Book
Native land and foreign desires: pejea la e pono ai?
Bishop Museum Press • Honolulu • Published In 1992 • Pages:
By: Kame'eleihiwa, Lilikalā.
Abstract
The 1848 privatization of land known as the MAHELE was the deathblow to traditional Hawaiian society, according to the author, Kame'eleihiwa. Once in the private hands of capital-poor or indebted families the land was easily bought by wealthier foreigners, who had imposed on the government the rights of noncitizens to own land. Kame'eleihiwa discusses the gradual process in which foreign missionaries gained the confidence of the king, control of the government, and ownership of land; writing the new constitution and property laws, as well. In the traditional land tenure system high chiefs (ALI'I NUI) acted as stewards (MALAMA) to the land and all land was returned to the king for reallocation when the chief died. However, this system began to unravel with the weakening of the king and the chiefs began to pass on their holdings to their heirs. No doubt, the greatest blow to Haiwaiian way of life was the loss of a two-thirds of the population in the first 50 years of contact.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2003
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Polynesia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Types
- Historian
- Indigenous Person
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 2002
- Field Date
- not specified
- Coverage Date
- 1798-1975
- Coverage Place
- Hawaii
- Notes
- Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa
- Includes bibliographical references (392-405) and index
- LCCN
- 91073875
- LCSH
- Hawaiians