TheGreat Māhele ("to divide or portion") or just theMāhele was theHawaiianland redistribution proposed by KingKamehameha III. The Māhele was one of the most important episodes ofHawaiian history, second only to theoverthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. While intended to provide secure title to indigenous Hawaiians, it separated many of them from their land.[1]
The 1839 Hawaiian Bill of Rights, also known as the1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was an attempt by Kamehameha III and his chiefs to guarantee that the Hawaiian people would not lose their tenured land, and provided the groundwork for afree enterprise system.[2] The document, which had an attached code of laws, was drafted by Lahainaluna missionary school alumnusBoaz Mahune, revised by the Council of Chiefs and by Kamehameha III in June 1839.[3]
The1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii established aconstitutional monarchy. It stated that the land belonged to its people and was to be managed by the king.[4] It established executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. The document establishedallodial title property rights which maintained the lands in the hands of Hawaiian subjects tomālama (nurture and sustain).[5]
In order to protect Hawaiian lands from foreigners, Kamehameha III divided the lands among all the people of Hawaiʻi,aliʻi,konohiki andmakaʻainana alike.[3] The Mahele changed the previous land system under which thekuleana (responsibility and obligation) tomālamaʻāina was given by themōʻī (king) to analiʻi nui (high chief), his subordinatealiʻi andkonohiki who received taxes and tribute from the people who worked the land collectively. Private land ownership did not exist.
The Māhele came into effect on March 7, 1848. It allocated one-third of the land to themōʻī (monarch), known asHawaiian crown lands. Another third was allocated among thealiʻi andkonohiki (chiefs and managers of eachahupuaʻa (traditional land division running from the coast to the mountaintop). The remaining one-third was given to themakaʻāinana (common people). The law required land claims to be filed within two years under theKuleana Act of 1850. Many Hawaiians made no claim.[6]
Most of the land was sold by the government of theRepublic of Hawaii to settlers from thecontinental United States or auctioned to theBig Five corporations.[7]
While opponentsKamehameha IV,Kamehameha V and missionary physicianGerrit Judd were traveling, on July 10, 1850 the legislature passed the Alien Land Ownership Act. It allowed foreigners to hold title to land. The Act was written byChief Justice William Little Lee. The justification was the promise of prosperity resulting from an influx of capital and labor.[8][9]
TheKuleana Act of 1850 allowed commoners to petition for title to land that they cultivated and lived on, similar to thehomesteading laws used to manage land tenure interritories of the United States in the nineteenth century. It abolished the right of cultivation and pasturage on the larger, common lands, title of which went to the chief, the crown or the government.[10]
Ownership of land was a previously unknown concept for ordinary Hawaiians. Many did not understand the need to make a claim for land where they already lived and/or worked. Communication depended upon word-of-mouth or literacy. Making a claim required money to pay for a pre-claim land survey. The system required two witnesses to confirm that the claimant had worked the land.[11]
About 18,000 plots of 3acres (1.2hectares) each were successfully claimed,[12][13] representing 28,658 acres (11,597 hectares), or less than 1% of Hawaii’s land area, partly because of the natives' unfamiliarity with the concept of ownership and private land.[14] The Kingdom's native population at the time was some 82,000.[15] Members of higher classes andaliʻi obtained most Hawaiian land. Many successful claimants later lost their property due to the ongoing effect ofWestern diseases andproperty taxes.[12][13]
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