By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Kelson “Mack” Poepoe fixes a fishing net on his homestead land
on Molokai. He has given up on farming and is now a firefighter
who volunteers his time teaching young people about fishing.

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Can Hawaiians make
living on homesteads?

A court ruling that bans non-Hawaiians
from leasing the land has been tough
financially on some native Hawaiians

By Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin

HOOLEHUA, Molokai -- After 20 years of farming on Hawaiian homestead land in central Molokai, George K. Mokuau feels the legal winds shifting in his favor and lifting his sweet potato business to new heights.

More than a year after the Hawaii Supreme Court banned Hawaiian homesteaders from renting land to non-Hawaiians, some native Hawaiians like Mokuau are taking advantage of the newly available lands.

The ruling voided some 25 third-party agreements totaling more than 1,900 acres of farm and ranch land on Molokai and the Big Island.

"We just went into farming 35 more acres, and we're considering another 35 acres," said Mokuau, 58, who employs six workers.

But while some Hawaiians have benefited from the ruling, many have not.

Wasted farm lands

Sixteen of the 25 lots once rented to non-Hawaiians remain unplanted, depriving homesteaders of more than $150,000 in annual income. Hawaiians have stepped in to rent and farm five lots -- three on Molokai and two on the Big Island. The other four lots, which are pasture on the Big Island, continue to be rented by non-Hawaiians, a practice the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands has warned must end.

Many homestead retirees, who received rents from non-Hawaiian farmers, are suffering financially and blame the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands for adopting the policy.

Miriam Briones, 70, said she lost $150 in monthly rental income when her third-party agreement was canceled. She worries about meeting medical bills.

"The only thing eating us up is the medication. It's so expensive," said Briones, one of 23 homesteaders who had rented to non-Hawaiians on Molokai.

The court decision has prompted some farm operations to leave the island and others to reduce their work forces. Hawaiian Research Ltd. has one-third less seed corn land on Hawaiian homesteads land and has eliminated 30 jobs. The company will move part of its operations to Oahu by the fall.

Ciba Seeds has left Molokai. And Larry Jefts, who once farmed 140 acres of homestead land, has shifted part of his operation to Oahu.

Lack of help criticized

Clarence Kauahi, 58, a Hawaiian homestead rancher with 305 acres on the Big Island, agrees with the court decision. But he and others criticize the lack of transition and preparation to help homesteaders.

Homesteaders say laws and policies, some established in the 1920s when the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was enacted by Congress, need to be changed to foster economic development in the 1990s. They say the farm and ranch lots are too small to be operated by individuals and believe the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands should give them more help.

Homesteaders said that in the past, they lacked water pipelines, marketing assistance, quick and inexpensive barge transportation and financing to develop their businesses.

Critics point out that more land is leased by Hawaiian Homes to businesses to generate revenue for the department than to homesteaders who are supposed to be the beneficiaries.

Of the 194,935 acres administered by the department, 40,452 acres are for homesteaders, while 48,835 are leased to businesses.

"I think the department has a lot of responsibility to the lessees to work the land, which they haven't done," said Martin Kahae, a Molokai homesteader who sued to end the practice of renting to non-Hawaiians. "From the very conception of the Homestead Act, others have made the decisions."

Kahae and other Hawaiians say that, for decades, state officials discouraged farming by encouraging homesteaders to rent their land to pineapple companies such as Del Monte and Libby, McNeil & Libby.

"It's like welfare. It was dependency, just like a drug," said Paul Lucas, attorney for the Native Hawaiian Legal Corp., which represented the homesteaders who sued.

Hawaiians on Molokai say state officials failed to look after the homesteaders' interests by making sure the land was returned in good condition when pineapple companies shifted their operations to foreign countries. Black plastic and with drip irrigation tubes, once used by pineapple companies, remain buried in the soil.

"All of that stuff is in the land. New homesteaders have to go through new expenses to get the land to work," Kahae said.

Giving up on a dream

Kelson "Mack" Poepoe said he gave up his dream of being a watermelon and vegetable farmer after losing tens of thousands of dollars competing against a non-Hawaiian farmer who rented homesteaders' lands on Molokai.

He said Hawaiians are reluctant to start farming again because of previous financial losses and difficulty competing against large-scale farmers.

Hawaiian Homes Commission Chairman Kali Watson said that in the past, the commission focused on developing homes, rather than businesses.

Watson said the commission and Office of Hawaiian Affairs are looking at having homesteaders enter into partnerships with private companies, such as Coffees of Hawaii and Hawaiian Research on Molokai.

Some Hawaiians wonder why Watson has not spoken to them about his ideas.

"We've got a lot of questions," Poepoe said.

Poepoe, now a county firefighter, said he's given up full-time farming and raises eight head of cattle on the 40 acres.

He no longer employs three farm workers as he did in the early 1980s and he's not encouraging his children to become farmers. "I can't really see my kids getting into farming."

Big Islanders violate ruling,
could lose leases

By Star-Bulletin staff

Four Big Island residents are continuing to rent their Hawaiian homestead lands to non-Hawaiian ranchers, violating a Hawaii Supreme Court ruling, state officials say.

The four homesteaders hold more than 1,300 acres.

The court ruled in May 1996 that homesteaders could rent their land only to native Hawaiians because the intent of establishing the homesteads was to benefit Hawaiians.

The homesteaders violating the law could lose their leases, said Ken Toguchi, spokesman for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Toguchi said warnings have been sent to the four homesteaders, and if they do not comply with the law, administrative hearings may be held in August to take action against them.

Homesteaders on other islands, including Molokai, have complied with the court ruling and stopped renting to non-Hawaiians, Toguchi said.