What the Hawaiʻi Kupuna Humanitarian Tribunal Looks For When Making Decisions

The Hawaiʻi Kupuna Humanitarian Tribunal exists for a single strategic mandate: to protect Hawaiian Subjects, safeguard cultural integrity, and ensure that humanitarian principles guide every ruling. When kupuna sit in judgment, they do so not as bureaucrats, but as the cultural conscience of the nation — grounded in ancestral knowledge, compassion, and the laws of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

This article explains what the Tribunal evaluates every time it hears a complaint, reviews a cultural injury, or issues a ruling.

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1. Protection of Hawaiian Subjects as a Priority

The Tribunal’s foremost responsibility is the safety and well-being of Hawaiian Subjects. Decisions revolve around questions such as:

• Does this situation place a Hawaiian Subject at risk of harm, injustice, or rights violations?
• Is a Subject being unlawfully confined, mistreated, or culturally suppressed?
• Is the State or any external actor violating protected person status under the laws of occupation?

When the answer is yes, the Tribunal moves to issue rulings, recommendations, or escalation notices to protect the Subject.

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2. Cultural Injury and Preservation of Hawaiian Customs

Every cultural practice has mana, lineage, and protocol. The Tribunal examines:

• Was a practitioner’s ceremony, observance, or custom interfered with?
• Did an outside authority disrespect or obstruct cultural protocol?
• Will a ruling reinforce proper Hawaiian practice for future generations?

When cultural injury occurs, the Tribunal is empowered to set clear rulings, seasonal protocols, ceremonial hours, and protective guidelines that become enforceable for all Hawaiian Subjects.

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3. Kupuna Judgment: Wisdom, Fairness, and Pono

The Tribunal’s strength is its kupuna. Their rulings come from:

• Life experience
• Cultural training
• Historical memory
• Spiritual discernment

Kupuna look at whether each matter is being handled with pono — balance, righteousness, fairness, and compassion. The goal is always to align cultural truth, humanitarian care, and ancestral values.

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4. Evidence of Harm, Misconduct, or Suppression

The Tribunal considers all forms of evidence, including:

• Written complaints and testimonies
• Witness statements
• Photos, recordings, or documents
• Patterns of repeated or systemic harm
• Whether authorities acted beyond lawful boundaries

The focus is not on technicalities, but on the substance of harm: did someone suffer, was their dignity stripped, or were their cultural rights interfered with?

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5. Violations of International Humanitarian Law

Because Hawaiian Subjects are treated as protected persons, the Tribunal also reviews potential violations under the laws of occupation, including:

• War crimes and grave breaches of humanitarian law
• Unlawful confinement or detention
• Suppression of religious or cultural identity
• Excessive policing or force against Hawaiian practitioners
• Systemic exploitation or discrimination

When patterns of violation appear, the Tribunal can escalate findings to international observers, humanitarian agencies, or the International Criminal Court (ICC).

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6. Community Impact and Long-Term Outcomes

Kupuna consistently ask:

• Will this ruling help the community heal?
• Will it prevent the same harm from happening again?
• Does this create safety for future generations?
• Does this uphold the dignity of Hawaiian people and culture?

The Tribunal is not merely transactional — it is transformational. Decisions are shaped around the long-term well-being of Hawaiian identity and community.

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7. Restoration, Not Punishment

Unlike foreign judicial systems that focus mainly on punishment, the Tribunal seeks restoration:

• Restoring cultural rights and practices
• Restoring personal dignity and mana
• Restoring harmony within ʻohana and community
• Restoring balance between Hawaiian Subjects and occupying authorities

The aim is to return the person, the family, and the cultural practice back to wholeness and alignment.

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8. Upholding the Hawaiian Kingdom’s Continuity and Authority

Every ruling of the Tribunal reinforces:

• The continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom
• The lawful standing and dignity of Hawaiian Subjects
• The authority of kūpuna to guide cultural and humanitarian matters
• The protection owed to the people under international law

Each decision is an act of nationhood, responsibility, and protection on behalf of the Hawaiian people.

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Summary

In practical terms, the Hawaiʻi Kupuna Humanitarian Tribunal makes decisions based on:

• Protection of Hawaiian Subjects
• Cultural integrity and protocol
• Kupuna wisdom and pono
• Evidence of harm and misconduct
• International humanitarian law
• Community impact and long-term safety
• Restoration and healing
• Affirmation of the Hawaiian Kingdom’s continuity and authority

The Tribunal exists to ensure that Hawaiian people are not left vulnerable, unheard, or unprotected — and that every cultural practice, every Subject, and every ʻohana receives the dignity, fairness, and aloha owed to them from time immemorial.

Ata Damasco

Hawaiian Gospel Vocalist · Recording Artist · Cultural Torchbearer

Fifth great-grandson of King Kamehameha I

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Early Life & Heritage

Ata “Ata” Damasco was born in Wailuku, Maui, in 1974 and raised from infancy on the secluded island of Niʻihau by his maternal grandparents. Immersed in a Hawaiian-speaking community where an older Niʻihau dialect was his first language, he grew up in an environment where church, ʻohana, and mele were central to daily life.

