Native Hawaiian Law Center unveils publications

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Derek Kauanoe, (808) 956-0836
Student & Community Outreach Coordinator, Law
Posted: May 2, 2013

Prof. Melody MacKenzie addressing attendees at publication unveiling event called Ka'uka'ulele.
Prof. Melody MacKenzie addressing attendees at publication unveiling event called Ka'uka'ulele.

The UH Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law’s Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law unveiled 'Ohia, its new periodic publication on Wednesday, April 24, 2013.  The title ‘Ohia was inspired by a line from a chant for King David Kālakaua–-ʻohia mai ā pau pono nā ʻike kumu o Hawaiʻi, gather up every bit of the basic knowledge of Hawaiʻi.  ‘Ohia features papers on cutting-edge issues impacting Native Hawaiian law that are written by Ka Huli Ao’s Post-Juris Doctor Research Fellows.  In addition to unveiling ʻOhia at its reception on Wednesday, Ka Huli Ao also featured legal primers, articles, and book chapters published by Ka Huli Ao Faculty.  

Melody MacKenzie, Director of Ka Huli Ao explained the Center’s scholarship as resulting from a “partnership with the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, Kamehameha Schools, as well as support from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and private foundation sources.”

Susan Serrano, Ka Huli Ao’s Director of Educational Development, described its published scholarship as, “advancing cutting-edge theory and concepts, fostering understanding of Native Hawaiian history, culture and social context, and linked to on-the-ground Native Hawaiian and other Indigenous justice issues.”  

The Post-Juris Doctor Research Fellows whose papers were published are Kaʻanoʻi Walk, a 2008 graduate, who wrote about Native court systems; Julian Aguon, a 2009 graduate, who researched and wrote about Native Hawaiians and international law; Nāpali Souza, a 2009 graduate. who researched, wrote, and taught a class on Native government and economic issues; and Stephanie Chen, a 2010 graduate of the University of Colorado School of Law who researched, wrote, and co-teaches a law clinic on ancestral land preservation.    

Paul Nahoa Lucas from Kamehameha Schools and Kamanaʻopono Crabbe, the CEO of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs spoke at Wednesday’s unveiling.  Funding from the Kamehameha Schools has made the Post-Juris Doctor Fellowship program and the ‘Ohia series possible.  The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has also been a primary funder and partner on Ka Huli Ao’s legal primers, developed primarily for community outreach.

Ka Huli Ao has also published four legal primers.  The first on water law came out in 2011, and a primer on traditional and customary rights was published earlier this year.  The latest two primers -  on quiet title and partition actions and a second on Native Hawaiian iwi kūpuna or ancestral remains - have just been published.  The primers are being used in a community outreach effort to inform the Native Hawaiian community of significant legal issues.