Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, 1 September 1982 — HAWAIIANS WIN ONE [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HAWAIIANS WIN ONE

In its efforts lo better the conditions of Native Hawaiians, the Office of Hawaiian A ffairs set up the Native Hawaiian Land Title Project. OHA contracted with the NHLC to provide legal services lo those who need help in defending their titles to or interests in real property in Hawaii. NHLC is a non-profit tax-exempt corporation whosesole purpose is ihe protection and preservation of Native Hawaiian legal rights. Although the great majority of cases are still pending litigation, a few cases have been settled successfully. Following is one such success story. In 1936, the State needed various bits of land to eomplete Farrington Highway in Waianae. One of the bits of land that they needed belonged to Kuhia Hui. Kuhia allowed the State to use a small slice of his property for the road and the State agreed to pay him for the property or give him land in exchange. The highway was completed but Kuhia never was compensated in any way. Kuhia died a few years later and the State still had'nt gotten around to compensating him. Finally, in 1978, 42 years later, the State discovered that they had never acquired legal title to Kuhia Hui's slice of property and they filed a lawsuit to condemn the property. However, they wanted to pay for

the land at 1936 values. Since the Hui family had forgotten all about this little deal that their grandfather had made with the State, they considered just giving the land to the State for nothing, but the state attorney rubbed them the wrong way so they decided to try to get a reasonable price for the land. Kuhia's granddaughter,and Miriam Dunaway, cameto NHLC for help in settling the question of land value. The legal title to the land was admittedly theirs but what the land was worth was the major question. The State wanted to pay the Hui family the 1936 value of lOe per square foot and settle on them the grand total of $130.00 for 1,621 square feet of land. NHLC went to court for the Huis and argued that the land should be valued at 1978 prices. The judge sided with the Huis and NHLC and agreed that they deserved 1 978 values for their property. An appraiser was hired and he valued the land at $7.00 per square foot to award the Huis a total sum of 1 1,350, more than nine times the 1936 value that theState wanted to give them. After their award settlement, the Huis reimbursed the OHA fund at the OHA-subsidized

rate of $40.00/ hour for attorney's fees + costs. This money went back into the Public Land T rust F und to be used for other worthy Native Hawaiian causes. In addilion to its work wiih the OHA Native Hawaiian Land Title Project, NHLC has a grant from ihe Legal Services Corporation to provide free legal services to low ineome Hawaiians or part Hawaiiam with very special problems or concerns whieh are typical of problems or concerns facing a large number of persons of Hawaiian ancestry. If you have a problem that will impact on Hawaiiam in a significant way and set legal precedents, eall NHLC at 521-2302 for an appoinlmeni. For instance, have you ever been denied access to your kuleana land? Or have you had any serious problems wiih being able to gather or hunt? What about practicing traditional Hawaiian religion or engaging in traditional Hawaiian cultural pursuits? Do you have a problem with water or mineral rights? A nd finally do you have a really important kind of problem with Hawaiian Homes? Remember, if your case is one that will help make new law, contact NHLC at 521-2302.

Native Hawaiian Study Commission U.S. Department of lnterior 18 C St. Northwest Rm. 6220 Washington D.C. 20240 I want to respond to the Native Study Commission's Draft Report. — me ke aloha,

U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye visited the office recently to discuss major issues concerning the Hawaiian Community on the congressional level.