Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 2, 1 August 1994 — Native Hawaiians: immigrants or indigenous? [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Native Hawaiians: immigrants or indigenous?

Feds considering proposals to change native Hawaiian census classification

bv Patrick Johnston Should native Hawaiians be considered a minority in the American ethnic mosaic or one of the nation's indigenous peoples? Senator Daniel Akaka believes the latter and is taking steps to see that federal records have them listed as such. Under Office of Management and

Business (OMB) Directive No. 15, all races and ethnicities in the United States are grouped into five categories: American or Alaskan Native; Asian or Pacific Islander; Black; Hispanic; and White. Native Hawaiians are grouped with "Asian or Pacific lslanders." The classifications were put into effect in

1977 for census purposes and so the federal govemment could track how different ethnie groups were faring in various fields including civil rights, access to programs for minorities, employment, heahh, and education. Agencies use the information to monitor and enforce programs the govemment has in plaee. Since their creation, the classifications have eome under fire for being incomplete and unscientific. For native Hawaiians, being labeled Asian or Pacific Islanders has been the source of some contention: according to Sen. Akaka and other critics of the labeling, the title implies that native Hawaiians are an immigrant minority and not one of the indigenous peoples of the United States. Akaka believes labeling native Hawaiians as one of America's indigenous people would help provide some "consistency" to federal policy. "Although native Hawaiians are defined as Native Americans in a number of federal laws," Akaka said in a statement, "we eonstantly fall through the cracks for laek of a consistently inclusive federal policy. At best, we are subject to hit-or-miss historical recognition as one of our nation's native peoples. There are many things that could be done to change this insensitivity, and 0MB Directive No.15 is a good plaee to start." Akaka's legislative aide Esther Kiaaina

says that the change should, at the very least, educate Mainland Americans about native Hawaiians. "It is the senator's belief that any effort to clear up where native Hawaiians fit in to American society will help. ... Just the education will help." On a more tangible level, Kiaaina points out that with some university scholarships native Hawaiians have been denied the funding available to native Americans strictly on the basis of Directive No. 15. Asians are considered overrepresented in higher education. If universities believe a native Hawaiian is part of that group the individual may not receive the kind of support necessary to complete his or her education. Being labeled with other Asian groups has also masked what could be interpreted as discriminatory lending practices on the part of Hnaneial institutions. For example, low lending rates to native Hawaiians ean be offset by high rates to other Asian groups, making banks appear to be lending equally to all groups. (See story this page.) While changing the categories is not supposed to mean certain groups become eligible for federal entitlements, 0MB officials concede that this is an inevitable byproduct of directive changes. Agencies that work with affected groups will likely use the new categories to try to get federal continued on page 8

The sailing vessel Hawai'i Loa is lowered into the sea at Pier 35 in preparation for its upcoming voyage from the Marquesas to Hawai'i. Photo by Patrick Johnston

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support. Eight revisions are currently being proposed to the directive, including Akaka's, whieh would change the "American or Alaskan Native" category to "American Indian, Alaskan Native or Native Hawaiian." Native peoples in this group would be defined as those "having origins in the original peoples of North America or the Hawaiian Islands and who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliation or eommunity recognition." Other proposals include making a separate "Native Hawaiian" category or creating a new "Native American" category (whieh would also include American Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos). While the proposed changes have received widespread support from a number of Hawaiian groups including OHA. Alu Like, and Kamehameha Schools, Native Americans have been less receptive. In testimony given last year before the House Subcommittee on Census, Statistics and Postal Personnel, an group representing American natives spoke out against reclassifying native Hawaiians as Native Americans and lumping them together with Alaskans and American lndians. Rachel Joseph, Interim Executive Director for the Naiiona! Congress of American Indians, argued that creating a

"Native American" classification would distort statistics by bringing in an indigenous community with a distinct culture and politieal orientation. "The differences in status, relation with the federal government, history, culture, and circumstances are too great for this kind of one-fits-all treatment," her testimony read. In its plaee the group supported creating a separate Native Hawaiian classilication and keeping the present one for Mainland tribes. The testimony also expressed eoneem that a new "Native American" classification would confuse native-born Americans of all races, further skewing the statistics. Congressional staff admit that a central eoneem of native Americans is that the inclusion of a new indigenous population into their group would eat into funds now available only to them. The situation is complicated by claims by Chamorros and Samoans that they should also be considered native peoples. OMB held four hearings on the proposed directive changes in July, including two in Honolulu on July 18 and 19. OMB officials say they will consider all proposals. Any changes they decide to make will be in plaee by 1997 to be ready for the decennial census scheduled for the year 2000.

Proponents of the census change feel native Hawaiians have more in eommon with Native Americans than with Asians.