State test on Native Hawaiians

SUBHEAD: Pratt was Native Hawaiian and was exercising customary cultural practices on undeveloped state land.  

By Michael Levine on 25 April 2011 for The Garden Island News - 
(http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_6b4b3f16-6fd9-11e0-99a1-001cc4c03286.html)

 
Image above: Isn't this how Kalalau Valley should look? Taro glowing in Limahuli Valley, near the beginning of the trail to Kalalau Valley. From (http://kupunakalo.com/index.php/site/field_visits/kauai). 
 
The Hawai‘i Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case in which a Native Hawaiian argues he has a constitutional right to take up residence as a caretaker of a remote state park on Kaua‘i.

The case, State v. Pratt, will go a long way toward deciding whether the exercise of customary and traditional Native Hawaiian practices is allowed even when doing so violates state laws or rules.

Lloyd “Ikaika” Pratt was cited three different times in 2004 for camping in the Kalalau Valley, part of Kaua‘i’s Na Pali Coast State Park, in violation of state rules. He argued that when he set up a camp, cleared land and planted crops, he was protected by the state’s constitutional promise that Native Hawaiians have the right to practice their culture and religion.

His argument was rejected by the trial court.

[Editor's note: We have been asked by CivilBeat.com to not reproduce the entirety of this article. For more see either the TGi article or its source - "Do Hawaiians Have the Right to Break the Rules" at (http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2011/04/25/10523-do-native-hawaiians-have-the-right-to-break-rules/). Our answer would be "Yes" - in Hawaii Hawaiians can break the rules of the fake state and it's colonial masters.]
 
See also:
The Garden Island: Native Hawaiian Found Guilty 11/13/03

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