Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 40, Number 2, 1 February 2023 — He Mo'olelo o ka Na'auao 'Ana a me ke Kānāwai A Mo'olelo on Enlightenment and Law [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

He Mo'olelo o ka Na'auao 'Ana a me ke Kānāwai A Mo'olelo on Enlightenment and Law

Na Devin Kamealoha Forrest, J.D. Research Specialist, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation

Ika lā 23 o Kepakemapa 1845, ma kahi o 'elima makahiki ma hope o

ke kau 'ana o ke kumu kānāwai mua loa o Hawai'i, ho'opuka 'ia he 'atikala ma ka nūpep;

Ka Elele na Ho'ina'inau, e

wehewehe ana i kona mana'o no ke kānāwai. 'Oiai ho'i he au ia i nui kona hulihia ma ke aupuni o Hawai'i; 'o ke komo nui 'ana o nā lāhui e, ka loli 'ana o ka nohona me ka aina, a pēlā aku, kau 'ia ana kekahi mau kānāwai e ho'oponopono ai a e kōkua ana i ka ho'oholo mua 'ana i kekahi mau 'oihana no ka aina e mai. A i kēia Hō'inā'inau, ho'ohālikelike 'o ia i ia hana kau kānāwai me ke kau 'ana i nā pono moku kiakolu ma luna o ka moku kiakahi. Nani ia, he 'oi a'e ka nui o ka moku kiakolu ma mua o ko ke kiakahi, e hihipe'a ana a e huikau ana nā kaula a me nā 'ukana e pa'a ai ka moku. Ho'omau aku ua Hō'inā'inau lā me ka wehewehe aku, 'o nā kānāwai no ka aina e, i nui kona aina a i ma'a i kekahi 'ano mahi 'ana, 'a'ole loa e hiki ana ke ho'oili wale i kā lākou mau kānāwai ma Ko Hawai'i Pae 'Āina me ka mana'o e holo pono ana nō ia mau kānāwai. "'O nā kānāwai akāka loa e kohu pū ana me ke 'ano o kēia lāhui, 'o ia nā kānāwai maika'i e kau ai, e like me ka ne'ene'e 'ana aku o ke aupuni i ka na'auao, pēlā nō ka ne'ene'e 'ana i nā kānāwai pohihihi." A he 'oia'i'o nō kāna, a e 'ike ana kākou i ke kō 'ana mai i kēia au. He nui a lehulehu nā kānāwai e huikau ai kākou kānaka i ka "na'auao 'ana" 0 kēia aupuni. 'O ka pono na'e ka maka'ala 'ana i nā kaula, nā pe'a, a 1 ka hoe uli, i piholo 'ole a i hūhewa 'ole ho'i ka moku. ■

On Sept. 23, 1845, five years following the passage

Fof the first constitution of Hawai'i, Hō'inā'inau authored m article in the Hawaiian

Newspaper, Ka Elele, explain-

ing his thoughts on the law. The Kingdom of Hawai'i was undergoing great changes, driven by significant growth in immigration and related transformations of peoples' lifestyles and uses of the land. Many laws adopted to manage and enahle these changes mimicked laws of foreign empires. Hō'ina'inau compared employing these laws in Hawai'i to placing all the equipment of a three-masted ship aboard a sin-gle-masted ship. Since the size of a three-masted ship is exceptionally larger than that of a single-mast-ed, the lines and equipment necessary for the smaller ship to operate would heeome tangled and eonfused by the excess equipment. Hō'inā'inau forecasted that foreign imperial laws applied in Hawai'i would be similarly problematic. "Clear laws whieh are also suited for the lifestyle of these people are the proper types of laws to be passed, as this government slowly moves toward enlightenment, so too do we move toward more confusing laws." This thought rings true today. There are a multitude of laws that are not intuitive to kānaka nor a good fit for the lāhui's needs as this government becomes more "enlightened." We must continue our vigilance over the lines, the sails, and our steering paddles to keep our ship afloat. ■