Department of Hawaiian Homelands’ century of broken promises

The Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL) is an important executive agency, responsible for over 203,000 acres of land and a legal mandate to restore land and home ownership to Native Hawaiians. But since its creation almost a century ago, it has “failed to act in the best interests of Native Hawaiians,” according to an inspector general’s report — and is why a working group was formed to produce a report on DHHL that outlines some of the problems and offers actionable paths to reform.

Dozens of interviews were conducted for “Broken Promises” with DHHL directors, Kamehameha Schools trustees, Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustees, DHHL land developers, and Hawaiian civic and business leaders. Clearly the system is broken and something should be done about it before there are no Native Hawaiians remaining with a 50 percent blood quantum who qualify for DHHL land.

DHHL dates back to 1921, when Prince Kuhio Kalanianaole authored the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act in Congress with the intent to restore the cultural link between Native Hawaiians and the land, and to provide Native Hawaiians with the stability, financial equity and economic self-sufficiency and dignity that comes from land and home ownership. But since the Act became law, only about 9,700 homesteads have been established and nearly 44,000 beneficiaries remain on the waitlist. Generations of Native Hawaiians have lived and died waiting for their ancestral and lawful right to land.

The research effort set out to answer the questions of what went wrong, and more importantly, what, if anything, can be done about it.

The connection between land ownership and political and economic clout here has been well-chronicled, perhaps never better than in the landmark book, “Land and Power in Hawaii” by Gavin Daws and George Cooper. In the case of DHHL it’s more like “Land and Powerlessness in Hawaii” where it is nearly inconceivable that an entity that controls 203,000 acres of land could be virtually powerless, some might even say inept.

But that’s the case with DDHL, caretaker of those 203,000 acres. The fact remains that it offers much hope for the many landless Native Hawaiians who have more than 50 percent Hawaiian ancestry.

Some of the major findings and recommendations, from interviews with the experts:

1) DHHL should get over its “identity crisis” and get clear on its purpose. Sometimes it thinks it’s a land developer, sometimes a social worker. Being unclear about either, it does a poor job at both. It should first and foremost put Hawaiians on the land.

2) DHHL needs to change its housing paradigm. Providing Hawaiians farm lots or pasture lots had its purpose in a different era. Hawaiians now represent the largest homeless population in the islands and need housing more than anything. Putting Native Hawaiians on remote farmlands and expecting them to be successful farmers is more a fantasy than a reality in today’s Hawaii.

3) DHHL is asset-rich and cash-poor and needs to better leverage its assets. DHHL has never been properly or sufficiently funded by either the federal or the state government. It needs to use its thousands of acres as its currency to barter and build housing and a portfolio of investments to create an endowment to eventually make it self-sustaining like Kamehameha Schools, which owns about 365,000 acres.

4) DHHL needs to bring in the A-Team, the best and brightest who know how to leverage assets in an entrepreneurial rather than bureaucratic way, as it has been known to operate. The governor appoints DHHL’s leaders, so the agency’s lethargy starts at Capitol’s fifth floor.

The department can change, and Native Hawaiians can be housed. After 100 years, these solutions are attainable, largely by employing some business acumen, a dose of common sense and something rare in Hawaii: political willpower to do the right thing.

Gene Ward is a state House representative and former Peace Corps volunteer. “Broken Promises,” with a forward by Oz Stender, is available at www.BuildMoreHawaiianHomesWorkingGroup.org.