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 ...
Court Rules in Favor of Native Hawaiian Midwives
Native Hawaiian midwives in Hawai‘i can resume caring for their communities Yesterday, a Hawai‘i state court temporarily blocked part of the Midwifery Restriction Law, which prevents pregnant people in Hawai‘i from using traditional midwives for their pregnancies and births, as they have for generations. The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, and the law firm Perkins Coie on behalf of nine plaintiffs, including six midwives and student midwives, as well as three women who wish to access care from traditional midwives. Since July 2023, when this law went into effect, many ...
Settlement Reached to Rebury 28 Iwi Kūpuna at The Park at Keʻeaumoku Project in Honolulu
The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) and its client, Edward Halealoha Ayau, have reached a settlement in their litigation with the State of Hawaiʻi, the City and County of Honolulu (County), and Keʻeaumoku Development LLC (KDL) regarding Native Hawaiian burials at the Park at Keʻeaumoku project (the Park Project). Pursuant to the settlement, a total of 28 iwi kupuna that have so far been discovered at the site will be reburied, on location, in accordance with and an accepted Burial Treatment Plan and traditional protocols by September 30, 2024. The Park Project is a two-tower, mixed-use condo development that ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
ICA Rules KUA & NHLC Can Continue Fight for Limu
Decision Honors Uncle Henry Chang’s Last Wishes To Protect Marine Resources in ‘Ewa In 2012, Uncle Henry Chang Wo, a recognized loea limu (limu expert), and the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) began a long—and still pending—legal battle against permitting to increase stormwater runoff from the Kaloʻi Gulch onto an ‘Ewa shoreline. Permit proponents, including the City and County of Honolulu, the Department of Hawaiian Homelands, and the University of Hawaii, want the permit, so that polluted storm water can be discharged from urban development. Uncle Henry argued that the Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) needed to more ...
How do courts decide what words in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i mean?
Interpreting the meaning of language is central to the work of all courts in all parts of the world. Whether it be words used by governments in laws, orders, and rules; words used by parties when making agreements, or words used to show the mental state and intent of someone accused of a crime, determining what words mean – and how that impacts a legal outcome – is a core function of judges. Here in Hawaiʻi, the usage, meaning, and interpretation of ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi has affected the outcome of cases and guided our law. Generally, there are a few methods ...
