DRAFT REPORT OF FINDINGS Developed and Published for Public Comment in Accordance with Public Law 96-565, Title III, Section 303(c) THE NATIVE HAWAIIANS STUDY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D .C . September 23, 1982 NOTICE Embargoed for Release Until 4:00 p.m. (EDT) Thursday, September 23, 1982 NATIVE H A VA IIAN S STUDY COMMISSION U.S. Department of the Interior 18tn & C S ts., N.W. - Room 6220 Washington, D. C. 20240 Attached is the Draft Report of Findings of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission. The Commission was created by T itle III of Public Law 96-565 on December 22, 1980. The mandate of the Commission is to "conduct a study of the culture, needs and concerns of the Native Hawaiians." The Commission firs t met September 23, 1981. The law creating the Commission states that: W ithin one year after the date of its firs t meeting, the Commission shall publish a draft report of findings of the study and shall distribute copies of the draft report to appropriate Federal and State agencies, to Native Hawaiian organizations, and upon request, to members of the public. The Commission shall s o lic it w ritten comments from the organizations and individuals to whom copies of the draft report are dis­ tributed. (Sec. 303(c)) The Commission has set a 60-day period in which to allow government agencies and the public to comment on the draft report of findings. If you would like to comment on the Commission's draft report, please send your w ritten comments, no later than November 23, 1982, to: The Native Hawaiians Study Commission Department of the Interior Building 18th & C S ts., N.W. - Room 6220 Washington, D. C. 20240 The Commission w ill consider a ll comments received by that date as it prepares its final report. The final report w ill be submitted to Congress and to the President no later than June 23, 1 9 8 3 . THE NATIVE HAWAIIANS STUDY COMMISSION September 23, 1982 DRAFT REPORT OF FINDINGS Developed and Published fo r Public Comment in Accordance with Public Law 96-565, T itle III, Section 303(c) THE NATIVE HAWAIIANS STUDY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. September 23, 1982 ! PREFACE \ The Native Hawaiians Study Commission was created by the Congress of the United States on December 22, 1980 (Public Law 96-565). The Commission's mandate is to "conduct a study of the culture, needs and concerns of the Native Hawaiians." The firs t meeting of the Commission was held September 23, 1981. According to the law establishing the Commission: Within one year after the date of its firs t meeting, the Commission shall publish a draft report of the findings of the study and shall distribute copies of the draft report to appropriate Federal and State agencies, to Native Hawaiian organizations, and upon request, to members of the public. The Comission shall s o lic it w ritten comments from the organizations and individuals to whom copies of the draft report are distributed. (Sec. 303(c)) The fin a l report, accompanied by any w ritten comments received by the Commission, must be submitted to Congress and to the President by June 23, 1983. This volume comprises the Commission's draft report. It was completed after several Commission meetings to discuss the substance of the study plan, and a series of public hearings conducted on most of the Hawaiian Islands by the Commission in the early part of 1982. This document is a draft report of findings only. It does not contain conclusions or recommendations, which w ill be included, however, in the Commission's final report. The Commission believes that this draft report is the most complete com pilation of data and inform ation on native Hawaiians that has ever been collected in one volume. Part I of the report contains data on native Hawaiians gleaned from a variety of sources, including unpublished 1980 Census data from a special tabulation performed by the U.S. Bureau of the Census for the Commission. The Commission w ill be able to update some sections of Part I of the fin a l report as additional 1980 Census data become available in late 1982. Part II of this draft report contains legal analyses performed by the U.S. Department of Justice. The historical section of Part II was w ritten, in part, by professional historians from the Naval H istorical Center. Part II also includes a review of the Hawaiian Home Lands program conducted by the O ffice of Inspector General, U.S. Department of the Interior. i i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PART I. SOCIOECONOMIC AND CULTURAL SECTION Part I of the Draff Report