Ancient Hawaii - Land Tenure

Land Tenure

The great chiefs owned all the land in the areas which they controlled. They allocated control of portions of the land to their kinsmen and retainers, who then apportioned land to the commoners.

On the death of one chief and the accession of another, lands were re-apportioned—some of the previous "owners" would lose their lands, and others would gain them. Lands were also re-apportioned when one chief defeated another, and re-distributed the conquered lands as rewards to his warriors.

In practice, commoners had some security against capricious re-possession of their houses and farms. They were usually left in place, to pay tribute and supply labor to a new chief, under the supervision of a new konohiki, or overseer.

This system of land tenure is similar to the feudal system prevalent in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The main landholding unit in Hawai'i was the ahupua'a, a triangular slice of land running from the mountains in the center of an island down to the seashore. An island would be cut like a pie into a number of ahupua'a, usually defined by river valleys. Most ahupua'a contained all the resources necessary for life: a seashore for fishing and perhaps gathering on the reef, a river for drinking, bathing, and irrigation, forested uplands for timber and wild foods. All inhabitants of the ahupua'a shared the right to fish in the commonly-held waters, or gather in the uplands. Outsiders could fish or gather only with the permission of the residents. Some ahupua'a were larger than others and were sub-divided into smaller units. Some were incomplete. A fishing village on a rocky shore might form an ahupua'a rich in fish and lacking in everything else. These villagers had to barter fish for taro and sweet potato. Most villages were built close to the shore, for easy access to fishing grounds. A system of Hawaiian aquaculture was developed to increase the fish harvest. However, as the Hawaiian population increased over the centuries, inland villages sprang up as well. Like the fishing villages, they had to barter for the foods they could not get for themselves. Every ahupua'a owed taxes, in the form of produce, crafts, and labor, to the chiefs who had responsibility for the land. These demands could be onerous. Ancient Hawaiian tales speak of the chiefs as ravenous land sharks, who devoured the work of the commoners.