Native Hawaiians

Native Hawaiians (in Hawaiian, kanaka ‘oiwi or kanaka māoli) are the indigenous Polynesian peoples of the Hawaiian Islands who trace their ancestry back to antiquity before the arrival of British explorer Captain James Cook in 1778. According to the U.S. Census Bureau report for 2000, there are 476,000 people who identified themselves as being native Hawaiian, part native Hawaiian and mixed native Hawaiian. Most native Hawaiians are residents of the United States in California, the State of Hawaii, Nevada and Washington. Two-thirds live in the State of Hawaii while the other one-third is split among mainland states. Almost half of the mainland share of the population is in California.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)

Another important outgrowth of the 1978 Hawai‘i State Constitutional Convention was the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, more popularly known as OHA. Delegates that included future Hawai'i political stars Benjamin J. Cayetano, John D. Waihee III and Jeremy Harris were compelled to create measures that would right the injustices imposed on native Hawaiians since the illegal overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i. OHA was established as a trust, administered with a mandate to better the conditions of both native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian community in general. OHA was given control over certain lands returned to them, originally taken away with the establishment of the Territory of Hawaii in 1898. They still wait today for the return of other lands promised to them by both the federal and state governments.

Related Topics:
Office of Hawaiian Affairs - Benjamin J. Cayetano - John D. Waihee III - Jeremy Harris - Kingdom of Hawai‘i - Territory of Hawaii - 1898

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OHA is a semi-autonomous government body administered by a nine-member board of trustees, elected by the people of the State of Hawaii through popular suffrage. Originally, trustees and the people eligible to vote for trustees were restricted to native Hawaiians. Rice V. Cayetano reached the United States Supreme Court suing the Cayetano Administration to allow non-Hawaiians to sit on the board of trustees and for non-Hawaiians to be allowed to vote in trustee elections. Justices ruled in favor of Rice on 23 February 2000 forcing OHA to open its elections to all residents of the State of Hawaii regardless of ethnicity.

Related Topics:
Rice V. Cayetano - United States Supreme Court - 23 February - 2000

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