The United States government intentionally mistranslated and distorted the meaning of royal patent allodial titles from the Hawaiian Kingdom. The original Hawaiian term "‘ano ‘allodio" meant land held absolutely — free from taxes, government seizure, or outside control. But when these titles were translated into English, they were downgraded to "fee simple", a term from British law that allows the state to tax, regulate, and even take back land. This wasn’t just a mistake — it was a calculated move to erase Native land rights and break the legal bond between Kānaka Maoli and their ʻāina.

By turning true land ownership into a system of revocable permissions, the U.S. government stripped Native Hawaiians of their rightful homes and lands. This betrayal is a direct cause of today’s houselessness crisis, as many Kānaka Maoli are forced off land their families legally own through original land awards. The U.S. continues to violate both its own laws and international law, while pretending to uphold justice — all while displacing the original people of this land. 

Hawaiʻi Revised Statute § 172-11 affirms that land patents issued from original Land Commission Awards remain legally tied to the heirs and assigns of the original awardees — many of whom are Native Hawaiian kūpuna. Despite this legal framework, these same kūpuna are being forcibly removed, criminalized, or left houseless on lands that their ancestors were lawfully awarded and never relinquished. This contradiction reveals a systemic failure to uphold both state-recognized property rights and the dignity of our elders. Compounding this injustice is the criminal inflation driven by speculative development, tourism, and foreign investment — making it nearly impossible for Native Hawaiians to remain in their own homeland. By ignoring § 172-11 and allowing inflated land values to dictate who can stay, the state not only disregards legal obligations, but also violates the basic human rights and well-being of our kūpuna. This is not just a housing issue — it is a breach of generational land rights and a continuation of historical displacement.

We call upon the State of Hawaiʻi and every committee within each City Council: you are in the wrong when you do not abide by the law. Each committee has disregarded Hawaiʻi Revised Statute §172-11, and in doing so, you have failed in your duty to uphold justice and the law of this land.

We urge you to release the land documents and return the lands to where they rightfully belong. Before you draft or pass another bill, we call on you to first return the land documents and the ʻāina itself back to the kanaka, for we are in dire need of this return. If one kanaka and their descendants can have their ancestral lands, then all kanaka and their descendants must have theirs as well. Justice for one must mean justice for all.

For far too long, this information has been hidden and suppressed. We call on the State of Hawaiʻi to mail out these documents so that the rightful descendants can be found, and the truth can no longer be denied.

It is important to note that the Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) and the Hawaiian Homes Commission do not hold Royal Patent Allodial Title to these lands. The lands rightfully belong to the descendants of the original royal patentees, and the law must honor that sacred trust. Instead they operate using crown lands knowing the parcels of land they have purchased or leased out have already been given to the people by the King, under royal patent allodial title. Hence the land buying scheme that is imposed on the subjects of the kingdom is immoral and illegal under King Kamehameha's constitution and even under U.S constitution. 

Ke Kumu Kanawai, or the Constitution of Hawaiʻi, was the foundation of law established by King Kamehameha III in 1840, marking the first written constitution of Hawaiʻi. It drew heavily from Hawaiian tradition while also incorporating Western legal frameworks, blending kanawai (laws rooted in Native Hawaiian values of balance, justice, and pono) with constitutional monarchy principles. One example of earlier law that influenced this system was the Kanawai Kolowalu of Aliʻi Kualiʻi, which required farmers and fishermen to feed strangers and protect the hungry, ensuring compassion and safety for all people in the land. 

This ethic of caring for community and visitors alike affirmed that authority was not only divine but also bound by kuleana, the responsibility to serve the people. If revived today, this law could directly help the subjects of the kingdom by addressing hunger, homelessness, and inequality, reminding leaders and citizens alike that the well being of every individual strengthens the lāhui. The Kanawai of 1840 further established separation of powers, creating a king, a council of chiefs, and later, legislative and judicial branches, mirroring Western systems while grounded in Hawaiian belief in balance and responsibility. Thus, the Kumu Kanawai became not just a legal framework but a bridge between ancestral law, embodied in protections like Kualiʻi’s Kanawai Kolowalu, and the constitutional monarchy that carried Hawaiʻi forward while continuing to inspire justice and care for the people today.