Focus Hawaii Riley Moffat

Focus Hawaii Riley Moffat

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Description

Hosted by Zane Clark, this episode of Focus Hawaii begins with the first three minutes silent due to missing audio, and then transitions into an in‑depth discussion with historian and cartographer Riley Moffat about the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Mahele era and its enduring impact on modern land issues. Moffat explains how King Kamehameha III, under pressure from foreign powers and internal political change, initiated the privatization of land through the Bill of Rights (1839), the Constitution of 1840, and the establishment of the Land Commission in 1845. He describes how aliʻi, government officials, and commoners navigated a new Western‑style land system without precedent or infrastructure, resulting in inconsistent surveys, boundary disputes, and long‑term consequences that still shape sovereignty claims today. The episode explores the roles of early surveyors—including Hawaiian‑trained students and even a 17‑year‑old boy—along with the creation of crown lands, kuleana awards, ceded lands, and the later Hawaiian Government Survey of 1870–1900. Moffat also discusses his multi‑volume book project Pala Pala ʻĀina and how research into the Mahele unexpectedly became central to modern legal and cultural debates.

Length of Video

00:28:53

File Size

1.7GB

Archives Call Number

22.FH

Air Date

2000

Keywords

Zane Clark, Focus Hawaii, Riley Moffat, Kaniakapupu, Mahele, Great Mahele, Hawaiian land history, Kamehameha III, Hawaiian Kingdom law, Land Commission 1845, kuleana lands, crown lands, ceded lands, sovereignty movement, Hawaiian Government Survey, William DeWitt Alexander, Hawaiian cartography, Pala Pala ʻĀina, Hawaiian land tenure, ahupuaʻa boundaries, 19th‑century surveying Hawaiʻi, Hawaiian history education

Disciplines

Hawaiian Studies

Focus Hawaii Riley Moffat

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