Blockchains and environmental self-determination for the Native Hawaiian people: Toward restorative stewardship of Indigenous lands

• Published in: Harvard civil rights-civil liberties law review Vol. 57; no. 1; pp. 393 - 437
• Main Author: MJ Palau-McDonald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge Harvard Law School 01-06-2022
• Subjects: Blockchain; Blockchains (Databases); Bombs; Civil rights; Decolonization; Environmental law; Federal government; General public; Governance; Indigenous peoples; Land trusts; Legislatures; Military training; Natural resources; Ordnance; Political participation; Public lands; Resource management; Self determination; Self-determination, National; Sovereignty; Space telescopes; State; UNITED STATES; Hawaii; United States > US
• ISSN: 0017-8039; 1943-5061

Part I sets forth the Four Values of Restorative Justice for Native Peoples, a framework of contextual legal analysis for adjudications impacting Indigenous communities deployed throughout this comment. Part II provides a contextual history of the formation, governance, and mismanagement of the Public Land Trust to demonstrate why polycentric stewardship is necessary. Part III explains the right to environmental self-determination and the aspects of blockchain technology that make it especially relevant to Native Peoples seeking increased control over biocultural resources. To illustrate blockchain’s potential, Part IV proposes a polycentric stewardship program for Pohakuloa Training Area, a US military training complex on Hawaii Island that sits on Public Land Trust acreage. This comment ultimately seeks to examine how blockchain can help Kanaka exercise our right to environmental self-determination while holding the state and federal governments accountable for exploiting Hawaii nei (beloved Hawaii).