Why the state doesn’t consistently track data on native Hawaiians

According to state data, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders make up 18 percent of those who’ve tested positive for the virus—even though they only comprise about 10 percent of Hawaiʻi’s population.

But it’s impossible to tell from the state’s publicly available data whether the Native Hawaiian community itself is being hit hard, or what Pacific Islander communities may be affected. It’s possible Native Hawaiians could make up all of those cases, or none of them, but there’s no way to know as long as the data is presented that way.

That’s a common problem statewide, according to Beth Giesting, director of the Hawaiʻi Budget and Policy Center. She oversaw a project last summer sponsored by Papa Ola Lokahi that aimed to analyze how the state was spending money on Native Hawaiian-related programs.

But the project quickly morphed when the center realized that state agencies weren’t consistently keeping data on the community.

Giesting said some programs like the Department of Health’s alcohol and drug abuse division do an excellent job tracking data on Native Hawaiians, but the mental health division combines Native Hawaiians with other Pacific Islanders and has a mixed race category that could be masking more data. She was taken aback when she found out that the Judiciary doesn’t track any racial or ethnic data at all.

“How can you design programs and evaluate programs if you don’t have any data about who you’re serving?” she said.

Birnie, from Papa Ola Lokahi, says that on a national level, she understands why some states may not disaggregate Native Hawaiians. But she doesn’t think that makes sense here.

“In Hawaiʻi, should not Hawaii be counting the residents of its indigenous people?” she asks.