Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 8, Number 9, 1 September 1991 — Manaku wins six-year struggle [ARTICLE]

Manaku wins six-year struggle

After six years of battling the Hawaiian Homes Commission, Hawaiian Homestead applicant Reginald Manaku finally won the critical round in his struggle to become qualified as a Hawaiian homestead lessee. In a six to three vote, the Hawaiian Homes Commission voted Aug. 5 and concluded that Manaku was the natural son of his 100 percent Hawaiian father, Daniel Manaku Sr. Since Reginald Manaku's mother is not Hawaiian, this finding was critical to qualifying Reginald as an applicant with 50 percent Hawaiian blood. Under the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, only those with 50 percent Hawaiian blood ean qualify to become homestead lessees under the Hawaiian Homes program. Accordingly, the commission's finding was essential to establishing Reginald Manaku's eligibility for the homestead program. Reginald Manaku first applied for a homestead lot in 1972. He reapplied for an agricultural lot at Anahola, Kaua'i in 1978. However, in 1985 the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands belatedly disqualified Reginald, believing he was the son of his mother's first husband. But Reginald later showed that his mother's first husband died months before Reginald was conceived. Mrs. Manaku has always confirmed that Daniel Manaku Sr., a pure Hawaiian, was the father of Reginald even though Reginald's birth certificate indicated no name for hisfather. Before passing away, Daniel Manaku Sr., adopted Reginald and helped him apply for a homestead lease. Refusing to take Mrs. Manaku's word, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands persisted in disqualifying Reginald over the next six years. During this period, Reginald challenged the department's decision during four contested case hearings. Following the second contested case hearing, Reginald on his own appealed the commission's decision all the way to the Hawai'i Supreme Court. After vacating the decision in 1989, the court instructed the commission to make a reasonably clear finding of whether Reginald was the natural son of Daniel Manaku, Sr.

At that point, the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation began assisting Reginald in his case. Following two more contested case hearings, the commission failed to make a ruling after eight months following the close of the last contested case hearing in November, 1990. Reginald's attorney then sought assistance from the First Circuit Court in an attempt to force a decision by the commission. On July 22, First Circuit Court Judge Robert Klein gave the commission three additional weeks to render a decision before deciding what to rule in the case. "Judge Klein instructed the attorney general to communicate his serious eoneem abo.ut these six years of delays," according to Alan Murakami, Manaku's attorney. The August ruling marked the end of Reginald Manaku's quest for a homestead lot. He stated, "I hope no one has to go through the same kind of experience that I and my mother have been through. Unfortunately, my case is not unique. I have heard of so many other horror stories from other people experiencing very similar problems with the department." Manaku says he hopes that his victory will help others understand the kind of problems that Hawaiian Homestead applicants encounter with the department bureaucracy. But he urges others to keep pressing their claims. "Throughout the six years I spent on this case, I never onee felt I should give up. Because of my father's spirit and encouragement, I'm looking , forward to finally settling on my Anahola homestead." "I'm sorry my father never saw this day before he died. He really wanted me to be a homesteader. He was the main reason I continued my struggle for my family. He waited 17 years for his homestead but lived only six months on a homestead. I just want to be a farmer," he stated. "I hope the department uses the experience to i set some reasonable deadlines for its decisions I and to process applications promptly, so that others will not have to suffer the delays my client encountered," Murakami added. I i i I

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