Timeline / Defining Rights and Responsibilities / 1848: Hawaiian monarch divides land; paves way for foreign ownership
1848: Hawaiian monarch divides land; paves way for foreign ownership
King Kamehameha III institutes the Great Mahele, or land division, which destroys the ahupua‘a (the traditional system of land division). Now, claims must be made and fees paid for land titles. Many Native Hawaiians fail to make claims or are unaware that they need to. Eventually, the Great Mahele opens Hawaiian land to foreign private ownership.
- Theme
- Land and Water
- Region
- Hawai‘i
Page from the Mahele Book, a series of four notebooks in which the division of lands between King Kamehameha III and the ali‘i‘ (chiefs) of Hawai'i was recorded
Courtesy Hawai‘i State Archives