This article examines land governance transitions during the transformation from a monarchy to a western/US private property governance system in the Hawaiian Islands, covering the historical structures through the 1830s, the implementation of the Māhele (division) during the 1840s–1850s, and the immediate consequences. Though the Hawaiian monarchy initiated land reforms in part to protect indigenous Hawaiian commoners from eviction, the institutions and practices created through land reform effectively disadvantaged indigenous Hawaiian commoners from claiming property, and later, even the Hawaiian monarchy lost direct control over lands that the King had set aside. Implications of this analysis for future research and political debate are discussed.