Foreclosure Halts Permitting Process for Controversial Punaluʻu Resort Development Community
HILO, Hawai‘i- The future of Punaluʻu, one of the most biologically rich and culturally revered places in Kaʻū, is now uncertain, but a proposed resort development that threatened its integrity may be off the table for good. A Hawai‘i circuit court has approved an order of foreclosure against developer Black Sand Beach, LLC, after the company defaulted on a $3.4 million mortgage. The 147-acre property is now headed for public auction, pausing plans for a sprawling luxury development that faced sustained public opposition. The developer’s proposed “Punaluʻu Village” project included 225 residential and vacation rental units, a commercial center and golf ...
BLNR Rejects U.S. Army’s FEIS Required to Renew Lease for Continued Bombing of Pōhakuloa
On Friday, May 9th, in a powerful defense of Hawai‘i’s environment, cultural heritage, Hawaiian rights and public lands, the state’s Board of Land and Natural Resources voted to reject the U.S. Army’s final environmental impact statement for its proposed “retention” of up to 22,750 acres of state-owned land it currently leases at Pōhakuloa Training Area on Hawai‘i Island. The area is a U.S. military training base located in the high plateau between Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea and Hualālai. It spans more than 132,000 acres, making it the largest U.S. Department of Defense installation in the islands. The board’s rejection effectively ...
Nā Kānāwai Kumu o Hawaiʻi, The Foundational Laws of Hawaiʻi
ʻŌlelo: Ma 9 April 1894, ma ʻō aku o hoʻokahi makahiki ma hope o ka hoʻokahuli hewa ʻia o ke Aupuni Mōʻī o Hawaiʻi nei, ua hoʻopuka ʻia he ʻatikala ma lalo o ke poʻo manaʻo; Na Huaolelo Kumu o Hawaii Nei, E Hiki Ole Ai Ke Hoololi Ia, ma ka nūpepa ʻo Ka Leo o ka Lahui. Ma ia ʻatikala i haʻi kūʻauhau ai ka mea kākau i nā kānāwai kumu koʻikoʻi o ke au i hala a hiki i kona wā. ʻO ka mua, wehewehe ʻo ia i ka hana no laila mai ka Māmalahoe Kānāwai; ʻo ia ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
Is Ka Paʻakai the only legal analysis that considers impacts to Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights?
By Terina Faʻagau, NHLC Staff Attorney In June we wrote about the Ka Paʻakai decision from the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court that resulted in criteria for an analysis that state agencies must complete before making a decision that may impact the exercise of Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices. However, Ka Paʻakai is not the only legal framework or analysis that requires the consideration of a proposed action’s impacts to Native Hawaiian traditional and customary rights. Proposals that trigger Hawaiʻi’s environmental review process require the assessment of cultural impacts in determining whether an action will have a significant effect on the ...
What is the midwives case about that protects cultural practitioners?
By Kirsha K.M. Durante, NHLC Litigation Director Earlier this year, NHLC, together with a national nonprofit called the Center for Reproductive Rights and a law firm called Perkins Coie, filed a lawsuit challenging the Midwife Licensure Act under Hawaiʻi Revised Statues (“HRS”) §457J. NHLC participated to protect Hawaiian birthing practices, including pale keiki, hoʻohānau, and hānau that were being impacted by serious restrictions in the law preventing practitioners from practicing and families from receiving traditional care. As part of the case, our team filed a Motion for Preliminary Injunction which requested, in part, that the court block the State of ...
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 ...
