Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 12, Number 12, 1 December 1995 — Dictionary of Hawaiian Legal Land Terms published [ARTICLE]

Dictionary of Hawaiian Legal Land Terms published

"A Dictionary of Hawaiian Legal Land-Terms," by Paul F. Nahoa Lucas, a native Hawaiian attomey, is the first reference book of its kind that compiles, organizes and explains information necessary to the accurate translation and interpretation of 19th century Hawaiian land conveyance documents. In keeping with its mission to improve the quality of legal help to Hawaiians, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation has published the directory with the cooperation of the University of Hawai'i Committee for the Preservation and Study of Hawaiian Language, Art and Culture. The Hawaiian Legal Land-Terms dictionary eontains an overview of the legal procedures, survey practices, and types of documentation that were recorded in Hawaiian, especially during the 19th eentury. It also includes Hawai'i's appellate cases, whieh have detīned such terms. Currently, translators and professionals need to eonsult several sources to build a fairly accurate translation. The time-consuming process frequently forces individuals to choose between accuracy or meeting deadlines. In other situations the process demands that several people be assigned to a single case, thus taxing an already small pool of knowledgeable people. The dictionary is a timely reference tool because of the growing awareness among Hawaiians of their legal rights, especially to land title and inheritance. For example, the changing fate of thousands of acres of sugar eane lands has already spurred a flurry of requests for title research by Hawaiian families. Furthermore, such documents, when translated, are often a source of genealogical information that is of increasing impoūanee to Hawaiian families and their sense of identity. The dictionary will be useful to these Hawaiian families, attorneys emphasizing land title and probate matters, legal assistants, mortgage and escrow eompanies and translators. Hawaiian language teachers, advanced language students and historians may also make good use of the book in classes, seminars, directed reading, and research of documents relevant to their family's histories and genealogies. The aim of the dictionary is to increase the number eonūnueā page 12

Dictionary of Hawaiian legal lanel terms published

from 6 of people who ean research Hawaiian documents with skill and knowledge. This reference will enahle individuals and families to save on legal fees and time by allowing them to do some of

the research themselves before consulting an attorney. NHLC also believes it will serve as a valuable tool in the training of more qualified legal assistants, and improve the quality of work done in title research.

Paul F. Nahoa Lucas is a staff attomey with NHLC, a non-profit law firm assisting Hawaiians in land-related matters. A graduate of the University of Hawai'i and the University of Santa Clara Law School, he worked as a law clerk

for former Associate Justice Frank D. Padgett of the Hawai'i Supreme Court. While there, he became interested in the Westem judicial system's interpretation of Hawaiian legal terms used in land distribution after the Mahele of

1848. A contributing writer to The Native Hawaiian Rights Handbook, he has also researched and written on the genealogy of his father's family, the Manu Kawelos of Kohala.