Folk, Indigenous, and Customary Law
K. von Benda-Beckmann, Neil J. Smelser, and Paul B. Baltes, 2001
Unwritten legal systems, also called customary, folk, or indigenous law, do not merely belong to the past. In many societies they are part of a complex legal constellation. They govern such diverse areas as rights to land, water and forests, kinship and inheritance, but also political offices. These systems have undergone, and still are subject to, much change, under the influence of state legal systems, and due to economic and political change. They have been subject of both heated political and scientific controversy. For indigenous peoples, customary law is an important source of identity.
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Oxford, UK: Pergamon. Pp. 5705-5708.
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On This Day in Indigenous History
Sunday, 02 September 1838
Last Sovereign Queen of Hawai'i Born
On This Day: In 1838 the last sovereign Queen of Hawai'i, Lydia Kamakaʻeha Kaola Maliʻi Liliʻuokalani, was born. Liliʻuokalani inherited the throne from her brother Kalakaua on 29 January 1891. On 14 January 1893, a group composed of Americans and Europeans formed a Committee of Safety seeking to overthrow the Hawaiian Kingdom, depose the Queen, and seek annexation to the United States. The Queen was deposed on 17 January 1893 and temporarily relinquished her throne to "the superior military forces of the United States". She had hoped the United States, like Great Britain earlier in Hawaiian history, would restore Hawaii's sovereignty to the rightful holder.
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