What’s New at Ka Huli Ao?

Ka Huli Ao warmly welcomes new and returning staff!  Rhiannon Tereari‘i Chandler-‘Īao ’16 recently returned as a Post-Juris Doctor Research & Teaching Fellow; Anna Jang ’18 joined us as a Post-Juris Doctor Research Fellow; and Lan Nguyen recently started as a Faculty Support Specialist for Ka Huli Ao and the Environmental Law Program.

On Thursday, September 6, Ka Huli Ao presented its first Maoli Thursday event of the semester, “An Unjust Burden: The Disparate Impact of the Criminal Justice System on Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders,” featuring Ken Lawson, Co-Director of the Hawaiʻi Innocence Project; Tyler Gomes, former Public Defender and currently Partnerships Manager – Hawaiʻi at Elemental Excelerator; and Kamaile Maldonado, Public Policy Advocate at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.  Susan Serrano, Associate Director of Ka Huli Ao, moderated.

On August 15, Ka Huli Ao and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) facilitated the fourth of ten I Mana I Ka Wai Water Law & Advocacy Trainings for Hawaiian homestead communities in Anahola, Kauaʻi. The following day, Ka Huli Ao conducted its fifth training in Kekaha, Kauaʻi. Ka Huli Ao Director Kapua Sproat, Post-Juris Doctor Fellow Mahina Tuteur, and 3L Luʻukia Nakanelua gave presentations on the rights and responsibilities of DHHL beneficiaries and discussed specific ways homestead communities can advocate for the correct use and protection of water. Earthjustice attorney Isaac Moriwake and other guest speakers also spoke about current water issues on Kauaʻi. The next trainings will be on December 1 on Lānaʻi and December 15 in Waiʻanae, Oʻahu.

In July, Professor and Founding Director Melody K. MacKenzie taught a week-long course on Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Montana School of Law in Missoula. Assistant Professor of Law Monte Mills invited Melody to participate in Montana’s Summer American Indian and Indigenous Law Program.

On May 31, Ka Huli Ao Director Kapua Sproat discussed water rights and the future of fresh water on Molokaʻi with host Kuʻuwehi Hiraishi in “Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Hears Molokaʻi Water Rights Case” on Hawaii Public Radio.