{"id":6982,"date":"2024-04-09T11:01:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T21:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/?p=6982"},"modified":"2024-04-09T11:04:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T21:04:47","slug":"the-emperical-writes-back-re-examining-hawaiian-dispossession-resulting-from-the-mahele-of-1848","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiiankingdom.org\/blog\/the-emperical-writes-back-re-examining-hawaiian-dispossession-resulting-from-the-mahele-of-1848\/","title":{"rendered":"Correcting Revisionist History: The Emperical Writes Back – Re-Examining Hawaiian Dispossession Resulting from the M\u0101hele of 1848"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In 2010, Donovan Preza graduated with his M.A. Degree in Geography from the University of Hawai\u2018i at M\u0101noa. His Master’s thesis was titled “The Emperical Writes Back: Re-Examining Hawaiian Dispossession Resulting from the M\u0101hele of 1848<\/a><\/strong>.” Preza, through analytical rigor and academic research, effectively turned on its head the false belief that has been promoted by the University of Hawai\u2018i since the 1990s that the M\u0101hele of 1848 was a disaster for the Hawaiian people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preza, for his Master’s thesis, was also the recipient of the Norman Meller Research Award<\/a><\/strong> for the best MA research paper produced at the University of Hawai\u2018i in the social sciences or humanities and focused on the Pacific Islands. Here is his abstract for his thesis:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This research examines the transition of land tenure in Hawai\u2018i to a system of private property. Known as the M\u0101hele, this transition was believed to have been the cause of dispossession of Hawaiians from land. This thesis questions presumptions identifying the M\u0101hele as a sufficient condition of dispossession. Historical approach, interpretation, authority and evidence types are examined while questioning and contributing to such debates. The M\u0101hele process is re-examined and a nuanced description of the process was provided. This resulted in the identification of previously un-examined set of data: the fee-simple sale of Government Land. Analysis of these sales revealed an alternate explanation for dispossession in Hawai\u2018i: the loss of governance. Ultimately this is a story of dispossession, how it has been understood, misunderstood, and re-understood in Hawai\u2018i.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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