The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, working with the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, is reopening the Official Roll.
The Office of Hawaiian Affairs, working with the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, is reopening the Official Roll.
An April drive added an estimated 10,000 participants who signed up for the roll after its deadline was extended to May 1.
Among the contributing factors to this success were the 20 town hall-style meetings OHA held statewide as well as the volunteers it enlisted to canvass Hawaiian homestead communities.
To accommodate as many Native Hawaiians as possible, the Roll Commission will focus on online registrations, and the Hawaiian Registry Program will focus on in-person registrations. OHA’s Hawaiian Registry Program provides ancestry verification required for applicants of OHA resources such as loans and college scholarships.
All names on OHA’s Hawaiian Registry Program are allowed by law to be added to the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission’s Official Roll of participants for the nation-building process.
The renewed efforts come less than a month after OHA trustees extended by six months the timetable for the nation-building process they previously committed to facilitate, allowing more time for registration and education to ensure meaningful Hawaiian community participation in the nation-building process.
Native Hawaiians interested in registering with the Hawaiian Registry Program can do so at any of OHA’s seven offices. Hawaii Island offices are at 75-5706 Hanama Pl., Ste. 107, Kailua-Kona and 162-A Baker Avenue, Hilo.