT, DHHL, and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Breached Trust Duties on Mauna Kea when DOT Seized Control of Access Road
HI Supreme Court Concludes that State DOT, DHHL, and the Hawaiian Homes Commission Breached Trust Duties on Mauna Kea when DOT Seized Control of Access Road
DOT did not have the authority to unilaterally designate the [Mauna Kea Access Road] as a state highway. And although the record is unclear as to DHHL’s actions in 2018, it certainly should not have relinquished “control and jurisdiction” without consulting with the beneficiaries as required by 43 C.F.R. § 47. Such acquiescence deprived Native Hawaiian beneficiaries of income from and use of the land — an abandonment of mālama ‘āina, or care for the land. [Opinion at 41-42 (emphasis added)] On May 30, 2024, the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in favor of native Hawaiian beneficiaries ...
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 ...
1st Meeting of Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) Since Maui Wildfires
On September 19, 2023, the Commission on Water Resource Management (CWRM) held its first meeting following Maui’s wildfires, the governor’s temporary suspension of the water code, and the controversial “redeployment” of CWRM’s Deputy Director Kaleo Manuel following an August 8, 2023 request by West Maui Land Co. to divert water from streams to fill the company’s reservoirs to fight the wildfires, which he did not immediately grant. NHLC submitted testimony and attended the meeting. The meeting drew a large contingent of Maui residents in-person and online who passionately shared their concerns over the course of more than 10 hours. ...
Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Oral Argument on Mauna Kea
Today is the first day of Native American Heritage Month, and NHLC was at the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court arguing that the government’s constitutional duty to protect Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices applies in the promulgation of administrative rules, an issue that’s been raised in one of our cases related to Mauna Kea. In Hawaiʻi the State "shall" protect Hawaiian traditional and customary practices. NHLC stands with the lāhui and cultural practitioners to defend this fundamental right. Watch the Supreme Court Oral Argument: https://youtu.be/K50LnT2kwFk Read the Star Advertiser (11/2/22) article here: Hawaiʻi’s high court hears arguments tied to Mauna Kea ...
