New Hawaiian Land Research Database

The below is copied directly from a press release circulated by Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies and the Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge:

UHM HAWAIIAN STUDIES MOUNTS A WEB SITE TO SERVE THE HAWAIIAN NATION IN LAND RESEARCH!We are proud to announce that the AVAKONOHIKI.ORG website is being published today in order to serve as a HoÊ»okupu no Ka LÄ�hui, a gift to the Hawaiian Nation, from the students of the UHM KamakakÅ«okalani Center for Hawaiian Studies [KCHS].Working on the AVA Konohiki project, funded by a federal grant from the Administration of Native Americans [ANA], and through the Edith KanakaÊ»ole Foundation [EKF], our Hawaiian students have created a web site to provide free and easy access to all 8,500 of the Hawaiian Kingdom Land Commission Awards [LCAs] and LCA Testimonies, as well as LCA maps for the 81 AhupuaÊ»a of OÊ»ahu. They even have video webinars to walk you through LCA land and map research!The AVA acronym stands for Ancestral Visions of ʻĀina, or KamakakÅ«okaÊ»Ä�ina, where young Hawaiians study ancestral Konohiki understandings of land and water management with a view to sustainable and efficient food production; hence the term AVA Konohiki! They believe that the first step in their training is to serve the LÄ�hui by making Hawaiian land documents available through the web; modern Hawaiian students!Dr. LilikalÄ� KameÊ»eleihiwa of UHM KCHS serves as Principal Investigator, Professor Kekuhi Keliikanakaoleohaililani of EKF and HCC is Director of the grant, and Dr. Pualani Kanahele of EKF is cultural leader.For the past 2 years, the team of 15 AVA Konohiki have been harvesting, transcribing, and proofreading these 8,500 land records, and now are wanting to share them with the world at http://www.avakonohiki.org/ava-home>.The website begins with the 932 pages of LCAs in Volume 4, and the first 40 pages of Foreign Testimonies, both the handwritten original pdfs, as well as the typewritten transcriptions.Over the next few weeks, handwritten pdfs and their transcriptions of all 10 LCA volumes will be uploaded.  Eventually, transcriptions for all 24 volumes of Foreign and Native Testimonies will be uploaded along with the handwritten original pdfs too.  By the end of Year 3 of the grant, there will be 12,400 land documents available. This will make genealogy and land researching available at our fingertips! If you want monthly updates about new materials being loaded on the website, you can ask to be put on the mailing list at avakonohiki@gmail.com.For the more sophisticated researchers, they can access this material through the HawaiÊ»inuiÄ�kea Knowledge Well that will allow searching in 5 different fields at once. Dr. Maenette Benham, Dean of HawaiÊ»inuiÄ�kea School of Hawaiian Knowledge, has established the HSHK Knowledge Well as permanent repository for all records having to do with the Hawaiian people.  Our AVAKONOHIKI.org website will be the first portal to access that knowledge.In order to better serve our LÄ�hui, on September 18, 2012, our students will hold an AVA Konohiki Website Launch Party to train students and community on how to use our website to search for Land Commission Awards, testimonies and maps.  This event will be held in HÄ�lau o Haumea, KamakakÅ«okalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, 2645 Dole Street, Honolulu, HawaiÊ»i from 5-7 pm, so mark your calendars!Our students follow the motto of HawaiÊ»inuiÄ�kea: 100 Generations of Ancestral Knowledge to Share with the World!AVA Konohiki gratefully acknowledges and thanks it supporters:Administration for Native Americans [ANA]Edith KanakaÊ»ole Foundation [EKF]HawaiÊ»inuiÄ�kea School of Hawaiian Knowledge [HSHK]KamakakÅ«okalani Center for Hawaiian Studies [KCHS]Kawaihuelani Center for Hawaiian Language [KCHL]Association of Hawaiian Civic ClubsDepartment of Hawaiian Home LandsHamilton LibraryKa Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian LawKamehameha SchoolsOHAʻŌiwi TVʻŌlelo TelevisionPaepae o HeÊ»eÊ»iaUHM Aquaculture HubUHM Geography Department