Our Ka Huli Ao faculty had an outstanding year, earning prestigious awards, presenting at renowned conferences, and actively engaging with our community. Read on for some highlights and notable achievements from this year!
Assistant Professor MJ Palau-McDonald
Assistant Professor Palau-McDonald was also invited to speak at Torres’ and Campbell’s YLS seminar on November 7, 2024. She spoke about Indigenous adjudication, lāhui lawyering, and bringing restorative environmental justice claims before Hawaiʻi’s agencies and courts.
Assistant Professor Palau-McDonald also presented her work-in-progress Framing Restorative Environmental Justice at the Fourth Annual Workshop for AAPI/MENA Women in the Legal Academy, held at the William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, from October 24–26.
Assistant Professor Uʻilani Tanigawa Lum
In March 2024, Assistant Professor Tanigawa Lum presented “Lāhui Lawyering: Co-Powering Indigenous Communities through Environmental Justice,” at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, Oregon. This 42nd annual conference focused on “Cultivating Community,” which celebrated the achievements of diverse leaders in the environmental movement with an emphasis on uplifting more inclusive, community-based approaches such as those developed at Ka Huli Ao.
Assistant Professor Tanigawa Lum also participated in a panel, “Stewarding Kanaka Intangible Cultural Property,” as a part of her work on the Native Hawaiian Intellectual Property Legislative Working Group. The panel was one of many breakout sessions at the Native Hawaiian Convention in Waikoloa, Hawaiʻi from September 17-19, 2024. Click here to learn more and/or to provide feedback.
Assistant Professor Derek Kauanoe
Assistant Professor Kauanoe was invited to speak with Yale Law School students in Professors Gerald Torres and James Campbell’s Indigenous Self-Government in the U.S. Constitutional Order seminar on October 3, 2024. Professor Kauanoe compared federal Indian law principles with Hawaiian Kingdom-era laws exclusively applicable to aboriginal Hawaiians, and discussed Native Hawaiian self-governance in the modern era.
Professor Kauanoe guest lectured Native Hawaiian Rights in November 2024 where he dissected self governance issues and initiatives for and by Kānaka, including Obama-era administrative rules, Kanaʻiolowalu and the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, and related case law.
Professor Susan Serrano
On April 25, 2024, Ka Huli Ao Associate Director and Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice Susan Serrano joined Fred T. Korematsu Professor of Law and Social Justice Emeritus Eric Yamamoto and Karen Korematsu, daughter of Fred Korematsu, as speakers at Aliʻiōlani Hale for the Hawaiʻi Department of Education teacher professional development session, Unlocking the Legacy: Understanding Korematsu v. United States—Lessons from History, Relevance for Today.
On February 13, 2024, Professor Serrano moderated a panel discussion featuring Neil C. Weare, Co-Director of Right to Democracy; Vanessa Williams, attorney and Chair, Guam Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Charles Alaʻilima, attorney in American Samoa; and Pamela Colon, attorney and Chair, U.S. Virgin Islands Advisory Committee, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. This discussion highlighted the challenges surrounding the limited democratic rights that are afforded to citizens of U.S. Territories.
Professor Kapuaʻala Sproat
Ka Huli Ao’s Director and Professor of Law, Kapuaʻala Sproat, won the 2024 Outstanding Leadership Award at the Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference.
Selected by the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance, this esteemed award is given to an honoree who has demonstrated exceptional leadership in advancing environmental conservation in Hawai‘i. In presenting the award, Professor Kamana Beamer introduced Professor Sproat by playing on the definition of her name, Kapuaʻala, (the fragrant flower): “Pehea lā ke ʻano o ke ʻala o nēia pua, ua lohe ʻia, he ʻala o ke aloha ʻāina, e kohu like me ke ʻala o ka wiwoʻole, ua hanu ʻia a hoʻi mai ka pono no ka ʻāina, no ka lāhui, no nā hanauna hou i loko o kēia ʻala lua ʻole.”
Professor Beamer pondered: “How do we describe the scent of this flower? It is heard that its scent is of deep love for land, resembling the smell of bravery, one breathes it in and the land is returned to balance for the Hawaiian people, for the next generations wrapped in this incomparable aroma.” He concluded that Kapuaʻala smells like justice. Hoʻomaikaʻi e ka pua ʻala o Kalihiwai! Congratulations, Professor Sproat!
Just prior to receiving her award, Professor Sproat took part in the conference’s keynote panel “What Water Rights in West Maui Can Teach Us About Fire and Conservation.” The 2024 Hawaiʻi Conservation Conference focused on ʻAuamo Kuleana: Amplifying Strength Through Balance.
In November, the Honolulu Board of Water Supply (“BWS”) recognized and honored Professor Sproat for her dedicated service of nearly a decade. Professor Sproat volunteered on the board since 2015 and served as BWS Vice Chair since 2017. As an attorney, Kanaka Maoli, and esteemed expert in Hawaiʻi water law, she brought a vital and impactful perspective. Her contributions were celebrated with a heartfelt ceremony that included ʻoli, testimony from community members, an official resolution, and many warm expressions of gratitude.
