Native America Calling: Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit

Indianz.Com > News > Native America Calling: Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit

Native America Calling

Listen to Native America Calling every weekday at 1pm Eastern.

Alternate Links: Native Voice One | NAC

Native America Calling: Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit

Tuesday, June 9, 2026

nativeamericacalling.com nativeamericacalling nativeamericacalling

Lawsuit threatens unique century-old Native Hawaiian land benefit

A racial discrimination lawsuit filed by a non-Native resident of Hawaii threatens to dismantle a Native Hawaiian land benefit established by Congress more than a century ago.

The suit challenges the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1921, a federal law reserving more than 200,000 acres of land in a public trust for Hawaii’s Native population. Residents need to prove they have a 50 percent blood quantum to qualify for 99-year lease.

The non-Native plaintiff argues he was denied a lease based on an unconstitutional racial preference. The case is one in a series of challenges for similar benefits including school admissions and a health studies scholarship, all giving preference for Native Hawaiians, who do not share the same political protections as Native Americans.

Tune into Native America Calling to discuss how the lawsuits bring issues of equity, blood quantum, and historic land dispossession to the forefront.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands holds a blessing ceremony at Hale o Kumumamo, the first transitional housing facility for Native Hawaiians experiencing houselessness, in Kalaeloa, Hawaii, on December 29, 2026. Photo: DHHL

Guests on Native America Calling

Robin Danner (Native Hawaiian), senior advisor to the Sovereign Council of Hawaiian Homestead Association

Elizabeth Ho’oipo Pa Nakea (Native Hawaiian), attorney, founding president of Hui Na’auao, and executive director of the Native Hawaiian Advisory Council

Patrick Kahawaiolaa (Native Hawaiian), homesteader and elder

Derek Kauanoe (Native Hawaiian), assistant professor of law at the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa