Media release | The Kohala Center

KAMUELA, Hawai‘i — March 2, 2011 — Kona attorney Mike Matsukawa will discuss the effect of the “modern” court system in displacing traditional native customs in Hawai‘i and creating a system that favored the foreigner in an upcoming Puana Ka ‘Ike lecture in Kona and an Eia Hawai‘i presentation in Hilo.

Matsukawa will speak on “Judicial Imprints in Hawaiian History” from 5:30–7 p.m. on Friday, March 11, at the Keauhou Beach Resort, Kahalu‘u II Ballroom, in Kona and from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Monday, March 14, at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, Campus Center Room 301.

In this context, Matsukawa offers explanations for post-Statehood court decisions that attempt to redeem and mitigate the losses sustained by natives, with a hope to achieve what Kauikeaouli or Kamehameha III might have desired for his people.

Matsukawa is a member of the Hawai‘i State Bar and a practicing attorney in Kailua-Kona for more than 35 years.

For more information on Matsukawa’s presentations, contact Joy Cunefare at 808-534-8528 or e-mail info@kohalacenter.org. For lecture schedules and webcasts of previous lectures, visit http://kohalacenter.org/puanakaike/about.html and www.keauhouresort.com/learn-puanakaike.html.

The Puana Ka ‘Ike and Eia Hawai‘i lecture series are presented in partnership with Keauhou-Kahalu‘u Education Group of Kamehameha Schools, The Kohala Center, the Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, and Keauhou Beach Resort.