The follow-up to my earlier stories reporting on the land takeover in Kunia, which ended in arrests of nine people on July 1, is posted to Civil Beat today (“How The Story Of The ‘Army’ That Illegally Took Over A Kunia Property Is Playing On Social Media“). Because of its length, I had to edit a lot of interesting information, but I wanted to focus on the central belief that appears to have both fueled and justified their occupation of the land.
This story is based on viewing, and trying to evaluate, claims made in three video interviews with participants in the takeover that have been broadcast and posted online to date.
In this story, I didn’t try to assess whether the four who appeared in the videos so far, who appear to have been the leaders of the takeover, were themselves duped into believing otherwise unbelievable things, or whether they are deliberately misleading others and game the system. Nor did I try to weave in some of the group’s court filings, which borrowed heavily from the language used in documents available online going back to anti-tax and anti-government extremists on the U.S. mainland, and are just strange, convoluted pseudo-legal nonsense.
I’ve also been wondering about the origin of this idea that Hawaiians can reclaim land once owned by distant ancestors 170 years ago. I’ve found that it has been floating around for quite some time.
The story references a 2003 decision of Hawaii’s Intermediate Court of Appeals, which considered the appeal in a 1999 case in which a defendant put forward exactly this same claim. So the idea goes back at least that far.
How is it spread? I found one example.
A series of genealogy workshops presented statewide by the late Michael Kumukauoha Lee, and widely available on YouTube, may have popularized the notion.
In a 2017 presentation, Lee, who died in 2019, said recipients of royal land patents could do whatever they wanted with the land during their lifetimes, but that title would revert to their children at their deaths.
“Allodial titles are never extinguished,” Lee claimed.
“This was not explained to those who followed,” Lee said. “They don’t want you to know” about allodial rights.
And he gave this bit of advice to Hawaiians: “Just because they tell you that you’re not the owners, doesn’t mean that you’re not.”
Lee was careful to caution that he was not an attorney, and took no responsibility for how information or documents he provided might be used by others.
On July 16, 2015, he recorded a document in the Bureau of Conveyances (“Notice of Preservation and Vested Hereditary Undivided Lineal Interest of Title”) in which he claim an undivided interest in Hawaii’s crown lands (Doc No A-56750871). Much of this document was copied and used in a document filed this year by the two claiming hereditary interest in the Kunia property.
Another unanswered question. Is there a “House of Heirs,” or is it just a fictional alter ego for the two wrongly claiming title to this particular plot of land?
Anyway, here’s my lede from today’s story:
In their telling, they were kidnapped by police from their private property, which they had rightfully and legally reclaimed as heirs of the original land grant recipient.
And that’s the hook that gives their pitch traction. Their 10 months in possession of the Kunia land represent a vision that land is there, free for the taking, by Hawaiians who have the resolve to act and can trace their families to a distant ancestor who received a mid-19th century award of land set aside for native tenants “in perpetuity” at the time of the Great Mahele.
For this group of Hawaiians, things haven’t turned out well. They were unceremoniously removed from the land, their claims of ancestral rights have failed in court, their personal belongings left on the property were lost — and they now face the likelihood of criminal prosecutions.
But so far, they remain undaunted, confident in the rightness of their cause and praised by supporters for their steadfastness.
For background, see:
“Standoff In Waipahu: Hawaiian Rights ‘Army’ Has Illegally Occupied A Private Pot Farm,” June 7, 2022
“Group Occupying Honolulu Pot Farm Faces Deadline To Move Out,” June 12, 2022.
“Hawaiian ‘Occupied Forces’ Group Ousted From Kunia Property By Police,” July 3, 2022.
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Whole lot of slogging through mud to get to the key point that “absent a deed or other evidence of a continuing ownership interest in the land, simply being a lineal descendant confers no ownership interest, undivided or otherwise.“
I agree about the slogging. But I was trying to respect them enough to present their viewpoint before evaluating it.
Ian,
I applaud you for doing these balanced, respectful and thorough stories about the “Occupied Forces Hawaii Army” ironic ‘occupation’ of 30 acres in Kunia — that does not belong to them.
It’s important to take these social movements seriously on their own terms in addition to reality. We used to be able to ignore these groups before the advent of the internet and social media. Nowadays, delusions can become viral reality overnight.
Human Beings are copycats. Lies and threats of violence have to be confronted with rationality and calm while they’re small.
It’s a great series and thanks for writing it.
Back in the mid-’50’s I ran across a genealogy tract filed at the Bureau of Conveyances laying claim to Kapiolani Park.
Part of the problem for legitimate property owners is that the Bureau of Conveyances will accept almost anything for recordation in the ‘regular’ system and that can be headache to un-do it. I saw a few recordings laying claim to all of the Hawaiian islands, and then transferrring to back and forth between two people. I also saw another laying claim to all of the Kahana Valley.
The flip side of the coin is all the heirs from corporations who “Quiet Titled” so many Hawaiian lands. Their claims often don’t hold up either.
MAHALO to “Manoa Kahuna” for such a wonderful comment. Indeed, Hawaiian re-claimed lands activists are not as easily ignored as they used to be in this modern day of social media.
By the way, I was taken aback by the recent story in California of a black family that had their land returned after being taken away through eminent domain in 1924 (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-beachfront-land-taken-black-family-returned-ceremony-2022-07-20/). In this case, over the years, the family had (I’m assuming), kept all the papers, memos, notes, news articles, and first-hand accounts. All that was needed was their day in court and conscientious (non-racist) government officials.
SO OUT of curiosity Ian, are you or your readers aware of any similar stories in Hawaii where a family, paper(s) in hand, have won in court or are waiting for their day in court?
And isn’t this one of the main goals of OHA, to address stolen lands for people that may not have any papers, but nonetheless were told to scatter and move on?
(I am personally embarrassed by my last two questions because they obviously demonstrate my shallow understanding of Hawaiian affairs and history!)
PS: the War in Ukraine illustrates how land is often taken and exchanged through brute strength and power. Think about it.
The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation has specialized in defending Hawaiian families against quiet title lawsuits, and I’ve reached out to them for info on cases that they have won.
Are there any connection with Kuleana lands? Most recently, Zuckerberg attempt to purchase Kuleana parcels within his Kauai property. I remember Molokai had a ruling regarding access to Kuleana land. Currently,there is a parcel in Haleiwa that is advertised as Kuleana which offers that this Kuleana parcel can be improved with 1 farm dwelling. I have researched Kuleana land with Royal patents and recorded in Land Court when several real estate agents were buying up Kuleana land in Haleiwa and Waialua.