Kuleana Claim of Heleaole (No. 3965) at Honalo, Hawaii

In pre-western contact Hawai‘i, all land and natural resources were held in trust by the high chiefs (alii ai ahupuaa or alii ai moku). The use of lands and resources were given to the hoaaina (native tenants), at the prerogative of the alii and their representatives or land agents (konohiki), who were generally lesser chiefs as well. In 1848, the Hawaiian system of land tenure was radically altered by the Mahele aina (Division of Land). The Mahele (division) defined the land interests of Kamehameha III (the King), the high-ranking chiefs, and the konohiki. As a result of the Mahele, all land in the Kingdom of Hawaii came to be placed in one of three categories: Crown Lands (for the occupant of the throne); (2) Government Lands; and (3) Konohiki Lands (Kuleana Act, 1850). Laws in the period of the Mahele record that ownership rights to all lands in the kingdom were “subject to the rights of the native tenants;” those individuals who lived on the land and worked it for their subsistence and the welfare of the chiefs (Kanawai Hoopai Karaima... {Penal Code} 1850:22). The 1850 resolutions in “Kanawai Hoopai Karaima no ko Hawaii Pae Aina,” authorized the newly formed Land Commission to award fee-simple title to all native tenants who occupied and improved any portion of Crown, Government, or Konohiki lands. These awards were to be free of commutation except for house lots located in the districts of Honolulu, Lahaina, and Hilo (cf. Penal Code, 1850:123-124). After native Hawaiian commoners were granted the opportunity to acquire their own parcels of land through the Mahele, foreigners were also granted the right to own land in 1850, provided they had sworn an oath of loyalty to the Hawaiian Monarch.

In order to receive their awards from the Land Commission, the hoaaina were required to prove that they cultivated the land for a living. They were not permitted to acquire “wastelands” (e.g. fishponds) or lands which they cultivated “with the seeming intention of enlarging their lots.” Once a claim was confirmed, a survey was required before the Land Commission was authorized to issue any award (ibid.). The lands awarded to the hoaaina became known as “Kuleana Lands.” All of the claims and awards (the Land Commission Awards or L.C.A.) were numbered, and the L.C.A. numbers remain in use today to identify the original owners of lands in Hawaii.  By the time of its closure on March 31, 1855, the Land Commission issued only 8,421 kuleana claims, equaling only 28,658 acres of land to the native tenants (cf. Indices of Awards 1929). Summary of Records of the Mahele Aina (see attached PDF file)

The records of the Mahele (some 60,000 documents) and subsequent Boundary Commission descriptions for ahupuaa (native land divisions – generally extending from the sea to the mountains), provide families, researchers and land use planners with important documentation pertaining to the history of land use and residency in a given area. Also contained within such documentation are narratives which describe the significance of places and features in a traditional-historical context.

Documenting the history of Hawaiian lands—dating back to the late eighteenth century—and knowing who the recorded native tenants have been, is an important part of the process of understanding traditional and customary practices, and the significance of cultural resources in a given landscape and community. Kumu Pono Associates LLC has collected and digitized all the original records of the Mahele Aina (most in the Hawaiian language) available in these land history categories from microfilms, and has them available for research and report development. The records cover all of the Islands from Niihau to Hawaii.

Kumu Pono Associates LLC has also digitized the notes of survey for the Palapala Sila Nui (Royal Patent Grants (dating from 1846 to 1923), and all of the Boundary Commission Records (dating from 1864 to ca. 1915) on all lands in the Hawaiian Islands.. These important records—with the documents of the Mahele Aina—set the foundation of Hawaiian land tenure. The records provide readers with documentation pertaining traditional and customary practices, residency and land use practices, and cultural-historical features. Kumu Pono Associates LLC has indexed the entire collection of land records, and copies of original documents (from digitized records) and texts may be purchased upon request.

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