COMMENTARY
The gifts of the ali'i to their people should be honored
By Kali Watson
The Hawaiian Home Lands program was created by federal law, not by a royal will. Technically, it is not an ali'i trust. But it is the legacy of an ali'i nonetheless. Enacted in 1920 through the persistent efforts of Hawai'i's lone delegate to Congress, Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole, it was Kuhio's attempt to save his people — by reuniting them with the 'aina, by re-establishing the spiritual bond that had defined his people for generations.
Kuhio was motivated by the same concern for the well-being of his people that had prompted the bequests of King Lunalilo, Queen Lili'uokalani and Princess Pauahi. His people were suffering. They had lost their land under the mahele of 1848, which introduced the concept of fee-simple ownership and, with it, the loss of their land, their roots and their sense of self.
As his people were forced from the rural areas to the congested urban areas such as Honolulu, Kuhio observed that his people "walk the streets with stooped shoulders" — an expression of understanding that, in many ways, the spirit of his people had been drained by the new Western-influenced society.
At his urging, Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in 1920, setting aside 203,500 acres throughout the Islands with the intention of returning Hawaiians to the land. This noble effort, however, faced numerous barriers from the beginning: No money was allocated for the commission's work, the land was marginal, and the status of the land restricted private financing. During the 70 years between 1920 and 1990, only 3,000 families were placed on homestead land. The backlog was enormous. The program was considered a failure.
During the last decade of the millennium, the program began to gain momentum. As director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, Hoaliku Drake engineered a $600 million state settlement over the misuse of homelands — $30 million a year for 20 years — to be used to put Hawaiians back on the land, and an additional 16,500 acres of quality land throughout the state. The federal government began providing money as well, and an agreement with the Federal Housing Administration enabled $244 million in private housing lending to be used for the homesteads.
By 2002, the number of homestead families had more than doubled, to 7,500. With success came attention, and with the attention came the lawsuits. Suddenly, a program no one cared about was being challenged as racially exclusionary; suddenly attempts were being made to take the land away.
The thrill of putting Hawaiian families into homes, knowing that they would build communities, cannot be explained. The combined work of DHHL chairpersons Drake, Ray Soon, Micah Kane and myself bring us to a point in history where we are not just building homesteads, we are building communities. Communities where self-determination and self-governance are already taking place. In many instances, the homesteaders make and enforce the rules of the community and work to keep the community intact. They are slowly taking responsibility for infrastructure and for the programs within their communities. Here, the language is being spoken, the culture is being nurtured, and Hawaiians are re-establishing themselves as Kuhio envisioned.
If the plaintiffs in the Arakaki v. Lingle case prevail, the 7,500 families who are already on homestead land will be asked to buy their property at market rates. There is little chance that most of the families will be able to raise the funds. There are still 20,000 individuals waiting for their chance to build a community. If this program is abolished, they will never get what they deserve. There is still a chance to restore their spirit. Let's not shut the door on them now.
Kali Watson is a former director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
