UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy

This Article explores Kānaka Maoli’s (Native Hawaiians’) work to re-center principles of Indigenous biocultural resource management in decisionmaking to more fully realize restorative environmental justice. To do so, it contextualizes ʻāina (land and natural resources) as Kānaka Maoli’s natural counterpart. Deploying a contextual inquiry framework to preserve and advance self-determination for Hawaiʻi’s Indigenous People, this practical approach begins with cultural context as a foundation, articulates the historical injustices and impacts of colonialism, and in particular, examines the work of the Waiʻoli Valley Taro Hui in the wake of devastating climate impacts, including flooding, to design a roadmap for future decisionmaking. In partnership with the William S. Richardson School of Law’s clinical courses, the Hui’s dilligent advocacy gives life to constitutionally protected traditional and customary rights in Hawaiʻi that have been excercised since time immemorial. Their work not only empowered decisionmakers with Indigenous place-based practices for a more comprehensive and adaptive approach to natural resource management, but they also successfully preserved the practice of kalo cultivation in Waiʻoli a mau loa aku—forever.