Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa presents the first detailed analysis of the Mahele from a contemporary Hawaiian perspective. Using Hawaiian language sources, Kame'eleihiwa analyzes the traditional Hawaiian relationship, both spiritual and political, to the land. She traces the changes in that relationship, through Christian conversion and American colonization, to explain how Hawaiian land was wrongfully taken from Chiefs as well as commoners.

With an admirable commitment to her people's future as well as past, Kame'eleihiwa follows in the illustrious tradition of 19th century Hawaiian intellectuals David Malo, John Papa 'I'i, and Samuel Kamakau. Her work, in turn, will provide historians of the 21st century with endless material for reflection and interpretation.