Opinion ID: 1186420
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: hawaiian custom and usage prior to 1892 gave title to lava extensions to the abutting landowner

Text: The court decided that the subject land did not become part of the appellees' land through custom and usage, but the documentary evidence supports the conclusion that Hawaiian custom and usage treated such extensions as belonging to the abutting landowner. The issue of Hawaiian custom and usage raised by the appellees in this case has been before this court on a prior occasion. In State v. Zimring, 52 Haw. 472, 479 P.2d 202 (1970) this court reversed a summary judgment granted by the trial judge (then Judge Felix) in part on the ground that the evidence of custom and usage presented by the appellees, an affidavit of a kama'aina witness, [8] failed to meet the requirement implicit in HRS 1-1 that the usage alleged predate November 25, 1892. [9] The affiant, William Kamau Sr., had stated that in light of his special knowledge [10] he believed: that as new land is created which destroys the shoreline and creates a new shoreline, the abutting owner's right to his seashore boundary gives him the ownership of the new land. 52 Haw. at 473, 479 P.2d at 203. The State had introduced no evidence on this point but the court held: The usage Kamau deposed to might have had reference to facts he observed, and his mother and hanai father observed, in connection with volcanic eruptions after November 25, 1892. If so, such facts did not establish the kind of usage meant in HRS 1-1. 52 Haw. at 475, 479 P.2d at 204. The cause was remanded for trial and at trial Mr. Kamau was not called as a witness by either party. Instead the appellees adduced other evidence tending to show an established Hawaiian usage which gave title of newly created lava-land to the abutting seashore owner. The development of competent usage evidence relevant to this issue was complicated by the limited time frame within which such usage must have existed. To be relevant the usage alleged must deal with lava extensions abutting privately owned land, but in Hawaii private ownership of land did not begin until the Great Mahele of 1846. Thus the usage evidence must deal with new land created between 1846 and 1892 which attached to privately owned land. With these constraints it cannot be surprising that there is a paucity of evidence in this area. The appellees and the amicus curiae [11] adduced evidence upon which the trial court found, in Findings of Fact 13: The evidence established that in the period between 1800 and the present time there were 13 lava flows that added land area to the seashore. Of these 13, only three occurred between 1846, when private land ownership originated in Hawaii, and November of 1892. It was established that two of these flows crossed private seashore land and added new land. One flow, that of 1868, added land to a previously granted Land Commission Award, granted in 1854. The evidence showed that the Boundary Commission (1876) and the Royal Patent, issued in 1877, both followed the new shoreline and included newly created land. Both the Boundary Commission and the Royal Patent expressly referred to the 1868 flow. The majority does not reject these findings but holds that they are insufficient to establish a customary usage. I must dissent from this holding as I believe that the 1868 lava flow and the governmental response thereto provide ample evidence of an established usage which is reinforced by other evidence produced at trial. An understanding of the factual and legal context surrounding the determination of ownership of the 1868 lava extension is essential to an understanding of its great importance in documenting Hawaiian usage. In 1854 the Land Commission awarded to Victoria Kamamalu the ahupua'a of Pakini Nui by name only. In 1861 a Royal Patent, No. 4475, was issued to V. Kamamalu covering this land. Due to the scarcity of surveyors in Hawaii during this period, it was standard practice for the Land Commission to issue awards by name only, but in 1862 a statute was enacted requiring awardees to apply to the Boundary Commission, established in the same act, to have the boundaries of their land determined and certified. (Act of August 23, 1862, Laws of Hawaii 1862, p. 57 § 3.) After the 1868 lava flow overran the shoreline of Pakini Nui and added a considerable amount of new land to the ahupua'a, [12] the successor to the title of the awardee went before the Boundary Commission, pursuant to the 1862 statute, for certification of the boundaries of her land. The Commission determined that this new land was within the boundaries of Pakini Nui and issued a certificate which specifically mentioned the 1868 flow in its metes and bounds description of the boundaries. [13] In 1877 the Minister of Interior issued a second Royal Patent, No. 6887, which conformed to the Boundary Commissioner's determination. The majority finds this evidence inconclusive because the Boundary Commissioner, R.A. Lyman, did not set forth the reasons for his determination. The boundary commissioners were under no statutory duty to set out the reasons for their conclusions but the Statute of 1862, supra, creating the commission did set out guidelines and procedures for the commissioners to follow in making their decisions. SECTION 4. It shall be the duty of said Commissioners, on the receipt of such application as above, to notify the owner or owners of the land and also those of the lands adjoining, of the time when they will be prepared to hear their case. They shall receive at such hearing all the testimony offered, shall go on the ground when required by either party, and shall endeavor otherwise to obtain all information possible, to enable them to arrive at a just decision as to the boundaries of said lands. Laws of Hawaii 1862, 28. Further amplification of the criteria used by the boundary commissioners is found in decisions of this court reviewing, on appeal, determinations of the Commission. In