RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, prior to 1778, the native Hawaiian people lived in a highly organized, self-sufficient, social system based on subsistence agriculture and communal land tenure with a sophisticated language, culture, and religion; and

WHEREAS, native Hawaiian ahupua`a tenants needed access to the mountains and sea along shorelines in order to fish, gather, cultivate crops, and to communicate with neighboring ahupua`a tenants, and relied on an elaborate trail system for this purpose, and as a vital means to sustain and link the Native Hawaiian communities; and

WHEREAS, these trails throughout the ahupua`a played an important role in the perpetuation and practice of the Hawaiian culture and lifestyle; and

WHEREAS, trails ran laterally along the shoreline (literally, ala kahakai) around the island of Hawai`i, and the mauka–makai trails ran between the uplands and the sea; and

WHEREAS, during the 16th century, O`ahu ruler, Kuali`i, declared that old men, women, and children who slept along the trails would be safe; and

WHEREAS, on or about 1785, the "Mamalahoe Law", otherwise known as the "Law of the Splintered Paddle," was adopted by King Kamehameha I, the first King of Hawai`i, which assured the safety and protection of all individuals using the trails; and

WHEREAS, in 1810 under Kamehameha I, a unified monarchical government of the Hawaiian Islands was established; and

WHEREAS, on October 15, 1892, the Kingdom of Hawai`i passed the Highway Act of 1892, codified under chapter 264, Hawai`i Revised Statutes, establishing the people’s right to use these trails for commerce and enjoyment; and

WHEREAS, article XII, section 7 of the Hawai`i State Constitution; chapter 7 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes; and Public Access Shoreline Hawaii v. Hawaii County Planning Commission, 79 Hawai`i 246 (1991) (commonly referred to as the PASH decision), affirmed and upheld the right of Native Hawaiians and the people of this State to use undeveloped land, which may include certain ancient and historic trails, to exercise traditional and cultural practices; and

WHEREAS, chapter 198D, Hawaii Revised Statutes (1988), was adopted to establish a state-wide trail and access system known as "Nä Ala Hele"; and

WHEREAS, in 1979, E Mau Nä Ala Hele, a non-profit community advocacy group, was established to preserve the Hawaiian trail systems, and to this day remains actively involved with the maintenance and perpetuation of the Ala Kahakai Trail; and

WHEREAS, on January 24, 2000, the United States Congress designated the Ala Kahakai Trail as a National Historic Trail, and on November 13, 2000, the Ala Kahakai Trail was officially incorporated into the National Trails System Act as Public Law 106-509; and

WHEREAS, these historic acts help to ensure that native Hawaiians and all people of the State of Hawai`i will continue to have the right to use these public trails for access, enjoyment, recreation, commerce, and gathering purposes, in accordance with applicable state and federal laws; and

WHEREAS, these historic and vital trails, and the necessary and important rights for their appropriate use and enjoyment, should be recognized and commemorated statewide in perpetuity to further ensure that native Hawaiians and all people of the State of Hawai`i have and hold the right to use these public trails for access, enjoyment, recreation, commerce, and gathering purposes, in accordance with applicable state and federal laws; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-Third Legislature of the State of Hawai`i, Regular Session of 2006, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Governor of the State of Hawai`i is respectfully requested to recognize and proclaim the second Saturday of October as the day to commemorate the Highway Act of 1892 by designating this day as "E Ho`ola I Nä Ala Hele Day"  -- "To Give Life to the Trails Day"; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor of the State of Hawai`i, Hawai`i’s Congressional Delegation, and the Mayors and legislative councils of the counties of Hawai`i, Honolulu, Kauai, and Maui.

Report Title:

DECLARING "E HO'OLA INA ALA HELE" DAY