by Andrew Walden
Disappointed by high costs and low enrollments, Trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs voted November 7 to demand an “exit plan” from the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission. Is the Roll Commission now defying those orders?
An email sent out December 20, informs a Hawaii County Democratic Party activist, “You are receiving this email, because you signed the petition in support of Kana'iolowalu, affirming the inherent sovereignty of the Hawaiian people.”
But according to the recipient, “I have never signed their petition, I just open up their e-mail to me and that became their version of me signing on.”
OHA Trustees reported a paltry 21,418 Hawaiians signed up for the Roll as of September 27, 2013 but an October 11, 2013 post on the Kana'iolowalu website “welcomes the addition of tens of thousands of Native Hawaiians whose ancestry have been confirmed by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) to the Kana`iolowalu registry.” Kana`iolowalu now claims 101,000.
The Big Island resident says, “I never signed on to Kau Inoa, and never ever signed any Kanailowalu petition nor did I ever give them my e-mail address and I never gave them any authorization of any sort.”
The December 20 email reads:
“Thanks to your support, there are now over 101,000 kānaka maoli on the Registry!
“We've put together an informative infographic that provides a snap shot of the Kanaʻiolowalu Registry as of a few weeks ago. We hope you find it as interesting and informative as we have.
“30 Days until Close: The closing day for registration is fast approaching - January 19, 2014.”
Says the recipient: "I would like to know how can they do this to the public? This is the biggest scam ever coming from a funded OHA program. I wonder how many others are in the same situation?"
When it comes to scams and large groups of unwilling pople, Kana'iolowalu went with experience. Roll Chairman John Waihee in August, 2012 agreed to repay $1.7M of the $38M that he and his Mainland cronies looted from 40,000 Hawaii burial contracts held by Right Star.
To remove your name from the Kana'iolowalu Roll, click on this link, or this one.
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UPDATE Dec 27, 2013: Akaka Roll Padded to Overcome 'Registration Fatigue': 71,000 Names from Operation Ohana, Kau Inoa