Making the connection through ancestry verification

Ho'i hou i ka mole
Return to the taproot.
The return to love and
loyalty for kith and kin after
a severing of relationship.
— 'Ōlelo No'eau

By Nara Cardenas / OHA Staff

Myrna Junk and Sianne Mataele, Ancestry Verification Assistants at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, share a dream for the Hawaiian Nation. “We need a genealogy center with all the information in one place, where people could come and be helped,” says Sianne. Myrna adds, “If we have a central location, then all Hawaiian Agencies can come to that place to verify ancestry. It would relieve much of the confusion and frustration and the paperwork.”

It is a sentiment echoed in the Hawaiian community, where proving your Hawaiian pedigree is often a must in order to qualify for programs and services. OHA's Ancestry Verification (AV) division often fields calls from frustrated beneficiaries who are intimidated by the process, which can involve extensive research at various repositories. The staff is understanding. “When I started (doing research), I didn't want to do it,” Sianne relates, “but once I started doing my own, I fell in love with it. I thought there were no records, but then when I looked there were records, and as I got to know the process, I fell in love with it.” Ten years later, verifying ancestry is her full-time job. Myrna emphasizes that AV is “very service oriented. I train my staff to direct callers to the appropriate agencies and the people who can help them. At the end of the conversation, people are grateful.”

Myrna Junk, Michael Domingo and Mika Okamura of the OHA Hawaiian Registry hold a banner showing the Hawaiian Registry card featuring the photo illustration of Hawaiian Registry staffer Sianne Mataele. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Ancestry Verification is a division of OHA's Hawaiian Governance Hale. Staffed by two full-time employees and three part-time interns, AV verifies approximately 7,000 Kau Inoa registrations a month, a minimum of 400 per day. The division is also responsible for registering Hawaiians in OHA's Hawaiian Registry Program, or HRP, initiated in May 2002 to create an updated information base of Hawaiians. Registrants in HRP receive a photo ID card, which expires after five years in order to keep information current. AV issues an average of 200 HRP cards per month at OHA's Honolulu Office; the service is also available at OHA Offices on Kaua'i, Maui, Lāna'i, Moloka'i and Hawai'i Island. “It's nice to see how many people are responding,” says Myrna.

“The greatest challenge we have is getting people to understand what we need, and how to get it to us. If your birth certificate doesn't say Hawaiian, you have to link it back to your biological Hawaiian ancestor,” Myrna cautions. Of course, family is a great place to start. “Usually someone is taking charge, maybe someone at a family reunion, for example. Auntie might have a copy of Grandma's birth certificate,” Sianne advises. If you want to get into it, the Rev. Joe Hulu Mahoe Resource Center and 'Iolani Palace hold classes to familiarize people with available resources and teach research techniques. Information can also be found at graveyards, cemeteries and churches.

Some Hawaiians don't feel that they should have to prove ancestry. Myrna explains that “verification protects your identity for your children and it protects the assets of Hawaiians. I encourage everybody to get their documents together as far back as they can trace them and keep them at home. We don't know what will be asked of us in the future.”

Genealogy research can be a powerful means of healing for Hawaiians, many of whom have breaks in their lineage due to our turbulent history. The greatest reward Myrna and Sianne experience is seeing the how excited people get when they find an ancestor and make the connection. “It makes the person real for them,” says Sianne. Myrna agrees. “Enjoy it! It's an adventure through your history.”