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Royal descendants tell Maui County committee they were not notified of land patents; urge release of records
Summary
During public testimony at the Sept. 22 WASA committee meeting, several speakers identifying as royal descendants and representatives of the Royal House of Hawaii urged county officials to release royal patents and notify heirs, citing Hawaii Revised Statutes section 172-11 and asserting heirs have not been contacted.
During the public-comment period at the WASA Committee meeting on Monday, Sept. 22, members of the public identifying as royal descendants and representatives of the Royal House of Hawaii urged the county to release historical land-patent documents and to notify rightful heirs.
Testifier JC Law raised questions about the report’s treatment of residents and of unsheltered populations, and briefly commented about identity documents and access to services. The Royal House of Hawaii then spoke and asked whether descendants of landholdings with royal patents had been contacted and whether those documents would be used for planning or tourism. A longer statement came from Elise Madison, who identified herself as a royal descendant and a royal patent heir of Keawe Mahi. Madison said the Great Mahele’s royal-patent titles are perpetual and that descendants are being excluded from decisions affecting lands. She cited Hawaii Revised Statutes section 172-11 and urged the committee and county to release land documents held in archives, notify heirs and recognize her asserted legal framework.
Madison and other testifiers expressed concern that some TMKs (tax map keys) are being changed and that land records and original patent information are not being made accessible to descendants. They urged county action to locate and notify heirs and to make records available. Committee members thanked the testifiers; no formal committee action on the testimony was recorded.
The claims reported in testimony are those of the speakers and were made during public comment. The committee did not take legislative or administrative action in response during the Sept. 22 meeting. The statute cited by testifiers, Hawaii Revised Statutes section 172-11, was referenced by name in testimony; the article does not make legal findings about the testifiers’ claims or the statute’s application, and does not assert whether the county has or has not already taken the steps requested.
Sources: public testimony by JC Law, Royal House of Hawaii representative, and Elise Madison at the WASA Committee meeting, Sept. 22, 2025.
