1.1. what are the crown lands?

The Crown lands were established by the Mahele of 1848, as part of the Ms 1/3rd of all of
Hawaii lands, which were originally the lands of the King. On June 7th, 1848, An Act Relating
to the Lands of His Majesty the King and of the Government, 1 established the Crown lands as
the personal property of the M, and as separate from the public domain government lands.
Table 1. Dates & actions adding to or subtracting from the Crown land inventory

Date
June 7th, 1848
October 13th, 1853 thru
January 24th, 1855

Law or Action affecting Crown Lands

An Act Relating to the Lands of His Majesty the King and of the Government

January 3rd, 1865

Act to Relieve the Royal Domain from Encumbrances and to Render the Same
Inalienable
An Act to Authorize the Commissioners of Crown Lands to Convey Certain
Portions of Such Lands to Claus Spreckels in Satisfaction of All Claims He
May Have on Such Lands
Unassigned lands added to Crown Land Inventory

August 11th, 1882

1890

Land Commission Award (LCA)10806

As described above, the original body of Crown lands was established in 1848 at the beginning
of the Mhele. In the course of the Mhele, from October 13th, 1853 through January 24th 1855
lands claimed as Land Commission Award 10806 were added to the body of the Crown Lands. 2
to those lands reserved by Kamehameha III, March 8, 1848, for himself, his heirs, and
successors forever, as his private property. To these may be added a few lots in Honolulu
and Lehaina [sic], awarded to him by the land commission, award 10806.3
From 1848 to 1865 portions of the Crown lands were exchanged, mortgaged and sold by
Kamehameha III & IV. These sales and exchanges were recorded by the Minister of the Interior
much as Royal Patents and were commonly known as Kamehameha Deeds. 4 Lands Deeded by
Kamehameha include parcels in well-known places such as Hanalei and Nuuanu and are present
on the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii.

An Act Relating to the Lands of His Majesty the King and of the Government, 1848.
Buke Mahele volume 7 pgs.404, 544-546, 659; volume 9 pgs.470-471 & 487-488; volume 10 pgs.607-608, and
652-653. For original scans of these pages please refer
http://cdm16093.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p16093coll1.
3
J.F. Brown, Commissioner of Public Lands, in his Aug 13, 1900 report included in Stubbs 1901, p. 92.
4
See Robert Kings, Hawaiian Land Titles, included in Chapter 5 of the1st Progress Report of the Territorial
Planning Board: An Historic Inventory of the Physical, Social and Economic and Industrial Resources of the
Territory of Hawaii, 1939. Robert D. King was the Principal Cadastral Engineer in the Territorial Land Office.
2

Although the Sovereign retained management rights over the Crown lands (1848-1893), in 1865
the ability of the monarchs to sell lands in the Crown inventory ended. On January 3rd, 1865 an
Act was passed under Kamehameha V, Lot Kapuiwa, to relieve the royal domain from
encumbrances and to render the same inalienable. 5 This Act ruled that Crown lands could not
be sold or transferred, and were protected from possible gifting, mismanagement or adverse
possession. Additionally the 1865 Act set up a Commission of Crown Lands with three
commissioners, whose purpose was to manage the Crown Lands & their leases.
The Crown Lands cannot be alienated in fee but can only be obtained by lease for a term of
years not to exceed thirty; authority to lease the said lands being vested in a Board of
Commissioners consisting of three members, two of whom shall be appointed from the
Executive Council and the other to act as Land Agent. 6
Van Dyke proposes that this Act dramatically changed the character of the Crown lands, making
it clear that these lands were no longer the private property of the monarch in any real sense; 7
suggesting that perhaps the Crown lands, while still inherently tied to the Monarch, became
established by the 1865 Act as a sort of trust lands for the people of Hawaii.
However, up until the overthrow the Crown lands were managed much like a private estate. And
although the monarch could not sell lands in the Crown inventory s/he benefited from the
revenue they created. Additionally, the Land Agent of Crown lands, C. P. Iaukea describes the
Crown lands as being managed as a private estate, from their inception up to the overthrow.
Heretofore, or prior to January 17th, 1893, the Crown Lands were administered more or
less in the nature of a private estate, it being held that the Sovereign, to whom the revenue
belonged, had a vested right to the lands. As the question of validity of the claim was never
raised, the Sovereign always exercised a certain amount of control over the management
and disposition of the lands. 8
Land Agent for the Crown lands up until July 1895 9 was Curtis Piehu Iaukea, who spoke in favor
of homesteading as preferable for Hawaiians, as A system free from the evils of speculative

An Act to relieve the royal domain from encumbrances and to render the same inalienable, 1865.
Iaukea, Curtis Piehu, BiennialReport of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, 1894, pg.5.
7
Van Dyke 2008, pg8.
8
Iaukea, Curtis Piehu, BiennialReport of the Commissioners of Crown Lands, 1894, pgs.5-6.
9
Post-overthrow Iaukea was appointed as the sub-Agent of Public Lands for the island of Oahu, starting September
7th, 1895 based on a letter from J. F. Brown to C. P. Iaukea, October 7th, 1895; Outgoing Letters of the
Commissioner of Public Lands, 1895-1905, vol.1, Hawaii State Archives.
6