Cornwell v. Board of Education, 4 Haw. 540, 543 (1882), an action for false representations stemming from a dispute over the boundaries of the ahupua'a of Pulehunui which had been determined by the Boundary Commission and reviewed in the Supreme Court, this court stated: The Boundary Commissioner bases his determination principally on tradition as known to the oldest native residents. In the case of Waikapu and Pulehunui the Boundary Commission, and subsequently the Supreme Court found in such testimony that a large tract which had been held by the Government at Waikapu ... was included in ancient Pulehunui (emphasis added). In its review of the commissioner's determination of Pulehunui, In Re Boundaries of Pulehunui, 4 Haw. 239 (1879), the supreme court reviewed the testimony of several kama'aima witnesses presented before the commission and sustained the commissioner's findings. It becomes apparent that as part of his statutory duty to obtain all the information possible a commissioner would consider tradition or custom as relevant if not controlling evidence. Thus official response to this 1868 lava extension has two-pronged relevancy. First, due to the statutory duty to get all information possible and the Supreme Court's approval, in other cases, of the use of kama'aima testimony as to traditional practice, it may be inferred that the Boundary Commissioner's determination was made with knowledge of a traditional practice, or at the least, was not contrary to an existing usage. Second, is the fact that the commissioner, in making his determination, was actually recording an Hawaiian usage and establishing it as a precedent in Hawaiian real property law. This second prong is of crucial importance, for in determining the boundaries of Pakini Nui in 1876, the commissioner heard a case of first impression in Hawaii. The 1868 flow was the first flow subsequent to 1846 which added new land to a privately owned parcel. This was the first instance in modern Hawaii where a government official as part of his statutory duties, was called upon to determine this question at an official adjudicatory hearing. [14] This official's function was to determine boundaries according to statutory criteria and existing practice, and we should presume that he performed his function properly. [15] His decision then is not only evidence of a preexisting custom; it created the official usage of the custom as the basis for determining the boundaries of land, and gave the custom official sanction and recognition. Then in 1892 when the statute which was the predecessor of HRS 1-1 was enacted, this usage became a part of the law of Hawaii. A decision of the Boundary Commissioner is not, of course, of the same precedential value as a decision of this Supreme Court. However, one function of HRS 1-1 is to provide the people of Hawaii with another source of law, one which is not derived from the legislature or from supreme court decisions. Once established and officially recognized, the precedential value of an Hawaiian custom or usage should be in parity with that of a legislative act or judicial decision. HRS 1-1 is an express limitation on the applicability and development of the common law to areas not inconsistent with practices established by Hawaiian usage. The record from the trial court contained other evidence of an existing Hawaiian usage giving title to lava extensions to the abutting landowner. The trial court found that in 1887 a lava flow crossed the Kahuku land of one C.C. Harris, extending his shoreline boundary. In this instance there was no governmental determination of boundaries, but the lava extension was marked on tax maps as belonging to Mr. Harris. [16] Assuming arguendo that the government is not bound by its acquiescence for more than 85 years in its tax department's treatment of this land, the tax treatment is still probative of an established and officially accepted usage. The majority is of the opinion that tax map treatment reveals only what the tax department assumed about ownership of land. I would ask: on what did they base their assumption? It seems clear that where all government pronouncements or responses to the creation of lava extensions between 1846 and 1892 are consistent with each other and with the usage now asserted by appellees, the government should at least introduce some evidence to rebut the usage alleged. The Tax Department treatment of lava extensions as belonging to the abutting landowner continued at least until 1968, as taxes paid by the Zimrings on the subject land were accepted without comment. [17] Further, other departments of the Territorial and State governments indicated by their actions that the Zimrings were owners of the lava extensions created in 1955. In his Findings of Fact, Judge Fukuoka stated: 5. On October 23, 1961, the State and Zimrings entered into a mutual deed, drafted by the State, to settle a matter relating to easements on Grants 4139 and 4140. The deed recited that Zimrings were owners of the parcels to high water mark, using the same description. Attached to that deed was a sketch of the lands added by the 1955 flow. To the left and right of the parcel now in dispute were new lands abutting old Government lands. These new lands were labeled Government lands; the land now in dispute was clearly set off from these parcels and was not labeled Government land. The State should have had knowledge, before the deed was drafted and executed, of the additions of the land now in dispute. The State gained an easement in this land now in dispute. The State gained an easement in this transaction, but remained silent on any claims it had. Prior to that time, the Attorney General of the State had examined Zimrings' Certificate of Title, which contained a description to a seashore boundary, and declared it to be satisfactory (emphasis added). Findings of Fact No. 5, pp. 5-6. A pattern of governmental practice beginning in 1876 with the Boundary Commissioner's determination that the lava