NHLC Files Suit to Protect Native Hawaiian Burial Sites in Lahaina
The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC) has filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of the Second Circuit on behalf of ʻOhana Kimokeo, a Native Hawaiian family from Maui, to protect sacred ancestral burial sites in the Lahaina area from desecration and to hold the State of Hawaiʻi and an individual landowner accountable for violations of Hawaiʻi’s historic preservation laws. The Practice of Mālama Iwi Kūpuna For generations, ʻOhana Kimokeo has engaged in the traditional and customary practice of mālama iwi kūpuna — the caring for and protection of ancestral remains. This obligation is central to Native Hawaiian culture and ...
How does putting land in a trust protect it for future generations?
By Devon Haia, Esq. Equal Justice Works Disaster Resilience Fellow and Staff Attorney Whether property was recently purchased, or passed down through generations, ʻohana can use a family land trust as a legal shield to protect and preserve their land for future generations. A trust is a legal tool used to hold title to assets. Every trust has a creator, at least one trustee, and at least one beneficiary. When an asset, such as land, is placed in a trust, title to the land splits: the trustees hold legal title and the beneficiaries hold equitable title. Legal title means the ...
