Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 29, Number 5, 1 May 2012 — Ensuring access to justice and protection for ancestral lands [ARTICLE]

Ensuring access to justice and protection for ancestral lands

By Stephanie Chen \ative Hawaiians are preparing to protect their land interests by learning about Hawai'i land law with a focus on quiet title, partition and adverse possession law. This is possible through the A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative, a partnership between the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa William S. Richardson School of Law. Quiet title, partition and adverse possession are legal actions that are often used to clear title to and divide interests in land, meaning that ownership of the lands is disputed in court - sometimes with inadequate notice to those with an ownership interest. Historically, these legal actions have been used to dispossess Native Hawaiian families and individuals of their legal interests in ancestral lands. The A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative seeks to address this inequity through three means: by publishing a primer on land-title actions, providing direct informational assistance for pro se defendants (individuals who are representing themselves in a lawsuit) and by involving the law students through legal clinics. The primer on land title actions aims to educate the larger Native Hawaiian community about the quiet-title and partition processes, and empower individuals to take action by providing some of the tools necessary to effectively participate in these processes. Onee the primer is published, community workshops will be held on O'ahu, Maui, Moloka'i, Kaua'i and Hawai'i Island to distribute copies to OHA beneficiaries and provide more information on how to use the primer effectively. The primer will be published in the summer of 2012, with the community workshops held thereafter.

The second facet of the initiative is year-round direct informational assistance for pro se defendants in specific quiet title, partition and/or adverse-pos-session cases. The initiative currently involved in a quiet-title and partition action involving hundreds of Native Hawaiians who have interests in two parcels of ancestral land on Moloka'i's East End. The goal of the initiative is to provide enough informational assistance to pro se defendants so that eaeh person ean make informed decisions about whether and how to proceed with the case. If a pro se defendant chooses to participate in the case, then the initiative's next goal is to provide enough information so that he or she ean effectively participate in the legal process. The third aspect of the project involves legal clinics. The legal clinics confront complicated access-to-justice issues by providing informational assistance to pro se defendants, who are also OHA beneficiaries, through community outreach and education workshops. In Fall 201 1, professor Kapua Sproat and I eotaught the Environmental Law Clinic. The elinie explored the intersection between natural and cultural resource preservation - especially the relationship between Western legal methods of securing land title and the conservation of Native Hawaiian ancestral lands. Under our direction, nine law students facilitated three community outreach and education workshops on O'ahu, Moloka'i and Maui. This semester, professor Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie and I are eoteaching the Native Hawaiian Rights Clinic. Students continued the Environmental Law Clinic's efforts with a focus on the intersection of Native Hawaiian rights, Western legal methods of securing land title, and the conservation of ancestral lands. Nine students facilitated three additional community XI ANGESTRAL LANDS ON PAGE 12

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outreach and education workshops on O'ahu, Moloka'i andMaui. By learning about land title actions and access-to-justice issues, students heeome better attorneys and advocates for the Native Hawaiian community. They also develop a better understanding of the difficulties of accessing the justice system. The A'o Aku A'o Mai Initiative truly is a community effort. The initiative is extremely grateful to the many scholars and community members who have volunteered their valuable time, expertise and assistance. Through the primer on land title actions, individual informational assistance for pro se defendants in specific land-related cases, and legal clinics at the William S. Richardson School of

Law, the A'o Aku A'o Mai Iniīiative aims to have a lasting legacy that will benefit our community into the future. ■ Stephanie Chen is a post-juris doctor research and teachingfeIIow at Ka Huli Ao Center for Exceīīenee in Native Hawaiian Law.

Estabīished with federaī funding in 2005 at the Wiīīiam S. Richardson School ofLaw, Ka Huli Ao is an academic center that promotes education, scholarship, eommunity outreach and coīīaboration on issues oflaw, culture and justicefor Native Hawaiians and otherPacific and Indigenous peoples.

Quiet title, partition and adverse possession are legal actions often used to clear title to and divide interests in land, meaning that ownership of the lands is disputed in court — sometimes with inadequate notice to those with an ownership interest.