of Findings of the Native Hawaiians Study Commission presents inform ation and sta tistics on various socioeconomic and cultural factors affecting the lives of native Hawaiians. Chapter I presents a demographic profile of native Hawaiians, which is summarized below. Characteristics of the Population • After the arrival of foreigners on Hawaii in 1778, the native population drastically declined. This trend was reversed in the beginning of this century when the part-Hawaiian population began a rapid increase, a trend that continues today. • According to the State of Hawaii, in 1980 there were 9,366 Hawaiians and 166,087 part-Hawaiians, comprising about 19 percent of the State's population. • Native Hawaiians are a young population— in 1980, the median age for males was 22.0, and the median age for females was 23.2. • The male/female ratio for native Hawaiians is fa irly equal— in 1980 males accounted for 49.5 percent of the native Hawaiian population, and females accounted for 50.5 percent. Geographic D istribution • The m ajority of the native Hawaiian population (as well as the m ajority of the State's pop­ ulation) lives on Oahu. • There s till exist pockets of native Hawaiians located in economically-deprived, rural areas on many islands. E d u c a tio n • The percentage of native Hawaiian children between the ages of 14 and 17 who were enrolled in school in 1970 was lower than that for any other group in Hawaii (91.6 percent for females and 90.7 percent for males, compared to an overall State figure of 94.8 percent). i i i • The median number of years of- school completed by native Hawaiians over 25 years of age in 1970 was 12.0, compared to a State median of 12.3. • Only 49.7 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had graduated from high school in 1970. • In 1970, only. 4.2 percent of native Hawaiians over 25 had completed 4 or more years of college, a figure lower than that for any of the other immigrant groups in Hawaii. E m p lo y m e n t • In 1970, 4.3 percent of native Hawaiian men and 5.2 percent of native Hawaiian women were unemployed, compared to State figures of 2.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. • Of a ll native Hawaiian males over the age of 16, 76.4 percent were in the labor force in 1970, compared with the tota l State figure of 81.5 percent. • Also in 1970, 47.9 percent of native Hawaiian women over the age of 16 were in the labor force, compared with 49 percent for the State as a whole. In c o m e • In 1949, the proportion of native Hawaiian males in the lowest income brackets was above that for a ll other groups. Their median income for the same year was higher than the a ll races and F ilipino groups but below that of the Chinese, Caucasian and Japanese groups. • By 1969, the situation of the native Hawaiians had improved somewhat. They were no longer over-represented in the lowest income categories. Their median income was higher than the a ll races group, the Caucasians, and the F ilipinos, but below the Chinese and Japanese. • In 1975, over one-fourth (27 percent) of native Hawaiians were classified as below the poverty l e v e l . • The number of native Hawaiians on welfare (AFDC and general assistance) was significantly higher in. 1975 than their relative share of the population. i v Crim inal Justice • The percent of native Hawaiian adults arrested in Hawaii in 1981 was almost double the native Hawaiian percentage share of the population (12 percent). The percentage of native Hawaiians arrested for specific crimes was also larger for most types of crime than their share of the population. • The picture for native Hawaiian juveniles arrested in even more striking. Native Hawaiian juveniles comprised the largest percent of those arrested for each crime examined. H e a lt h • Infant m ortality remained higher for native Hawaiians compared to the other groups in Hawaii from 1924 to 1963, even though it was steadily declining. By 1980, however, the situation had improved considerably. Native Hawaiians had infant m ortality rates below the Statewide rate of 10.1—9.6 for part-Hawaiians and 6.1 for fu ll Hawaiians. • Part-Hawaiians have a birth rate of 23.3, compared to 17.4 for fu ll Hawaiians and 19.6 for the State. Part-Hawaiians and lu ll Hawaiians also have a significantly higher rate of illegitim ate births than the other ethnic groups. • Native Hawaiians have historically had a lower life expectancy than other groups in Hawaii. This trend continues— in 1970, the, native Hawaiian life expectancy was 67.62 years, compared with ah,, average for the State of 74.20 years.