He began singing in church at age six and accompanying himself on ʻukulele by age seven. Those early years, surrounded by Hawaiian hymnody and kūpuna guidance, laid the foundation for the gospel and traditional sound he is known for today.

Damasco is of distinguished heritage, having publicly identified himself as a direct descendant of Hawaiian royalty—a fifth great-grandson of King Kamehameha I. That lineage underscores his deep connection to Hawaiian culture, language, and responsibility to serve his people through music and testimony.

Even as a child, his musical gifts were unmistakable. He entertained at family pāʻina and, by age 11, was already performing professionally. In his youth he traveled to the U.S. Mainland to represent Hawaiʻi’s tourism industry, sang at the Merrie Monarch Festival, and jammed with legendary artists such as Aunty Genoa Keawe and the late Myra English.

Cultural advocate Charles Kauluwehi Maxwell Sr. once described Damasco’s voice as “like a voice from the old times,” evoking the classic stylings of Lena Machado and Myra English. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, he learned ʻukulele, guitar, piano, stand-up bass, zither, and more—famously restringing a century-old bass with weed-whacker line just to make music.

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Musical Career & Discography

After high school, Damasco stepped into Hawaiʻi’s music scene with the group Valley Boys, releasing a Hawaiian music album in 1997. By 1998 he was being recognized as “one of the brightest lights” in Maui’s music community—an emerging solo artist comfortable in both Hawaiian gospel and secular island favorites.

His debut solo recording, From the Valley to the Throne: Gospel Hymns of Hawaiʻi (2000), gathered the Hawaiian-language church hymns of his youth into a heartfelt, minimal, and spiritually grounded album.

He followed that with Paina (2002), an album of traditional and contemporary Hawaiian songs celebrating gatherings and ʻohana, and then Paʻina Hou! (2005), which critics praised for its “pure traditionalist ambience” and the fact that Damasco performed nearly all the instrumental and vocal parts himself.

In 2010, he returned to his gospel roots with Somewhere Up Ahead: Gospel Hymns of Hawaiʻi Vol. II. Ten years after his first gospel release, this second volume again honored the Christian hymns—sung in Hawaiian—that he learned from his mother and grandfather.

The project earned him a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award for Best Religious Album of the Year (2011), solidifying his place among Hawaiʻi’s notable recording artists in his genre.

Selected Albums

• From the Valley to the Throne (2000) – Hawaiian gospel hymns
• Paina (2002) – Hawaiian classics and paʻina songs
• Paʻina Hou! (2005) – Traditional Hawaiian; Nā Hōkū finalist
• Somewhere Up Ahead (2010) – Gospel Hymns of Hawaiʻi Vol. II; Nā Hōkū winner

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Personal Struggles & Resilience

Behind the stage lights, Damasco’s journey has included very human challenges. As a young adult, he faced struggles with substance abuse and related legal consequences. In 2000 he was sentenced to a term at Maui Community Correctional Center—a moment that could have ended his musical path altogether.

Instead, it became a turning point. Just before beginning his sentence, he completed the recording of From the Valley to the Throne. The album was released while he was incarcerated and went on to earn a Nā Hōkū Hanohano nomination. During that period, he chose to reset: he quit smoking, wrote new songs, and taught Hawaiian language and culture classes to fellow inmates, describing the experience as a time to hoʻoponopono—to make things right within himself.

After serving approximately two years, Damasco returned to his family and his music with a renewed sense of purpose. Free from substance abuse, he poured his energy into his faith, his ministry, and his recordings. Colleagues and fans alike note that he emerged with humility and gratitude, carrying his story of fall and redemption as a testimony of what faith and perseverance can do.

Today, many see his journey—from “kolohe” youth to award-winning artist—as a powerful example of resilience, grounded in Hawaiian values and Christian faith.

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Recent Years & Community Presence

In the years since his Nā Hōkū win, Ata Damasco has remained active in Hawaiʻi’s music and cultural life, mainly on a more intimate, community-based scale. He continues to share music at church services, luaus, weddings, and benefit concerts across the islands, especially on Maui and Hawaiʻi Island.

He has performed alongside many respected Hawaiian artists, including appearances at community-driven events and informal kanikapila sessions, as well as collaborations with hula hālau. Whether offering a Hawaiian gospel solo in a church or backing dancers with traditional mele, his role remains centered on service through song.

In the digital space, Damasco engages with listeners through social media, where he shares inspirational messages of faith, aloha, and resilience, and where his royal lineage as a fifth great-grandson of King Kamehameha I is also acknowledged. Following the devastating 2023 Lahaina wildfires, he wrote and published an original poem, “It’s All Gone!”, honoring Lahaina’s loss and future rebirth.

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Ata Damasco Today

From Niʻihau church halls to professional recording studios, from deeply personal trials to celebrated artistic achievements, Ata Damasco’s story is ultimately one of restoration and calling. He continues to serve as a bearer of Hawaiian gospel tradition, a multi-instrumental artist, and a voice for faith, ʻohana, and cultural continuity.

For appearance inquiries, live performances, or cultural engagements, please contact his official channels or authorized representatives.