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The team at Pōʻai Ke Aloha ʻĀina is excited to congratulate Mahina Tuteur, who successfully defended her dissertation and graduated this spring to join the ranks of ʻŌiwi with PhDs! Mahina’s dissertation examines the Hawaiian land hui movement, which is the collective land ownership networks that Kānaka Maoli built in the aftermath of the Māhele as a deliberate act of resistance and self-governance. Although hui members designed sophisticated legal and economic structures to keep ʻāina in collective Hawaiian hands, her work also unpacks how territorial courts, plantation owners, and government actors systematically dismantled these networks through the strategic weaponization of specific legal mechanisms. What makes her work distinctive is its forward-moving trajectory tracing how community land trusts today carry on the spirit of these earlier hui, based on the practical question of how more Kānaka can get back on ʻāina now.
Mahina’s experience studying Hawaiian history, property law, and self-determination for years inspired this work, which is also a commitment to useful research that is accountable to community. As a graduate research assistant with Pōʻai Ke Aloha ʻĀina, the lab gave her what she calls “an intellectual home that matched the kind of work I was trying to do: research grounded in aloha ʻāina, accountable to community, and unapologetically centered on Hawaiian futures.” Being part of a community of scholars doing similar work made the harder stretches feel less isolating.
The defense is a high-stakes, stressful ritual, and one of the last milestones of a doctoral degree. To prepare, Mahina thought through potential questions (though none of them ended up being asked!) and getting crystal clear on the scope and boundaries of her research. “I tried to view the defense as more of a friendly conversation than me having to prove my argument,” she said. For anyone facing their own defense in the future, she offers hard-won wisdom: trust your committee. They brought you to the defense because they believe in the work. It is also crucial to give yourself something to look forward to on the other side. Having a plan to celebrate made the whole thing feel like a threshold to cross, rather than a wall to climb.
Moving forward, Mahina is already in preliminary conversations with publishers to turn the dissertation into a book. She is also looking forward to serving community land trusts and ʻāina stewardship organizations. Dr. Tuteur, we’re honored to be a part of your journey and can’t wait to see what you build next!