addition to Pakini Nui belonged to the abutting owner, and continuing for approximately 92 years is demonstrated by the evidence; the origins of this practice rest in the history of ancient Hawaii. Although it is beyond dispute that Hawaiian usage must be established prior to 1892, there is evidence from the government's response to the lava flows of 1868 and 1887 that such usage existed. Further, where governmental treatment of lava extensions created subsequent to 1892 is consistent with the pre-1892 treatment, this is strong evidence that such a custom did obtain prior to 1892 and was considered binding by the government. The majority now holds that the evidence adduced was insufficient to establish the asserted usage. This seems inconsistent with recent decisions by this court involving the use of custom and usage. In In Re Application of Ashford, 50 Haw. 314, 315-316, 440 P.2d 76, 77 (1968), this court stated: Hawaii's land laws are unique in that they are based on ancient tradition, custom, practice, and usage. Keelikolani v. Robinson, 2 Haw. 514. The method of locating the seaward boundaries was by reputation evidence from kamaainas and by the custom and practice of the government's survey office. It is not solely a question for a modern day surveyor to determine boundaries in a manner completely oblivious to the knowledge and intention of the King and old time kamaainas who knew the history and names of various lands and the monuments thereof (emphasis added). The Ashford case involved a boundary dispute between a shoreline property owner and the State as to the location of a shoreline boundary. At trial the State produced two kama'aina witnesses for the purpose of establishing by reputation evidence, the location of `Ma ke kai' [18] and also the location of public and private boundaries along the seashore in accordance with tradition, custom, and usage in old Hawaii. 50 Haw. at 315, 440 P.2d at 77. On the basis of the testimony of two witnesses, this court found that the State owned all land makai of the edge of vegetation or line of debris. 50 Haw. at 316, 440 P.2d at 77. A sample of this testimony is found in the dissent of Justice Marumoto: Q. Mr. Kahinu, have you heard what old-timers who are now deceased say according to Hawaiian custom, tradition and practice, where the location of a public boundary and the private boundary is along the seashore in Hawaii? ..... A. All I hear the old-timers say the high water mark is where the water gets to the end, out in the seashore, I mean the toppest part of the seashore where it meets the grass. All they say that is the high water mark. This court had no difficulty finding such testimony sufficient to establish an Hawaiian usage in Ashford but now holds that: (1) an adjudication by a boundary commissioner in 1876, (2) an official document issued in 1877 by the Minister of Interior, signed by the King (Royal Patent 6887), (3) Tax Department treatment of an 1887 lava flow acquiesced in by the governments of Hawaii for 85 years, (4) Tax Department treatment of the lava extension created in 1955 (accepting taxes), (5) Territorial and State surveyors' (the government surveyors referred to in the Ashford case, supra ) consistent practice of mapping newly formed lava land extending the seashore as having accreted to the abutting landowner's property, and (6) government action (including approval by the Attorney General) in which the State negotiated with the Zimrings for an easement across the lava extension, are insufficient to establish a similar usage. The evidence received in Ashford was hearsay, albeit admissible due to necessity, whereas here there was documentary evidence directly on point as well as other evidence, documentary and testimonial, which amplified and reinforced the original direct documentary evidence. I would find this evidence sufficient to establish the usage alleged by appellees. The position occupied by Hawaiian custom and usage in the jurisprudence of this State is far higher than that of traditional common law custom and usage. Hawaiian usage is law derived from our island's history and is of equal dignity with laws derived from our legislature and courts. See HRS 1-1, In Re Application of Ashford, 50 Haw. 314, 440 P.2d 76 (1968). As stated by this court in Ashford, supra at 315, 440 P.2d at 77, Hawaii's land laws are unique in that they are based on ancient tradition, custom, practice, and usage. So too, Hawaiian usage is unique because Hawaiian land law is based on it. By the terms of HRS 1-1, Hawaiian usage, once established, controls over general common law precedent to the contrary. In Re Application of Ashford, supra ; County of Hawaii v. Sotomura, 55 Haw. 176, 177, 517 P.2d 57 (1973). This court has, in the Ashford and Sotomura cases, relied on Hawaiian usage to establish the seashore boundaries of private and public land. The court found the boundary to be the vegetation line, whereas traditional American practice and common law would contemplate private ownership of all land mauka of the high water mark. The only evidence of the public ownership of all land makai of the vegetation line was kama'aina testimony as to Hawaiian usage. The court considered itself bound by the usage established. In the instant case, the appellees offer direct documentary proof and other circumstantial evidence of an Hawaiian usage not inconsistent with existing common law, but the usage so proved is rejected as being insufficient. As time progresses it will become increasingly difficult to produce competent evidence of historical usage. Those who could have provided kama'aina testimony will have passed on, if they have not already. Instead of kama'aina testimony, courts will have to accept documentary evidence of Hawaiian usage. This court will again have occasion to decide what level of documentary evidence is sufficient to establish a usage, but with this case as a precedent, it is hard to imagine what evidence could meet the degree of certainty apparently required.