auction sales. 10 It is significant, that it was a man who felt such as this that was one of the three
managers of the Crown Estate, and the acting Land Agent.
Whether we come to the conclusion that the Crown lands were the private estate of the Crown or
a sort of public trust for the people, or perhaps both; 1865 marked a change in the nature and
future of lands in the Crown inventory. Yet the Crown lands remained inherently tied to the
Sovereign; even if he/she could not sell them they were still the monarchs property, to do with
as they wished some of which could be beneficial to the public.
In fact, homesteading was the preferred form of administration during Kalkauas reign; many
25-30 year leases were issued. 11 Post the 1865 Act establishing the inalienability of Crown lands,
much of the Crown inventory came under lease, the larger leases being under sugar or cattle.
However, it was not until just before the overthrow that a new focus for the Crown lands, geared
at Hawaiian homesteading was officially implemented.
At the beginning of the year 1892, a new system of leasing was introduced, the main
feature of which was to secure small holders, more particularly native Hawaiians, the
opportunity of acquiring under fair conditions suitable sections on the Crown Lands, for
homestead and agricultural purposes. 12
In 1880 there was a large deduction from the Crown inventory, about 24,000 acres in Wailuku,
Maui Island. This transfer has been called a debacle, a scheme, and an investment in
blackmail. 13 The legality of this transfer is highly debatable as the Crown lands were
inalienable per the 1865 Act and tied only to sovereigns and their successors by an 1864
Supreme Court decision. Previous to his acquisition of 24,000 acres in Wailuku, Claus Spreckels
was the leaseholder of these Crown lands. After he had invested a considerable amount of money
in the construction of a ditch system to water these lands for sugar cane Spreckels paid Ruth
Keeliklani 14 $10,000 for a quitclaim deed to any rights she had to the crown lands. As
Keeliklani really had no legal rights to the Crown lands, as she was neither sovereign nor
successor, it both puzzling and telling that Spreckels succeeded in gaining such a large acreage
10

Iaukea 1894, pg.6.

J.F. Brown, Commissioner of Public Lands, in his Aug 13, 1900 report; included in Stubbs 1901, pgs.89-92.
12
Ibid pg.6.
13
Kuykendall 1967, pgs.58-62, Osorio 2002, pgs.185-191. Van Dyke 2008, pgs.100-110. Also see Joseph Adlers
Claus Spreckels: The Sugar King in Hawaii, 1996.
14
Princess Luka Ruth Keeliklani, sister to Victoria Kamamalu, Kamehameha IV & V, daughter of Mataio
Kekanaa, and granddaughter of Kamehameha I.
11

of Crown lands with the legislatures passing of An Act to Authorize the Commissioners of
Crown Lands to Convey Certain Portions of Such Lands to Claus Spreckels in Satisfaction of All
Claims He May Have on Such Lands. 15 This Act passed 24,000 acres of Wailuku to Spreckels
as Government Grant 3343 and quieted any additional claim he might have based on his dealings
with Keeliklani; a claim which was questionable at best.
In 1890, additional lands were added to the Crown inventory, these were previously
unassigned lands. 16 These were lands having been left un-awarded, i.e. un-assigned, after the
close of the Mhele. 17
There are certain lands, mostly on the Island of Hawai`i, which were overlooked in the
"Mahele" of 1848, and for which no title exists. As all private claims not brought before
the Land Commission were declared to be forever barred, have reverted to the Government
by law, no private claim to such lands can be entertained.
The question remains whether they belonged to the class of Government lands or to that of
Crown Lands or to the lineal heirs of Kamehameha III. 18
Table 2. List of Unassigned .lands that entered into Crown inventory in 1890

Island

Moku

Ahupuaa

Oahu
Oahu
Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii
Molokai
Maui
Lanai
Lanai

Kona
Waianae
Hilo
Hilo
Kona
Kona
Kula
N/A
N/A

Kuliouou
Keaau
Hakalauiki
Manowaipae
Waiaha
Kapaakea
Waiohuli
Kamoku
Paomai

Acres per

Acres per

Van Dyke
(2008 pgs.116-117)

Iaukea
(1894)

2,431
614
180
230
2,178
3,291

518
2,431
577
180
200
2,178
10,734
8,291
9,078

Even W. D. Alexander points out the differing opinions on whether these un-assigned lands
should have been defined as belonging to the M in the personal sense comprising Crown
lands -- or in his official capacity comprising government lands. However, Alexander also
15

An Act to Authorize the Commissioners of Crown Lands to Convey Certain Portions of Such Lands to Claus
Spreckels in Satisfaction of All Claims He May Have on Such Lands, July 21, 1882; signed by King Kalkaua.
16
W. D. Alexander was Superintendent of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government Survey, and author of A Brief
History of Land Titles in the Hawaiian Kingdom. Originally published as an Appendix to the Surveyor Generals
Report, Interior Department in 1882.
17
W. D. Alexander (Surveyor-General in 1882) who prior to this knew of no other means of authority that could
alter Crown Lands also see Van Dyke 2008 pgs.116-117. Van Dyke also lists some unassigned lands that, in
1890, became part of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate (pgs.115-116).
18
W. D. Alexander 2006, pg.191.

admits that Kamehameha III and the able men who composed his Council and who organized
this Government, probably understood their own work better than did those of a later
generation. 19
It should also be mentioned that Crown land exchanges also occurred. One such was the
exchange of Kauaula ahupuaa, moku of Lahaina, Maui Island exchanged from Crown
inventory to Kalua - for 1,000 acres in the ahupuaa of Kehena, Puna moku, Island of Hawaii. 20
From this point, to their seizure in 1894, the crown inventory changes little if at all.

19
20

Ibid pg.192.
Kamehameha III Deed to Kalua. Iaukea 1894, pgs.27, 58 & 63; also see State Archives, Liber 7 pg.293.