Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 33, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2016 — UAMAUKEEAOKA ʻĀINA I KA PONO [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

UAMAUKEEAOKA ʻĀINA I KA PONO

Submitted by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation An honest effort at addressing the issues and concerns of the descendants of Hawai'i's original inhabitants requires more than recognition of the histori-

eal injustices visited upon them. Integrating Native j Hawaiian rights, cus- | toms, practices and the values they rely upon into Hawai'i's moral and social fabric is both a legal and moral obligation of every Hawai'i resident. While the current legal framework for Native Hawaiian rights aeknowledges one's rights, it falls woefully short of effecting the required change on i the ground and in real- I ity. As such, the manner in whieh Native Hawaiian rights issues are addressed requires immediate attention

Natural Resources: Water Our highest state court relies on the way water was treated historically by Hawaiians in adopting the puhlie trust doctrine as our foundahonal principle of water rights. That doctrine, articulated in Hawai'i court decisions, provides for a eon-stitutionally-based trusteeship over all water resources in the state and enshrines the concept of resource protection as the basis for regulating surface and ground water to protect important environmental and cultural interests vital to everyone's welfare. However, the real life application of such precepts has a difficult time lining up with on-the-ground reality. For example, many traditional Hawaiian taro farmers eonhnue to wait decades for the water to whieh they are legally entitled. Sacred Resources: Iwi Kūpuna Similarly, unique burial pro-

tection laws of the state mandate strict procedures for identifying and protecting ancient Hawaiian burial sites, largely unmarked and potentially in the path of land development. These laws are onee again based on and in recognition of the traditional and customary burial practices of Hawaiians. In

practice, however, the on the ground applieahon « of these foundational * principles of dignity and respect sometimes lose mueh of their value in the face of development. Trust Resources: ■ Hawaiian Home Lands By voting in 1978 to amend our constitution to require that our legislature provide Hawaiian Homes with sufficient sums to k fulfill its mission, we, p the people of this state, confirmed our eolleetive desire to ensure the fulfillment of this solemn 3bligation. For far too lona thouah, the

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has been held to extraordinary expectations while, as noted by our Supreme Court, effectively crippled "by any reasonable measure" with insufficient funding. Unless and until we the people of this state live up to our collective constitutional duty to provide the funding that will, in fact, plaee the Hawaiian people back upon the soil, we, the people of this state, all fail. We ensure DHHL cannot fulfill its purpose by failing to provide it with what it needs to fulfill its purpose and hlame it for its shortcomings. It's time we all take responsibility for this situation and demand that DHHL timely receive the funding it, in fact, needs to operate successfully. If justice is to truly prevail in Hawai'i, these important legal principles must no longer take a back seat to eeonomie pressure. Justice demands more. ■

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