Hawaiians most likely
to be of mixed race

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By Christine Donnelly
cdonnelly@starbulletin.com

Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders are more likely to be of multiple race than any other group counted by the U.S. census, according to a new report.

The category was the only one where people claiming two or more races outnumbered those reporting a single race, according to "The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2000," released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationwide, 398,835 people reported themselves solely as native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. Another 475,579 people identified themselves as native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander in combination with some other race. The combined total of 874,414 represents 0.3 percent of the total U.S. population.

Hawaii had the largest number of residents who are native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, followed by California. Among cities, Honolulu had the most, with 58,130 native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (alone or in combination with some other race) comprising 15.6 percent of the city's total population. New York was second, with 19,203 native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders comprising 0.2 percent of that city's total population.

Native Hawaiians accounted for the largest subgroup in the category of native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander. Nationwide, about 401,000 people claimed native Hawaiian alone or in combination with one or more other races, followed by Samoan (133,000 alone or in combination) and Guamanian or Chamorro (93,000 alone or in combination with another race).

Of all Pacific Islanders, native Hawaiians were most likely to be of multiple race, with 65 percent of all respondents identifying themselves that way. Tongans and Fijians were the least likely to claim multiple race; 25 percent of Tongans and 28 percent of Fijians did so.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the term "Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander" refers to people descended from any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific islands. They may be of Polynesian, Micronesian and Melanesian cultural backgrounds.