A campaign to register Native Hawaiians so they can form their own government has signed up less than a tenth of its ambitious goal of 200,000 people, but the roll will soon expand with the transfer of names from previous registries.

The initiative, known as Kana‘iolowalu, was launched July 20, 2012, after passage of a state law recognizing Native Hawaiians as the only indigenous people of the islands and creating a Native Hawaiian Roll Commission to identify them.

A year later, as of July 16, just 15,211 people had signed up with Kana‘iolo­walu, far short of the target for the planned yearlong drive. The deadline was extended until January, and the pace has stepped up in recent weeks, reaching 18,527 as of Friday, thanks in part to a concerted blitz of television advertising this summer. About a quarter live on the mainland.

"It’s taken more time than we thought to get moving, with procurement and getting set up," said Na‘alehu Anthony, vice chairman of the roll commission. Staff and volunteers have attended 200 events, from canoe races to concerts, spoken to civic clubs and homestead associations, and reached out via social media and regular mail.

Some Hawaiians suggest the relatively low turnout for Kana‘iolowalu may reflect a lack of interest as well as "list fatigue," after previous registration efforts failed to produce concrete results.

"Only 15,000 people enrolled in Kana‘iolowalu in a year," said Mililani Trask, a pioneer in the push for native sovereignty. "We have hundreds of thousands of Hawaiians in the state and on the continent. It’s pretty clear that they are not endorsing this initiative."

"When OHA was created, 55,000 Hawaiians were registered in a period of six months," added Trask, a former trustee for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

According to the 2010 Census, more than 527,000 people in the United States identified themselves as being of Hawaiian descent, with nearly 290,000 of them living in Hawaii.

In registering with Kana‘iolowalu, Hawaiians affirm the inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people, harking back to the U.S.-backed overthrow of the Hawaiian kingdom in 1893. They also attest that their ancestry in the islands traces to before western contact in 1778. Non-Hawaiians who support the effort may sign a separate petition.

"As we look for solutions to this 120-year-old question about unrelinquished sovereignty, this is definitely a step toward it," Anthony said.

The number of people on the list will shoot up after Sept. 15, with the addition of the first batch of 50,000 names of certified Hawaiians from previous OHA registries, such as Kau Inoa, according to Clyde Namuo, executive director of the roll commission.

Those who don’t want their name transferred must contact OHA by Sept. 15 to opt out.The older registries are Kau Inoa, a nation-building effort that began in 2004 and has 110,000 names; Operation Ohana, an earlier effort to verify Hawaiian ancestry, with 29,000 names; and the Hawaiian Registry, which issues identification cards and has 28,000 names, according to OHA spokesman Garett Kamemoto. The lists overlap.

The theory behind transferring the names is to avoid duplication of effort and ensure that anyone of Hawaiian descent who might want to participate in self-government isn’t left out of the process.

"This is a common-sense approach," said former Gov. John Waihee, who heads the commission. "If you are a Native Hawaiian who has already been confirmed on an OHA registry, then you don’t even have to sign up again. You will automatically be placed on the roll."

But some people object to the transfer, which was authorized in a bill quietly passed after legislators gutted and replaced the text of House Bill 785, which originally dealt with production of records in criminal cases. OHA and Kana‘iolowalu officials testified in favor, while the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands successfully argued against having its beneficiaries automatically included on the roll.

Many people were unaware of the legislation. It became better known with the August issue of Ka Wai Ola, OHA’s newsletter, which described the plan and how to opt out. The publication warned, however, that those opting out "risk waiving their right and the right of their children and descendants, to be legally and politically acknowledged as Native Hawaiians and to participate in a future convention to reorganize the Hawaiian nation."

"That’s when I got upset because I was sort of like being threatened that if I took my name out, it would jeopardize my children and my grandchildren," said Melissa Leina‘ala Moniz, who had signed up for Kau Inoa but doesn’t want to have her name transferred. "I have 13 grandchildren."

She expressed fears that Kana‘iolowalu will give Native Hawaiians the status of a Native American tribe rather than restoring the nation they had taken from them.

"What it’s going to do, I believe, is it’s going to take away our identity as Native Hawaiians and throw us into a bucket, into the Indian nation," she said. "It’s going to lead to us losing a lot of our rights and our lands."

Kamana‘opono Crabbe, CEO of OHA, said the wording in the newsletter was intended to alert and educate readers.

"No one can speculate on the eventual next steps for the roll," he said. "As a result, OHA is obligated to fully educate those who wish to opt out of the roll of all possible outcomes. It is our wish that no one be excluded and we will be able to build a vibrant and inclusive Hawaiian Nation."

So far, few people have voiced objections to combining the lists, Anthony said. The most common question for Kana‘iolowalu all along has been, "Why do I have to do this again? I thought I did this already," he said Thursday. "We’ve had a handful of calls but only one actual opt-out."

Michael de la Cruz, a retiree who lives in Nuuanu, was wearing his black Kau Inoa T-shirt while walking in the park last week. He signed the Kau Inoa registry years ago and decided to add his name to Kana‘iolowalu a couple of months ago, figuring it was worth another try.

"If we try to be like the American Indians or a nation-within-a-nation, that would be more beneficial to both sides," he said. "Hawaiians should register to make themselves known, instead of thinking, ‘It’s not going to do me any good.’ But I can’t blame them, really, because a lot of people signed up before and they’re still waiting."

The Native Hawaiian Roll Commission is funded by OHA but operates independently of it, and its commissioners serve without pay. It received a total of $3.38 million in 2012 and 2013, and has spent $2.8 million so far, according to Namuo. OHA trustees recently deferred action on a request for additional funds for the current fiscal year.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs championed the Kau Inoa initiative, starting in 2004, then shifted its efforts toward passage of federal recognition legislation with the election of President Obama in 2008, according to Namuo, chief executive officer of OHA at the time.

After the Akaka Bill stalled, attention turned to passing the 2011 state law, Act 195, that recognizes the Native Hawaiian people. Under its provisions, the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission will dissolve once the roll is published, and Hawaiians who are registered may then organize to determine their form of self-government.

"Being on the roll ensures that I can participate, and in today’s world, being at the table and participating can make every difference in the outcome," said Denise Ka‘a‘a, who works in alumni relations at Kamehameha Schools.