Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 7, 1 July 2015 — Ruling addresses fair compensation for use of ceded lands [ARTICLE]

Ruling addresses fair compensation for use of ceded lands

Contributed by Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

The Napeahi v. Paty case involved the use of ceded lands by a private enterprise without just compensation. Hawai'i's "ceded lands trust" took root in 1848 when the Kingdom of Hawai'i created two categories of landholdings for itself, Government Lands owned by the government, and the Crown Lands, whieh heeame the personal real property of the Ali'i. In 1959theselandswere"ceded"tothe State of Hawai'i as a condition of statehood and the tmst nature of these lands was further articulated. And so, according to the Admissions Act, one of the five purposes of the ceded lands trust is "the betterment of the conditions of Native Hawaiians, as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920." Unfortunately, since statehood, the state of Hawai'i has consistently

failed to honor its trust duties toward the cededlands trust andNative Hawaiians. Henee, in 1985, Mervin Napeahi was forced to file a lawsuit against the Department of Land and Natural Resources because the state had allowed a luxury hotel on the island of Hawai'i to use 1.8 acres of cededlands absent just compensation. The Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor or Mr. Napeahi by holding that the 1.8 acres was part of the ceded lands trust and that the state was required but failed to obtain just eompensation for its use. When the State fails to collect just compensation for the use of cededlands, the level of support forNative Hawaiian programs is diminished. ■ Thi.s is pctrt ofa series of case highlights provided by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation.

www.oha.org/kwo | kwo@OHA.org NATIVE HAWAIIAN » NEWS | FEATURES | EVENTS