Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 11, 1 November 2009 — The history of census in Hawai'i [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The history of census in Hawai'i

By Momi Imaikalani Fernandez The counting of people or taking a census has been part of this 'āina from the earliest of historical accounts. Our ancestors planned survival by way of food provision in canoes in preparation for a journey, and food production on land and pond, whieh made it necessary to count the people and plan the use of resources. For the next several months, we'U be looking at census in Hawai'i in preparation for the decennial Census 2010. Our ancestors demonstrated a variety of ways to conduct census for various reasons. Census or to take a census, according to Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, Hawaiian Dictionary, is helu, helu kanaka or census taker, luna helu. The act of census is the definition. The most eommon and practical reason to count people was for food production. How mueh kalo in a lo'i? How many lo'i needed to be planted

in order to feed those living in an 'ili, ahupua'a, moku and beyond? An accurate census on Moloka'i was necessary as early as 500 to 800 A.D. as told by the late Kumu John W. Ka'imikaua in A Mau A Mau (produced by Nalani Minton, 2000). Moloka'i was known as the "breadbasket" of the island ehain because it was capable of supporting its own population and beyond

to neighbor islands. In summary, the residents were neither rich nor poor, everyone had equal provision, all had shelter and cloth-

mg UUOUgIl u 'Aha process. For 700 years the 'Aha councils w e r e i n t a c t , 16 generations p a s s e d with no

knowledge of war among the people, decision making remained within eaeh boundary. The practitioners made up the 'Aha councils whose kuleana it was to mālama the land, resources and its people. The wealth of the land identified its people. This is an early application of census at its best. Fishponds are another resource developed to provide food for a population, a census of sorts

because if one knows the eapaeity of a fishpond, they know the population it ean feed and/or if one knows the population, one may ealculate how many fish and how large the pond needs to be. The first fishpond on Moloka'i, Kahinaloaloa, was acknowledged for the complete organization and cooperation it took by the passing of stones from per-son-to-person to construct its walls. The weahh of the land was based on the amount of food it could produce. Moloka'i was bountiful from land and pond while maintaining an accurate census of its people. The upcoming decennial Census 2010 is important to Native

Hawaiians and Hawai'i residents alike. Do you know that the federal govemment uses the census survey to i disperse a maximum $430 1 hillion a year for the next I 10years?By participating I in Census 2010, we will I be giving Hawai'i a voice f as to how mueh money Hawai'i receives for

vital services we all need such as heahh, education, welfare, transporta-

tion, roadways, schools, libraries and funding through grants. Census data also determines the number of congressional representatives and how mueh money would be available for emergency preparedness and disaster recovery. Through mueh advocacy we have been able to help shape the way in whieh census is taken, compiled and organized. That acknowledgment was seen in 2000 when the Native Hawaiian race category was added for the first time to the decennial survey. Prior to 2000, we were categorized with other Pacific Islanders and Asian populations. Between 1900 and 1980, the Hawaiian category showed up twice. Through the diligence and perseverance of many, we have been able to aeeomplish a race category specifically for Native Hawaiians. With our consistent inHuenee and full participation, we ean model a census process, results and application like that of our kūpuna. Nāu ke kuleana. ■ Momi Imaikalani Fernandez is the director of the Data & lnformation/Census Information Center at Papa Ola Lōkahi, the nonprofit parent organization of the Native Hawaiian Health Care Systems.

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^United States Census 2010

Census 20l0-counting our Hawaiian people. - A Photos: Arna iohnson^k