The Great Māhele
On January 27, 1848, King Kamehameha III and more than 240 chiefs began the Great Māhele, dividing Hawaiʻi's communally held lands into private property under mounting foreign pressure. Native tenants ultimately received under 1% of the land; the Māhele laid the groundwork for the large-scale dispossession of Native Hawaiians that deepened after U.S. annexation.