Kali Watson, attorney and Director of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands & Chair of the Hawaiian Homes Commission, joins producer/host Coralie Chun Matayoshi to discuss the history of Hawaiian home lands, who qualifies as a beneficiary, and why it is taking so long to get beneficiaries off of the waitlist. Q.  There are over 24,000 Native Hawaiian beneficiaries still waiting for housing and 2,000 have died while on the waitlist.  Give us a brief history of Hawaiian home lands and why it is taking so long? Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 – after the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, about 1.8 million acres of the former kingdom land was taken without compensation. Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana’ole, considered the father of the Hawaiian Homes program and Hawaii’s then-nonvoting delegate to Congress, wanted to use some of the former kingdom lands to create a land trust to protect and improve the lives of native Hawaiians.  This led to the enactment of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920 by the U.S. Congress which led to the creation of a Hawaiian Homes Commission to administer Hawaiian homelands for homesteads.  Over 200,000 acres of land that belonged to the Hawaiian Kingdom was placed into the trust.  Upon statehood in 1959, Congress transferred title to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust to the State and reserved the right to sue the State of Hawaii for breaches of trust relating to the Hawaiian Home Lands Trust. Over 60% of the 200,000 acres of land granted long ago may never have any homes for Native Hawaiians built on it because about 60,000 acres are in conservation areas that contain endangered species and cultural resources or may be geologically unsuitable for development.  Another 65,00 acres lack infrastructure needed to support homes. ·         Hawaiian Homes Recovery Act of 1995 - required the federal government to replace land that was designated for homesteads over a century ago.  Even though 900 acres of federal land was transferred, the Ewa Beach parcel is the first piece of land that DHHL finds feasible to develop for homesteads, and only a third of the 80 acres can be used for housing based on current flood and projected tsunami risk and sea level rise. ·         Class Action Kalima v. State lawsuit settlement (2020) - $328 million settlement in class action lawsuit by 2,700 plaintiffs against the state for mismanaging public land trust in late 1990’s. Over a third have already died. ·         $600 million settlement in 1995 - Governor Waihee’s administration secured a $600 million settlement from the state to compensate DHHL for misuse of trust lands in the years following statehood ($30M each year for next 20 yrs). ·         Waitlist Reduction Act of 2022 (Act 279) - the State Legislature appropriated a $600 million lump sum to provide housing to help reduce the over 29,000 applicants still on the waitlist. Q.  Who qualifies as a beneficiary and why has it been so difficult to get people off the waiting list? Must be at least 18 years old and 50% Native Hawaiian and can only pass down to relatives that are at least 25% Native Hawaiian. Majority of beneficiaries on waitlist cannot afford down payment on home and don’t have enough income for a mortgage. To learn more about this subject, tune into this video podcast. Disclaimer:  this material is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.  The law varies by jurisdiction and is constantly changing.  For legal advice, you should consult a lawyer that can apply the appropriate law to the facts in your case.