Key dates leading up to and following the Kalima v. State class-action lawsuit:
1920-1959:
1921-1959: More than 30,000 acres are pulled from trust via executive orders by territorial governors without proper authority. Land used for military, a game reserve and other purposes.
1921: On July 9, Congress passes the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act of 1920, establishing a federal trust of roughly 200,000 acres to be used to get eligible Native Hawaiians onto homestead lots. President Warren G. Harding, right, signs the measure into law.
THE STATUTE
Amended over the years:
>> Enables Native Hawaiians with at least 50 percent blood quantum to return to their lands to promote economic self-sufficiency and self-determination.
>> Authorizes 99-year homestead leases to be awarded “in a prompt and efficient manner” for $1 annually for residential, farming or ranching uses.
>> Prevents sale of the lands so they will always be held in trust for continued use by beneficiaries in perpetuity.
>> Requires adequate water and other infrastructure so the land will be usable and accessible.
>> Calls for financial support and other assistance to beneficiaries to help sustain their traditions, culture and quality of life.
1959: As a condition of statehood, the state assumes responsibility to manage the Hawaiian home lands trust. Title to the lands is transferred to the state, but the federal government remains a co-trustee. The state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is established to manage the trust and the 1920 act is made part of Hawaii’s Constitution.
1959: William F. Quinn, above, begins his term as governor and serves until 1962.
1960-1979:
1962: John A. Burns, above, begins his term as governor and serves until 1974.
1970: More than 2,800 applicants are on the homestead waitlist.
1974: The trespassing arrests of Sonny Kaniho and other Native Hawaiian activists on the Big Island bring attention to the plight of thousands of beneficiaries who have waited years for homesteads. The protesters occupied DHHL land in Waimea that had been leased to Parker Ranch.
1974: George Ariyoshi, above, begins his term as governor and serves until 1986.
1978: State amends its Constitution to provide full funding to Hawaiian home lands programs. But in the years since, the state has been criticized for falling far short of this requirement.
1980-1999:
1983: Federal-state task force concludes the state is failing to meet its fiduciary obligations to Native Hawaiian beneficiaries. Among problems noted:
>> Nearly 8,000 applicants are on homestead waitlist. The state and federal governments should each appropriate $25 million annually for five years to accelerate awarding of homesteads. An estimated $250 million would be needed to complete basic site developments, excluding home construction costs, to accommodate all beneficiaries on list.
>> Large amounts of trust land are used to benefit general public rather than beneficiaries without appropriate authority and with little or no compensation to the trust.
>> DHHL lacks complete or accurate inventory of trust lands.
>> State fails to adequately fund DHHL operations, including rehabilitation projects.
>> Revenue generated from Hawaiian home lands used to run the department, rather than state general funds.
>> 45 percent of trust lands leased to private interests while generating relatively modest revenue.
1986: John Waihee, above, begins his term as governor and serves until 1994.
1988: State enacts Chapter 673 of Hawaii Revised Statutes giving beneficiaries the right to sue for breaches of trust arising after July 1, 1988.
1991: State enacts Chapter 674 giving beneficiaries the right to sue for breaches of trust between Aug. 21, 1959, and June 30, 1988, if they first go through a new administrative claims process. A panel is formed to evaluate the individual claims and give the state an opportunity to provide a remedy. The panel is supposed to recommend to the Legislature whether damage awards are warranted.
1991: U.S. Commission on Civil Rights issues a report finding the federal government has failed to meet its trust obligations to beneficiaries. Among the findings, the report’s authors recommended that:
>> Congress enact legislation clearly establishing a federal trust duty to Native Hawaiians to fulfill the 1920 act.
>> The federal government recognize Native Hawaiians as a political group, similar to the status held by Native Americans, which would encourage the realization of sovereignty and self-determination.
>> All trust land used by the federal government be returned to the trust, along with fair compensation for past use.
>> Beneficiaries be given the right to sue in federal court for breach of trust.
>> The federal government fund the development of an accurate inventory of trust lands.
>> DHHL be given sufficient state funds to operate the agency.
>> A new “mechanism” be established to ensure the agency overseeing the trust acts exclusively in the best interests of beneficiaries, rather than as a state department in the executive branch.
>> The Hawaiian Homes Commission drastically curtail leasing lands to nonbeneficiaries to generate revenue.
1994: Ben Cayetano, above, begins his term as governor and serves until 2002.
1995: Legislature passes what becomes Act 14, paving the way for a $600 million settlement — $30 million annual payments to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands over the next 20 years — to cover the state’s breach of trust from 1959 to 1988. During that post-statehood period, lands were taken from the trust by federal, state and local governments, given or sold to private parties or simply unaccounted for. The settlement is intended to restore lands to the trust and compensate for their misappropriation. Act 14 does not preclude individuals from pursuing breach-of-trust claims.
1999: Administrative panel disbands without a single beneficiary getting compensation or other relief. Thousands of claims are left unresolved.
1999: Leona Kalima and other beneficiaries file a lawsuit on behalf of 2,721 whose administrative claims never were resolved. They accuse the state of breach of trust.
2000-2005:
2000: Lawsuit certified as class-action.
2002: Linda Lingle, above, begins her term as governor and serves until 2010.
2006-2013:
2006: Hawaii Supreme Court upholds a lower-court ruling from 5 1⁄2 years earlier that beneficiaries have a right to sue the state for breach of trust.
2009: Class-action case goes to trial. In a victory for the 2,700-plus claimants, mostly elderly, Judge Eden Elizabeth Hifo in November finds the state liable for breach of trust for not providing homesteads on a timely basis.
2010: Neil Abercrombie, above, begins his term as governor.
Today: More than 26,000 applicants are on the waitlist. Nearly 300 of the 2,721 plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit filed 14 years ago have since died. The average age of the plaintiffs is 65.
October 2013: A trial dealing with waitlist damages is scheduled. Unless the litigation is settled, some believe this phase could drag on for years. “I see no light at the end of the tunnel,” said Gil Johnston, a University of Chicago law professor.
