•  
  •  
 

Abstract

This paper argues, by illustrating, that liberal multiculturalism and natural resources are interlinked strategies of settler colonial governance in political debates surrounding the construction of a “predator-proof” fence for conservation purposes across Native Hawaiian lands of deep cultural and historical significance at Ka`ena Point, a state wilderness park in Hawai`i. First, this paper shifts debates framed in terms of the seeming recalcitrance of Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners to recognize the necessity of natural resource management. Second, it considers how these political debates are repeated in the context of legal questions over the forms through which Native Hawaiian cultural claims may be placed against settler state actions. Third, and most pertinently, the paper speaks to an emerging field of critical indigenous legal scholars who analyze the limits of law as coterminous with settler colonialism.

COinS