A Dictionary of Hawaiian Legal Land-Terms is the first reference book of its kind to compile, organize, and explain critical information needed for the accurate translation and interpretation of nineteenth-century Hawaiian land-conveyance documents. Neither life-long residents nor recent newcomers should minimize the influence of Hawaii's unique history on the developments taking place in the state today. Yet for decades the study and translation of century-old documents - Royal Patents, Land Commission Awards, and deeds, to name a few - have been hampered by the lack of a comprehensive research tool. Now, in a single volume, readers have an overview of commonly used words and phrases, survey practices, and documents that were recorded in Hawaiian before the turn of the century. The book also includes Hawaii's appellate cases that have defined such terms. With the publication of A Dictionary of Hawaiian Legal Land-Terms, both professionals and non-professionals, Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, have gained a valuable key to unlocking and understanding the past.

The 1846-1848 Mahele (division) transformed the lands of Hawai‘i from a shared value into private property, but left many issues unresolved. Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) agreed to the Mahele, which divided all land among the mō‘ī (king), the ali‘i (chiefs), and the maka‘āinana (commoners), in the hopes of keeping the lands in Hawaiian hands even if a foreign power claimed sovereignty over the Islands. The king’s share was further divided into Government and Crown Lands, the latter managed personally by the ruler until a court decision in 1864 and a statute passed in 1865 declared that they could no longer be bought or sold by the mō‘ī and should be maintained intact for future monarchs. After the illegal overthrow of the monarchy in 1893, Government and Crown Lands were joined together, and after annexation in 1898 they were managed as a public trust by the United States. At statehood in 1959, all but 373,720 acres of Government and Crown Lands were transferred to the State of Hawai‘i. The legal status of Crown Lands remains controversial and misunderstood to this day. In this engrossing work, Jon Van Dyke describes and analyzes in detail the complex cultural and legal history of Hawai‘i’s Crown Lands. He argues that these lands must be examined as a separate entity and their unique status recognized. Government Lands were created to provide for the needs of the general population; Crown Lands were part of the personal domain of Kamehameha III and evolved into a resource designed to support the mō‘ī, who in turn supported the Native Hawaiian people. The question of who owns Hawai‘i’s Crown Lands today is of singular importance for Native Hawaiians in their quest for recognition and sovereignty, and this volume will become a primary resource on a fundamental issue underlying Native Hawaiian birthrights. 64 illus., 6 maps

Drawing on archaeological and ethnohistorical sources, this book redefines the study of primary states by arguing for the inclusion of Polynesia, which witnessed the development of primary states in both Hawaii and Tonga.

With historical sketches of some 165 churches that were known to exist in Hawai‘i during the nineteenth century, Nā Hale Pule: Portraits of Native Hawaiian Churches, 1820–1900 is the first comprehensive survey of the Congregational and Presbyterian Churches of Hawai‘i as established by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and later operated by Ka ‘Ahahui ‘Euanelio o Hawai‘i (The Hawaiian Evangelical Association). While many of these churches were first led by missionary pastors, the ali‘i (hereditary chiefs) founders of the churches together with their membership and congregational leaders were predominately Native Hawaiian. Worship services were soon led by Native Hawaiian pastors and were conducted in ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language). This study draws upon the official archives of the churches, English-language newspaper articles, missionary and pastoral correspondence, and a twentieth-century architectural survey. The body of this work includes an island-by-island listing of the names and locations of the Native Hawaiian churches, the pastors who served the congregations, and brief histories of the churches themselves. These portraits tell the stories of the founding of the churches, Christianity’s rise in the islands through the Great Revival years of the 1840s, the devastating impact of foreign diseases that swept through Hawai‘i during the mid-nineteenth century, and the efforts of the churches to maintain their properties and congregations. The book's introduction describes the founding of mother and branch churches, the importance of the lands on which the churches resided, church construction and builders, the struggle for self-support and self-governance, demographic changes that led to the churches’ decline, and a resurgence of Native Hawaiian culture and polytheism that caused understandings of faith and the future to further evolve. Also included are a chronology of Native Hawaiian churches, a robust glossary of Hawaiian theological vocabulary, and meticulous citations. This volume is a companion to Nā Kahu: Portraits of Native Hawaiian Pastors at Home and Abroad, 1820–1900, by Nancy J. Morris and Robert Benedetto, which tells the stories of the lives of Native Hawaiian pastors.

This volume is the most detailed case study of land tenure in Hawai‘i. Focusing on kuleana (homestead land) in Kahana, O‘ahu, from 1846 to 1920, the author challenges commonly held views concerning the Great Māhele (Division) of 1846–1855 and its aftermath. There can be no argument that in the fifty years prior to the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, ninety percent of all land in the Islands passed into the control or ownership of non-Hawaiians. This land grab is often thought to have begun with the Great Māhele and to have been quickly accomplished because of Hawaiians’ ignorance of Western law and the sharp practices of Haole (white) capitalists. What the Great Māhele did create were separate land titles for two types of land (kuleana and ahupua‘a) that were traditionally thought of as indivisible and interconnected, thus undermining an entire social system. With the introduction of land titles and ownership, Hawaiian land could now be bought, sold, mortgaged, and foreclosed. Using land-tenure documents recently made available in the Hawai‘i State Archives’ Foster Collection, the author presents the most complete picture of land transfer to date. The Kahana database reveals that after the 1846 division, large-scale losses did not occur until a hitherto forgotten mortgage and foreclosure law was passed in 1874. Hawaiians fought to keep their land and livelihoods, using legal and other, more innovative, means, including the creation of hui shares. Contrary to popular belief, many of the investors and speculators who benefited from the sale of absentee-owned lands awarded to ali‘i (rulers) were not Haole but Pākē (Chinese). Kahana: How the Land Was Lost explains how Hawaiians of a century ago were divested of their land—and how the past continues to shape the Island’s present as Hawaiians today debate the structure of land-claim settlements.