Category Archives: Hawaiian issues

Kunia land occupiers’ claims of harassment and threats dismissed as “frivolous” by court

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On April 8, 2022, an application for a temporary restraining order was filed in Ewa’s District Court by a pair who had, months earlier, occupied land in an agricultural subdivision in Kunia based on an baseless theory of rights of “lineal descendants” of original land patent holders.

In their application, the couple, now calling themselves Ikaikanuiaumi Akekela and Wahinekekuana K. K. Okawekiu, alleged they had been harassed and threatened by former Honolulu City Council member Tom Berg, who is now employed as manager for the legal owner of the property. The pair, who say they are married without benefit of a state marriage license, allege they feared for their lives, and the lives of their children, in the face of repeated harassment by Berg while they are peacefully on their own property.

Then on May 5, 2020, the pair appeared for a hearing before Judge Ann S. Isobe. The transcript of the hearing appears below. The hearing got wild at times, as the two spoke at once, interrupted both the judge and Berg’s attorney, Fred Arensmeyer, raised their voices, or expressed bewilderment and confusion about what was going on, at several points requiring a bailiff to intercede to maintain order.

Okawekiu was also admonished by the judge to stop interrupting her husband and coaching him on what to say.

Okawekiu, whose legal name is Kaiulani Pieper-Mokiao, who was in control of their testimony in the hearing, described Berg as “trespassing onto my private property.”

“So I would just like to state for the record that I can–I can, in my own knowledge, accumulate about 12 incidences where Mr. Berg has came to my property and violated laws, statutes, privacy, humanitarian laws, and I can also affirm that he has also sent people to do the same job on behalf of him per the affidavit that I electronically filed,” Okawekiu testified.

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No, we don’t need to coddle the sovereignty fringe

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Here’s a commment that arrived in my inbox yesterday that’s worth sharing and deserves a substantive reply.

I have long been an avid reader of this column, however I think you (Ian), do yourself injustice by implying sovereignty folks have no basis to stand on. It is such a singular view of a colonizer.

Does not every single person on this planet deserve self-determination and sovereignty?

It may be easy to dismiss such land claims, but speak to enough locals, and you will hear stories about outright theft in the land “transfers”, from strange names appearing in the tax ledgers who would turn up later to lay claim, to new names replacing owner ones when transferring deeds from paper to computer.

While I appreciate you can’t very well give any of this any credence, because, as you say, it would jeopardize every home/tract here, and we can’t have that, can we, that does not mean that theft did not occur during the Mahele. I just think it is disingenuous and in the interest of the dominant (occupying) culture, to gloss over that fact.

Signed, always been a fan, but don’t appreciate the condescension on matters relating to Kanaka Maoli.

To be clear. I have never implied that there is no basis for aspirations for Hawaiian sovereignty.

But I am extremely critical of “sovereignty folks” who rely on half-truths, untruths, misrepresentations, the denial of history, suspension of disbelief, or plain old lies, as the basis for their claims.

And I think that those who would just shrug and excuse these distortions do a disservice to those who are pursuing or have grounds for valid land claims, as those claims based on pure mumbo jumbo confuse the issues and devalue legitimate claims that stand up to scrutiny.

In addition, of course, we allow proponents of these off-base ideas to (a) use them to deceive and rip off others, or (b) get themselves into rapidly increasing legal jeopardy with the risk of escalating penalties out here in the “real” world.

One problem in my reporting on the case of the Kunia land claimants is that I have tried to present their case in reasonable terms, rather than highlighting the batshit crazy stuff they have been repeatedly filing in court.

So I’ve attached the latest legal memo filed in the case this week, a motion to set aside the default judgement against them in the Circuit Court ejectment lawsuit that resulted in their eviction and nine arrests. The response by the landowner’s attorney can be found here.

The motion was submitted by Travis and Kaiulani Mokiao, a brother and sister who have adopted new Hawaiian aliases.

Among their bizarre stuff are some substantive claims. At item #6, they say one of the defendants, Wayne Kaleimamahu, was not properly served. They have argued this same point several times before, and it was answered. And the very simple answer is that Kaleimamahu was dropped as a defendant after his arrest and incarceration. Period. He’s no longer part of the case, and so no longer needs to be served any of the legal papers. The court record is clear on this.

And it should be noted that the Mokiaos have repeatedly tried to stall or deflect the legal process by claiming they were not properly served. If true, it would be a valid concern. However, evidence shows they have repeatedly prevented documents from being served and have used their newly adopted names as covers to ignore or avoid service made using their legal names.

