Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 November 1985 — Genealogy Project Gets Funding [ARTICLE]

Genealogy Project Gets Funding

A $5,000 preliminary federal grant to study how to collect and computerize older information on the genealogy of persons of Hawaiian ancestry has been received by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. A study team comprised of Wisconsin State Archivist F. Gerald Ham and retired Hawaii State Archivist Agnes Conrad will do the preliminary study. Rubellite Johnson, associate professor of language at the University of Hawaii, and Hawaiian historian Edith McKenzie, a lecturer at Honolulu Community College, were also named to the team. The initial phase will be a feasibility study and development of a plan of action to identify and collect historical genealogieal records from throughout the islands. The resulting data would be made available to al! appropriate agencies within the limits of privacy regulations. The Hawaiian genealogy concept was developed in 1982 by OHA's Human Services Committee headed by Trustee Thomas K. Kaulukukui Sr. The final objective is the estab-

lishment of a centralized computer file of the genealogy of the descendants of the Hawaiian nation. Samuel Apuna, Human Services and Education Officer, said the best part of the project is that it is focusing on the Hawaiians. It will complement the efforts of two state departments, Alu Like Ine. and the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. They are computerizing information on record since 1942. Apuna explained that the OHA team will focus on pre1942 information from such non-government sources as family records, oral tradition and churches. The federal censuses of 1900 and 1920, whieh first listed Hawaiians by name, will be the starting base. The federal grant is from the National Historical Publication and Research Commission and the Nati'onal Archives. OHA will provide matching funds. Proof of ancestry for verification of land titles and eligibility for certain programs, including the Hawaiian Home Lands program, will be needed by Hawaiians and others.