Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 12, 1 December 2011 — EARLY HISTORY [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

EARLY HISTORY

THE ONGOING DISPUTE over ineome and proceeds from the lands of the Puhlie Land Trust between the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the State of Hawai'i centers around approximately 1.2 million acres of lands received by the State of Hawai'i at statehood in 1959; it is intertwined with the overall claims of Hawaiians to approximately 1.8 million acres of crown, govemment andpublic lands onee belonging to the Kingdom of Hawai'i, commonly referred to as the "ceded lands" from whieh the Puhlie Land Trust lands largely derive. In the 1898 Joint Resoīution to providefor annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States, the Republic of Hawai'i "ceded and transferred" to the United States absolute fee and ownership of the 1.8 million acres described above. The annexation impliedly placed these puhlie lands into a special puhlie trust, as it required that all revenue or proceeds from said lands "shall be used solely for the benefit of the inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands and for educational and other puhlie purposes." The "Organic Act" of April 30, 1900, gave the control and management of these lands to the government of the Territory of Hawai'i. The Admission Act, whieh was passed in 1959, transferred a portion of these (ceded) lands and explicitly created the Puhlie Land Trust to be held by the State of Hawai'i. Importantly, subsection 5(f) of the Admission Act recognized the puhlie trust status of this portion of the "ceded lands," stating that: The lands granted to the State of Hawaii by subsection (b) of this section ..., shall be held by said State as a puhlie trust for the support of the puhlie schools and other puhlie educational institutions, for Ihe betterment of Ihe con(lilions of native Hawaiians, as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, for the development of farm and home ownership on as widespread a basis as possible for the making of puhlie improvements, and for the provision of lands for puhlie use. Such lands, proceeds, and ineome shall be managed and disposed offor one or more oftheforegoing purposes in such manner as the constitution and laws ofsaid State may provide. ... (Emphasis added.) Source: Report on Public Land Trust "ineome and Proceeds " Due OHA

A view of some of the Kaka'ako properties looking east toward Diamond Head. Photo: John De Mello. Photo style: Pmneine Murray