The Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law is celebrating two decades of education, scholarship, and community advocacy on issues affecting Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders and Indigenous peoples. The center is part of the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
In recognition of this milestone, Councilmember Esther Kiaʻāina, on behalf of the Honolulu City Council, presented an honorary certificate to Ka Huli Ao at Honolulu Hale. The presentation honored the center’s enduring contributions to Native Hawaiian legal education and community engagement.
“Ka Huli Ao is grateful to the Honolulu City Council for this tremendous honor, which is a reflection on Chief Justice William S. Richardson’s enduring legal legacy to Hawaiʻi and our people,” said Kapuaʻala Sproat, director of Ka Huli Ao and professor of law. “Ua Ao Hawaiʻi! In Ka Huli Ao’s 20th year, this guiding theme reminds us that even in our most challenging moments, the path forward is illuminated by Hawaiʻi’s enduring legal foundations, grounded in loina (customs, principles, laws) and ʻike kuʻuna (ancestral knowledge), which continue to guide us toward the light of tomorrow.”
Founded in 2005 by Professor Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie through a Native Hawaiian Education Act grant, Ka Huli Ao has become a cornerstone of Native Hawaiian law. The center established the first–ever Native Hawaiian Law Certificate program, published Native Hawaiian Law: A Treatise, provides training to the community and decision makers, operates a post–JD legal fellows program, shapes future leaders and leads the Native Hawaiian Law Clinic that provides direct legal services to our neighbor island communities.
