By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola

A Hawai'i Supreme Court ruling saying the state cannot sell ceded lands until Native Hawaiians' claims to the lands can be resolved has placed new urgency on the passage of the Akaka Bill and the formation of a Native Hawaiian governing entity, OHA officials and attorneys said recently.

The state's high court ruled in favor of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and four individuals who sought to stop the sale in the 1990s of parcels of ceded lands on Maui and Hawai'i Island to a private entity for development. The court's Jan. 31 ruling preserves the entire body – 1.4 million acres – of ceded lands until claims to those lands are resolved between Native Hawaiians and the federal government. Ceded lands are former Hawaiian monarchy lands, which are held in trust by the state.

Attorneys for OHA and the four individuals argued that the sale of about 500 acres in Lāhaina in a project called Leiali'i and 1,000 acres in Kona for the La'i'ōpua project could not occur in light of the Apology Resolution, which was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by then-President Bill Clinton. The resolution acknowledges the U.S. involvement in the illegal 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom.

“This is a very important decision because essentially the Hawai'i Supreme Court has recognized what the Apology Resolution was saying, which is that Hawaiians have unrelinquished claims to those ceded lands,” said attorney Sherry Broder, who represented OHA in the case known as Office of Hawaiian Affairs vs. Housing and Community Development Corporation of Hawai'i.

The state has not sold or attempted to sell ceded lands since 1994, so the ruling will have no impact on its operations, said William Meheula, attorney for the four individuals: Pia Thomas Aluli, Jonathan Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio, Charles Ka'ai'ai and Keoki Maka Kamaka Ki'ili. “It's going to be business as normal, status quo,” Meheula said.

At least part of the parcels in question have been transferred to the state Department of Home Lands, which is allowed because it still falls under the state, Meheula said.

He also said the court decision does not affect the ceded land settlement between OHA and the Lingle administration, which is pending approval in the state Legislature. Nor does it determine who has a good claim to ceded lands.

Meheula said the ruling can give Native Hawaiians comfort in knowing that all of the ceded lands will remain intact and not be sold off to third parties only to become unavailable when Hawaiians organize their nation. “That's happened to other native people's in the United States,” he said.

Ka'ai'ai, a plaintiff, said it was important for him to protect these lands for continuity's sake. “It's the trust,” Ka'ai'ai said. “It's the inheritance from my ancestors.”

OHA Chairperson Haunani Apoliona said the “take home message” for Native Hawaiians is the ruling's statement that the plaintiffs themselves recognize the “ultimate resolution of the Native Hawaiian claims must be through the political process.”

She said, “Here in Hawai'i and outside of Hawai'i, it's about organizing ourselves and bringing together a credible process and ultimately a native entity that will help to work at resolving these issues.”

The first step, she said, is Kau Inoa – placing one's name on the registry of Native Hawaiians who will participate in forming a governing entity. “Get identified, and let's get going,” she said. “We'll seize the moment, and I think Hawai'i in the end will be a much better place for all of us to resolve some of these long-standing issues.”