Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 19, Number 9, 1 September 2002 — LEKA Kālele KWO FOCUS LETTER [ARTICLE]

LEKA Kālele KWO FOCUS LETTER

This letter is in reply to John S. Bertrand's letter titled "Crown Heads Sold Crown Lands" printed in the Garden Isle Times Aug .13. He is correct that those Hanamaulu lands are royal crown lands. Where I difFer is that since these were crown lands, they were never meant to be sold. Lihu'e Plantation acquired these crown lands from the Charles Rice family in exchange for stock. The Rice family had purchased Hanamaulu from the estate ofVictoria Kamāmalu, the sister of Kamehameha IV and Kamehameha V. She was well-landed, owning property as vast as all the high chiefs together. These crown lands were awarded to Kamamalu's estate by a Land Commission controlled by foreign influences who conspiredto take crown lands fortheir own personal use. The state and Bishop Museum archives as well as the James Robinson estate records document that this is how huge tracts of Hawaiian lands changed hands. This is why I believe that acquisition of crown lands did not warrant clear title. After Kamāmalu's death, her estate was mortgaged

to secure the payment of a certain promissory note of $13,500. James Robinson and partner Robert Lawrence putupthe money and held as collateral several ahupua'a. All this was by order of the Hawai'i Supreme Court, dominated by foreigners. Some of the lands were later sold to pay ofF some oF the debt; James Robinson and partner kept some; the remainder was awarded in probate to Ruth Ke'elikolani. Princess Ruth died soon after she inherited the crown lands, leaving them to her cousin Bernice Pauahi. Those Kamāmalu lands, royal crown lands, are now known as the Bishop Estate. I have documents, and also records from the James Robinson Estate. My cousin Watty Hedemann and my brother William Lemke, Family historians, provided me with the information — an enlightenment to the facts, as my family was involved in those troubled times. Paul D. Lem ke Kapa 'a