Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 5, 1 Mei 2013 — Taking a stand for ancestral lands [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Taking a stand for ancestral lands

By Stephanie Chen, Esq. and Derek Kauanoe, Esq. nuiet title and partition cases have serious impacts on the Native Hawaiian community. To address this issue, in 2011, Ka Huli Ao

Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law partnered with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to create the A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative.

The initiative, made possible with funding from

OHA, is designed to educate the Native Hawaiian community about Hawai'i land law, focusing on quiet title, partition and adverse possession. Quiet title, partition and adverse possession lawsuits clear title to and divide interests in land, whieh in the Native Hawaiian community primarily affects those trying to hold on to lands passed down from their ancestors. The initiative also provides information to people who represent themselves in lawsuits without the help of an attorney (pro se defendants). The initiative continues today and provides informational assistance through the law school's Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic and eommunity workshops. Over the last two years, faculty and students have worked on several quiet title and partition cases. They assisted 48 pro se defendants on four islands and the continental United States in representing their family interests in ancestral land located on Moloka'i's East End. They also worked with a family involved in another case on Maui and held seven community outreach workshops on Moloka'i, O'ahu and Maui on quiet title and partition law. "The significance of the initiative cannot be overemphasized," said Caycie Gusman, a student who participated in the initiative. "It provides stu-

dents with the opportunity to learn about quiet title, partition and adverse possession law in a practical setting. I was personally given the responsibility of interacting with pro se defendants who were seeking to hold on to their interests in ancestral lands. These pro se

defendants have a personal and emohonal stake in the outcome of the litigation, and many have very strong ties to their ancestral lands. As such, the responsibility of providinu information to these nro

se defendants was extremely practical and important so that they could make decisions." This semester, the initiative continues with Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic faculty and students. The elinie worked with Herbert Silva of Kaua'i who fought vigorously to save his grandmother's kalo patch nearMoloa'a Bay fromdevell J

opment. Recognizing the importance of defending ancestral lands, Yuklin Aluli, a quiet title and partition attorney, volunteered to kōkua and provided valuable legal advice. Although Unele Herb did not get the result he sought from the court, he hopes students and other pro se defendants will "use his case as an experiment and build upon it." He believes that: "The iniīiative is the next best thing to hiring a good attorney. You are not alone and there is enough support to give pro se defendants the kind of confidence and focus needed along the way." Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic faculty and students are preparing community outreach workshops to distribute copies of E 'Onipa 'a i Ke

Kulāiwi: A Legal Primerfor Quiet Title & Partition Law in Hawai 'i, whieh will help more Native Hawaiians understand the quiet title and partition processes and provide useful tools for pro se defendants. Eaeh workshop will feature a presentation, distribution of materials, and a question and answer session. NHRC faculty and students will answer general questions but cannot provide legal advice, representation or advise anyone to take a particular course of aehon. The workshops are free, open to the puhlie and light refreshments will be served. The workshop dates. times and locations are still heinu deter-

mined. Please visit www2.hawaii.edu/~kahuliao or email Stephanie Chen at aoakuaomai@gmail. eom if you are interested in attending or would like to be added to the initiative's mailing list. ■ Stephanie Chen is a teaching anel research fellow and Derek Kauanoe is the student and eommunity outreach coordinatorwith the KaHuliAo Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University ofHawai'i at Māinoa. . JJ. . i

Workshops Learn about Hawai'i land law at workshops being held across the state. Copies of the newly published E

'Onipa 'a i Ke Kulāiwi: A Legal Primer for Quiet Title & Partition Law in Hawai'i will be distributed at the workshops, whieh are free and open tothe puhlie. > WHEN: To be determined > INF0: www2.hawaii. edu/~kahuliao > C0NTACT: Stephanie Chen at aoakuaomai@gmail.com

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