Land return
Hawaiian Home Lands (Hawaii, distinct legal context)
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
The Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, signed July 9, 1921, set aside about 200,000 acres for Native Hawaiian homesteads; the state now runs about 204,000.
- Nation
- Native Hawaiians
- Where
- Hawaii
- Acres
- 203,981
- Began
- 1921
- Status
- Ongoing program
What happened
Hawaiian Home Lands is a program of leasing land to Native Hawaiians. It is a different legal context from federally recognized tribal land: it comes from an act of Congress and is run by the State of Hawai'i, not from a treaty or a reservation.
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) says Congress passed the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, and President Warren Harding signed it on July 9, 1921 (42 Stat. 108). DHHL says that through the Act the United States set aside approximately 200,000 acres to establish a permanent homeland for native Hawaiians. It quotes Prince Kuhio, the leader of the effort, writing that the only method to rehabilitate the race was to place them back upon the soil.
Under the Act, DHHL says, native Hawaiians are defined as individuals having at least 50 percent Hawaiian blood. The department provides 99-year homestead leases at an annual rental of $1, which a 1990 state law allowed to be extended to an aggregate of 199 years. Leases are for residential, agricultural or pastoral purposes.
According to a DHHL page, the department is responsible for 203,981 acres of trust lands, 10,045 homestead leases, and 47,086 lease applications by 29,451 native Hawaiian beneficiaries. DHHL lists housing development among its priorities, citing Act 279's $600 million. Its own page, not an independent source, supplies these figures.
Good to know. These are 99-year homestead leases run by a state agency, not tribal land. The Act is dated 1920 but was signed in 1921; figures come from the agency and change over time.
Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error
What the sources say, and how this was checked
Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.
signed into law by President Warren Harding on July 9, 1921 (chapter 42, 42 Stat. 108)
Governing Documents: Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (DHHL)the United States set aside approximately 200,000 acres of land to establish a permanent homeland for native Hawaiians
About (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands)99-year homestead leases at an annual rental of $1
Governing Documents: Hawaiian Homes Commission Act (DHHL)The department is responsible for 203,981 acres of trust lands, 10,045 homestead leases, and 47,086 lease applications by 29,451 native Hawaiian beneficiaries.
About (Department of Hawaiian Home Lands)
Research notes. All facts come from the state agency's own pages; no independent source was opened. DHHL's figures change over time (other state documents give different totals). The Act is named for 1920 but DHHL says it was signed in 1921. The "native Hawaiian" definition (50 percent blood quantum) is the Act's, as DHHL states it. Hawai'i is a distinct legal context from U.S. tribal treaty land.
Who is doing the work
Working with these nations
- Aloha Kuamo'o 'Aina Native-led Owns and restores a 47-acre historic site at Kuamo'o purchased for conservation in 2015 with Trust for Public Land Give on their site Website
- KAHEA: The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance Native-led Protection of sacred summits, cultural rights and the 'aina Give on their site Website
- Kulāiwi Land Trust Native-led Return of Native Hawaiian lands to Native Hawaiians for culture, education, health and wellbeing Give on their site Website
- Paepae o He'eia Native-led Stewardship of He'eia Fishpond (land is owned by Kamehameha Schools; Paepae manages it), education and food production Give on their site Website
Native legal and land defense, nationally
- Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
- NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
- Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
- Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website
Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.
Corrections to this record
- The year was listed as “1920”; corrected from dhhl.hawaii.gov
signed into law by President Warren Harding on July 9, 1921 (chapter 42, 42 Stat. 108)
Connections
Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Nations named 1
- Native Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli)suggested
Located in 1
- Hawaiisuggested
Policy era 1
- Allotment and Assimilation1887suggested
Supported by 1
Sources
- dhhl.hawaii.gov/about/reference work
- dhhl.hawaii.gov/about/government/reference work
signed into law by President Warren Harding on July 9, 1921 (chapter 42, 42 Stat. 108)
- Kind
- Land return
- Confidence
- High
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation
- Notes
- Distinct legal context