Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 9, 1 September 1997 — The Perfect Pitch [ARTICLE]

The Perfect Pitch

A Perfect Title search goes back 1 52 years to 1 845, just a few decades after Captain Cook's arrival in the islands. Before that, in pre-con-tact Hawai'i, possession of land was based on use, tenancy and ali'i prerogative, Western eoncepts of alienation and ownership had no plaee in the system and could ^ not be aeeommo-

dated. But ""7 by 1845, / malihini busi- / nessmen and missionaries were able to

/ persuade the ali'i / of the benefits of / fee-simple titles. The / result, the Mōhele of 1848, divided land omong the monarchy,

/ the government and / private individuals, mainly newcomers. Few Hawaiians understood enough about ownership to register, with the kingdom's brand new Board of Land Commissioners, any elaim to the land on whieh they lived and worked. Perfect Title doesn't dwell on the injustices of the Mōhele but on the illegitimacy of the republie, territory and state of Hawai'i as successors to Queen Lili'uokalani's govemment. Its documents invalidating transactions by usurpers, such as Sanford Dole and Samuel Damon, implicate their buyers and others who dealt with them as well. lronically, a report on a Keahuolū parcel reflects a mortgage between Damon and Lydia K. Dominis, who, according to Perfect Title, thus "violated her allegiance to the Hawaiian Kingdom." In public life, Mrs. Dominis was known as Queen Lili'uokalani.