A video submitted as evidence in court after they applied for a temporary restraining order against the landowner’s agent, Tom Berg, shows that Berg packed legal documents in a box, carefully marked with the case number, and dropped in over the gate into the property that had been occupied. Several people came forward, including two named defendants in the case, and not only threw the box of what they termed “rubbish” back over the gate as Berg retreated, they continued to follow him, repeatedly throwing or kicking the box of papers in his direction while chasing him from the area. To then step forward later and complain about the lack of “proper service” is a very transparent fraud.

Later, they say several earlier court filings included affidavits in their names which made allegations and included a demand for answers to be filed with 10 or 21 days, with a twist: “Their non-response is treated as consent to judgment.”

Of course, that’s a total fiction. A failure to respond to an arbitrary demand carries no legal penalties at all. Ask a lawyer. Sometimes you can learn something.

Honestly, I don’t see any advantage in “normalizing” this kind of approach to the issues, which necessarily undermines legitimate Hawaiian claims.

In any case, read on if you’re interested.

Motion to set aside default… by Ian Lind

Those arrested in the Kunia land occupation speak out

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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.

Beyond the glitter, an uneasiness with the direction of Hawaiian music

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A fissure within the Hawaiian music community was on display last night even as the 45th Na Hoku Hanohano awards program was underway, broadcast live from a Sheraton Waikiki ballroom.

Several hours before the show, noted performer and teacher, Kimo Alama Keaulana, posted on Facebook that he had declined an invitation to take part in the awards show. Keaulana, a former Na Hoku winner, wrote: ” It was an honor to be asked to perform tonight but we won’t. Hawaiian music has changed.”

And, it was clear, his view is that the change has not been for the better.

His post drew more than 60 comments over several hours.

In response to a comment, he explained: “Tastes in music have changed. It’s more like western/haole thoughts, melodies & instrumentation using Hawaiian words. It’s so different now.”

“Music is a commodity now.”

For Keaulana, it is obviously much more than that. It is history. It is tradition. It is the preservation and passing on of a rich culture.

Marnie Weeks, a longtime friend who has her own long history with hula and Hawaiian music, commented:

I have witnessed Kimo teaching hula and Hawaiian music for decades. He has been clear in explaining what sad changes are happening, and the consequences of succumbing to influences. He has performed, recorded, lectured, mentored … and has not been able to stop the tide. He has done all this with a firm, clear voice and infectious sense of humour. He’s been ignored, ridiculed, argued with, and yet he has not wavered. So, as much as we love Kimo and his timeless music, we cannot ask him to step up now and “be the example.” That’s his life story.

Then Marnie’s husband, Pat, also chimed in.

Marnie and I were lucky to be involved with the production of Kimo’s “Hula Lives” CD. He insisted, from day one, that he wanted the old Hawaiian down home sound- NOT slick, overproduced contemporary Hawaiian music. Thanks to our brilliant engineer- the late Paul Kreiling, he got what he wanted! The only problem was- the Hawaiian music station(s) refused to play it! On the bright side, I hear songs from that CD almost every day, when I walk into a supermarket or shopping center! Keep the faith, Kimo! Keep doing what you do!

Keaulana replied.

Aaaaaaw! I deeply appreciate your wonderful words! I’ve done as much as I could. I hope that all of those who had taught me & had performed with me are pleased & happy nevertheless.

For those unfamiliar with Keaulana, here is some background borrowed from the website of the Hawaiian Music Store.

An 8th generation professional musician, dancer, chanter, teacher, composer and entertainer, Kimo Alama Keaulana is a recognized authority on ancient and modern hula and its music. As a Kumu hula (hula master) and renowned dancer himself, he knows how to play the music to accompany hula.

Known for his captivating laugh, wicked `ukulele strum and sweet angel voice, Kimo Alama Keaulana is all the proof we need that hula and its music are alive and well-that indeed “Hula Lives!”

From a 2004 Honolulu Star-Bulletin review by John Berger of “Hula Lives!”, a CD by Keaulana and Lei Hulu.

Keaulana has been known in recent years more as a teacher and cultural resource than as a recording artist, and for that reason, this beautifully crafted collection of Hawaiian and hapa-haole standards may take some by surprise. The album captures the sound of what Keaulana calls ‘honest Hawaiian music” perfectly.

And from an Star-Bulletin article in advance of an evening program Keaulana put on in 2001 at the University of Hawaii, which called him as “a steward
of older, traditional Hawaiian music.”

If there’s one thing you can’t accuse Keaulana of, is that he’s a careerist. “Aunty Adeline would always lead me some other kupuna, people who weren’t into music and hula for the money, but did it more from the heart.

“I consider the music I play and collect really precious and priceless.” he said. “I’ve conscientiously decided to not make a huge commercial venture of this.”