Kaʻū News Briefs Jan. 19, 2025

Land maps show numerous Hawaiian names and some families are filing court claims.

CLAIMING FAMILY HAWAIIAN LANDS in the courts can lead families to gaining access to the properties that were assumed lost long ago to sugar companies and nowadays to developers and other entities. That was some of the messaging among Hawaiian families who met on Sunday at the Herkes Kaʻū Distrct Gym Activities Room to learn how to fill out forms claiming land.

Lanakila Willard teaches Hawaiian
families to file land claims.

    Leading the group was Lanakila Willard, who has helped Hawaiians to retrieve their lands that have titles dating back to the Hawaiian Kingdom. A resident of Maui, who regularly meets with Kaʻū native Hawaiians on land issues, her volunteer work dates back to 1978 at Hawai'i's last state Constitutional Convention.
    She is known for her work across the state and especially Maui where she took on large property owners set on developing lands, including those with Native Hawaiian titles that included names from her family and others dating back to the Hawaiian Kingdom.
    Earl Louis of Pāhala attended the meeting and said that Willard helped him and that he is once again taking care of a heiau on his family lands from Hawaiian Kingdom Days, after being evicted several years ago. Louis and Willard encouraged other

Earl Louis who encourages Hawaiians to
file court claims for family lands.
Photo by Julia Neal

Hawaiians to know their geneaology and to find family names listed on the properties on maps of Kaʻū. She said that for Native Hawaiians to be recognized as having a claim to their family lands, they must be able to show ancestry back to the names on the properties, which can be through birth certificates, death certificates, notes in family Bibles, affidavits from people who remember who was born to whom and other evidence.
    On Sunday she focused on a group of Hawaiians who have been attending her meetings explaining how they can document their ties to the land and complete their filings to the court. She said she will be back for another session in February and encouraged Hawaiians to invite other Hawaiians to attend. She noted that many Hawaiian descendants of those who owned Hawaiian properties in Kingdom Days each have rights to the properties and can file for them separately, with each having proportional rights depending on the number of descendants.
     Willard said the top priority is the proof of the inheritance of the properties, rather than which developer or other entity now claims to own them. In the past, sugar companies and others went to court to quiet title properties after paying property taxes and growing sugar or conducting other enterprise. Many times Hawaiian families did not know about the court cases and lost for not showing up.

      Willard can be reached at pinehakatrust@gmail.com or call 808-280-3576.

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Cynthia Mantaleone with gold medal in
Masters Track & Field Indoor Heptathalon

CYNTHIA MANTALEONE, 48, of Nāʻālehu, just won the U.S. Adult Track & Field Masters Indoor Combined Events National Championship gold medal in the women’s 45-49 Heptathlon. The Track & Field meet took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Jan. 11-12. This win makes her ranked #1 in the world for Women Masters in both indoor Heptathlon and outdoor Decathlon, which recently opened up to women, said a statement from her team.

     Manaleone is connected to the new management and ownership of Hana Hou Restaurant in Nāʻālehu.

To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see facebook.com/kaucalendar. See upcoming events, print edition and archive at kaunews.com.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION TO VOLCANO AWARENESS MONTH ART & POETRY CONTEST is Monday, Jan. 20. The contest celebrates recognizing the dynamic volcanic landscapes of Hawaiʻi nei.
    "We welcome submissions from Kamaʻaina, visitors, anyone with an interest in Hawai'i’s volcanoes," says the statement from the organizers at USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. See more information at https://d9-wret.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets/palladium/production/s3fs-public/media/files/2025_VAM_art_poetry_contest_final.pdf

5,000 delivered in the mail, 2,500 on the streets.