Waiāhole-Waikāne struggle facts for kids

The Waiāhole-Waikāne Struggle was an important movement in Hawaii during the 1970s. It was about families fighting to stay in their homes and keep their farms. This struggle helped protect land and water rights for local communities.

How It Started

After the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, a man named Lincoln Loy McCandless bought a lot of land. This included the beautiful Waiāhole and Waikāne valleys. In 1913, he started building the Waiāhole Ditch.

When the ditch was finished in 1917, it moved water from the rainy side of Oahu. It sent this water to the dry side, where many sugar plantations were. This meant less water for growing kalo (a traditional Hawaiian plant). It also affected other farmers living in the valleys. Many families lived and farmed on land they rented from McCandless. This was like a system called sharecropping, where farmers paid rent with a part of their crops. After McCandless passed away, his daughter, Elizabeth Marks, took over the land.

The Fight for the Valleys

After Hawaii became a state in 1959, Elizabeth Marks decided to work with a developer named Joe Pao. They wanted to turn the valleys into new neighborhoods. In 1974, they asked the Land Usage Commission to change the land's purpose from farming to city use. The commission said no.

But Marks and Pao decided to continue with their plans anyway. They evicted nine families from their homes to make space for new buildings. They also raised the rent for many other families living and farming in the valleys.

Community Takes Action

The Waiāhole-Waikāne Community Association (WWCA) was formed to help. They hired a lawyer to talk about everyone's leases together. The WWCA also held protests while fighting the rent increases and evictions in court.

One important protest happened on April 21, 1976. People protested in front of Marks' house in Nuuanu. The most famous protest was on January 4, 1977. On that day, valley residents blocked the road leading into the valley.

A Victory for the Community

After the protest, the Hawaii Housing Authority bought 600 acres of land from Marks. They then leased this land to the farmers living in the valley. This was a big win!

But the fight for the land and its water continued in the courts. Kalo farmers in the valley sued for their rights to the water. This was the water that was being taken away by the Waiāhole Ditch. In 2000, the Hawaii Supreme Court made a final decision. They ruled that the water should stay in the valley for the farmers.