Native Hawaiian Roll Commission Candidates Deadline Friday

Governor Neil Abercrombie at Washington Place. File photo courtesy, Office of the Governor.

By Sonia Isotov

Applicants for one of the five seats open on the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission must submit applications to the governor’s office by Friday, August 5.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is also encouraging Native Hawaiians and Native Hawaiian organizations to recommend nominees to Gov. Neil Abercrombie by the same date.

“The establishment of a roll was viewed by the community as the critical first step in the nation-building process,” said OHA Chief Executive Officer Clyde W. Nämu‘o, in a written statement today.  “We encourage all Hawaiians to get involved in the state recognition process. Though our long-term goal is to achieve federal recognition for Native Hawaiians, state recognition will help to prepare us for that.”

On July 6, 2011, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission was established by law with a goal to prepare and maintain a roll of qualified Native Hawaiians, who may choose to participate in the reorganization of a Native Hawaiian governing entity. The commission was a key provision of a new law that recognized Native Hawaiians as the only indigenous, aboriginal people of Hawai‘i.

For more information, visit the Governor’s Boards and Commissions website at: http://hawaii.gov/gov/about/boards-commissions.html