- November 7, 2019 – Ka Hulina Au: The Changing Time. Ka Huli Ao’s final Maoli Thursday of the Fall 2019 semester featured Dr. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, the Dean of Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge. He spoke about a seminal event in Hawaiʻi’s history, the ending of the ʻai kapu (religious eating restrictions) by Kamehameha II. The transition to ʻai noa (free eating) symbolized a shift away from old traditions and beliefs in a time of great and rapid change. Now, 200 years later, he reflected on the significance of that event and the influential role of the high ranking female chiefs involved, Kaʻahumanu and Keōpūolani. The event was moderated by law student Kaulu Luʻuwai ’21.
L to R: Kapuaʻala Sproat, Kaʻulu Luʻuwai, Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, Susan Serrano
- October 22, 2019 – Legal Challenges at Maunakea: Disrupting the Status Quo. Ka Huli Ao and the Evening Part Time Program presented a special evening Maoli Tuesday on Oct. 22. Speakers included: Bianca Isaki, an attorney representing Native Hawaiian practitioners who are asking the Land Use Commission to declare that the cumulative development on Maunakea is incompatible with the current land use classification as a conservation district; and Halealoha Ayau, a water resource management specialist with the Department of Hawaiian Homelands who questions the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation’s jurisdiction over the Maunakea Access Road. Both panelists bring renewed attention to legal issues that have developed out of the current efforts to protect Maunakea. Second Year Law Student Liʻipiʻilani Stevens Nāhiwa moderated.
L to R: Liam Skilling ʻ07, Halealoha Ayau, Letani G. Peltier ʻ17, law student Liʻipiʻilani Stevens Nāhiwa, Bianca Isaki ʻ13
- October 3, 2019 – The Duty to Mālama ʻĀina: Pōhakuloa and Beyond. Panelists explored Ching v. Case, which affirmed the First Circuit Court’s pathbreaking ruling that the State failed its duty to mālama ʻāina 22,971 acres of public trust land at Pōhakuloa. They also placed in context the use of Pōhakuloa for live-fire military training in light of Hawaiʻi’s historic and ongoing militarization. Panelists included: Dr. Huihui Kanahele-Mossman, Ph.D., Director of Research and Innovation for the Edith Kanakaʻole Foundation; David Kimo Frankel, 1992 WSRSL graduate, who has worked extensively on environmental and Native Hawaiian legal issues; and Kyle Kajihiro, Ph.D. candidate in Geography and Environment at UH Mānoa, where he focuses on the impacts of militarization and resistance in Hawaiʻi. Rhiannon Tereariʻi Chandler-ʻIao, Post-JD Fellow at Ka Huli Ao, moderated.
L to R: Kyle Kajihiro, Rhiannon Tereariʻi Chandler-ʻIao, David Kimo Frankel, Dr. Huihui Kanahele-Mossman
- September 5, 2019 – Kapu Aloha: Exploring Native Hawaiian Legal and Cultural Perspectives on Maunakea. Speakers at this semester’s first Maoli Thursday provided complex historical, legal, cultural, and scientific perspectives on Maunakea, and considered how Native Hawaiian traditional and customary practices support Kapu Aloha and the struggle for self-determination. Panelists included Dr. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Dean of Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge; Jocelyn Doane, Public Policy Manager at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; and Dr. Rosie Alegado, Associate Professor of Oceanography and Sea Grant. Second year law student Liʻipiʻilani Stevens Nāhiwa moderated, and Prof. Kapuaʻala Sproat, Director of Ka Huli Ao, introduced the panel.
L to R: Dr. Rosie Alegado, Prof. Kapuaʻala Sproat, Dr. Jonathan Kay Kamakawiwoʻole Osorio, Jocelyn Doane, law student Liʻipiʻilani Stevens Nāhiwa
- April 4, 2019 – Panel and Film Screening of “Out of State.” Ka Huli Ao presented two screenings of and a panel presentation on “Out of State,” a film about Native Hawaiian prisoners shipped to a for-profit prison in the Arizona desert. The panel featured Director Ciara Lacy and Producer & ʻ05 Law School graduate Beau Bassett, and was moderated by Hawaiʻi Innocence Project Co-Director Professor Kenneth Lawson.
- L to R: Hawaiʻi Innocence Project Co-Director Professor Kenneth Lawson, Producer & ʻ05 Law School graduate Beau Bassett, Director Ciara Lacy.
- March 6, 2019 – Judicial Renewal in East Africa: Environmental Justice, Indigenous Rights, and Sustainability. Ka Huli Ao, the Environmental Law Program and the Law School co-sponsored a special Maoli Thursday with the 2019 International Jurist-In-Residence, The Honorable Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, the current and 4th President of the East African Court of Justice (EAJ) located in Arusha, Tanzania. Justice Ugirashebuja was appointed Judge of Appeal by the Summit of the EAC Heads of State in November 2013 and subsequently appointed the Judge President of the EAJ in June 2014 for a seven-year term. Justice Ugirashebuja served as Dean of the Law School, University of Rwanda; Member of the Superior Council of Judiciary; Member of the Supreme Council of Prosecution; Senior Lecturer at the National University of Rwanda; Member of the Team of Experts in the East African Community on Fears, Challenges and Concerns towards the East African Political Federation; Legal Advisor at the Rwanda Environment Authority; and Legal Advisor at the Rwandan Constitution Commission.
The Honorable Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja, President, East African Court of Justice.
- February 12, 2019 – Aloha ʻĀina: Kahoʻolawe and the Hawaiian Renaissance. Ka Huli Ao and the Law School’s Evening-Part Time Program hosted a “Maoli Tuesday” panel discussion on the movement to stop the bombing of Kahoʻolawe and return the island to the people of Hawaiʻi. This panel explored the early days of the Hawaiian renaissance and the impact of Kahoʻolawe on current struggles to aloha ʻāina and protect the natural and cultural resources of Hawaiʻi. Panelists included: Gov. John D. Waiheʻe III, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, and OHA Public Policy Manager Jocelyn M. Doane. The panel was moderated by Prof. Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie.
L to R: Professor Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie, Dr. Noa Emmett Aluli, Gov. John D. Waiheʻe III, Evening-Part Time Program Director Liam Skilling, OHA Public Policy Manager Jocelyn M. Doane.