Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 7, Number 12, 1 December 1990 — Plan developed to aid genealogy research [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Plan developed to aid genealogy research

A plan for a project to help Hawaiians to establish their genealogy is being developed by an interagency task force for presentation to the 1991 legislature.

The task force is made up of representatives of the Department of Health, the State Archives, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. It was established by the 1990 state legislature to address problems Hawaiians face in establishing their genealogy. The plan is based on the needs and concerns identified by Hawaiians and agency service providers who attended a series of statewide focus group meetings held in August. It also includes comments from Hawaiians who attended a halfday public workshop held in September at the state capital to preview the plan.

Anthony Ching, a Department of Health planner assigned to work with the task force, stressed that the plan represents a starting point for providing improved genealogical research assistance. He said public comment ean still be made on the plan when it is heard by the legislature next spring. The plan contains both short-term and longrange action recommendations. The short-range plan lists services whieh ean be put in plaee within one year of the project's start date. These are tied to improve access to documents and assistance and public education, including:

• Re-establishment of the Hawai'i Population Database as the centralized computer database for the Hawaiian Genealogy Project. TTie Hawai'i Population Database is a computer genealogical record system whieh contains birth, marriage, death and divorce indexes for the entire Hawai'i populahon, utilizing Dept. of Health data from 1942 to 1983. They propose to update it to the present day.

• Establishing one-stop genealogical service centers at statewide offices of Hawaiian service agencies on Kaua'i, O'ahu, Moloka'i, Maui and Hawai'i, with computer network links to genealogieal indexes of the Hawai'i Population Database. • Paid and volunteer trained staff to assist people to do Hawaiian genealogical research at eaeh terminal throughout the state.

Summaries of the completed plan and proposed budget will be made available by mail to persons who attended the preview meetings, and copies of the full plan and budget will be available at public libraries. For more information eall the Department of Health at 548-6475 and mention the Hawaiian Genealogy Project.

The preliminary plan listed three purposes for the Hawaiian Genealogy Project: "to identify and articulate a long range vision for. the Hawaiian Genealogy Project that is fiscally responsible and responsive to the current and future needs of the Hawaiian community; to assure prompt and orderly project implementation, so as to bring effective relief to those whose birthright has been so long denied; and to maximize public benefits associated with the establishment of the Hawaiian genealogy project."

Plan goals address a range of issues dealing with genealogical resource and assistance, statewide access to resources and assistance, public education on how to do genealogical research, improved record keeping. One aim of the plan is to create a coordinated system to support genealogical research. In the past, individuals have often felt frustrated by the difficulty in gaining access to and understanding records, whether it was to establish one's cultural or personal identity, to qualify for entitlement

benefits, or to gain admission to the Kamehameha Schools. A genealogical research system will have to deal with resolving cultural barriers, recordkeeping discrepancies, and other system obstacles whieh frustrate efforts to verify individual family histories. Hawaiians are often faced with the need to show proof of their ancestry. Today primcfry proofs of ancestry include documents such as birth, mar-

riage and death certificates. Other documents used to assist genealogical research are records of the state, the courts, churches and libraries.

OHA administrator Richard Paglinawan said genealogy is a very important subject for Hawaiians because it ean establish entitlement, and because it answers the question of "who am I" with regard to the 'ohana and connection to the 'aina. He said the project provides an opportunity to address Hawaiians' being uprooted from traditional culture and lifestyle. "I would like our Hawaiian children to regain the dignity and self-re-spect of being able to recite their genealogy, to sing the praises of their ancestors." Paglinawan said it took his family 10 years to eompile eight volumes of their genealogy, with mueh money, laulima and help from Kupuna.

Bishop Museum's Sullivan photograph collection of Hawaiians has been used by Hawaiians researching their family history. Alumni to meet Jan. 25

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