When the Office of Hawaiian Affairs founded the Kau Inoa Native Hawaiian registry with the Hawaiian Civic Club Association in 2004, it set the ambitious goal of coordinating the creation of a unified Hawaiian nation by 2007.

But as of May 2, Kau Inoa had signed up only 87,317 Hawaiians to form a voting base for a Hawaiian governing entity, short of OHA's initial goal of 100,000 despite spending $3.9 million on Kau Inoa in fiscal 2005-2007 — nearly $1.5 million on advertising that featured televised appeals by prominent Hawaiians and free T-shirts.

As a result, nation-building steps that were supposed to be completed last year, such as apportioning votes, electing representatives and calling a convention to draft organic documents, haven't even begun.

OHA hasn't set a timetable for moving Kau Inoa forward except to say it will soon establish committees drawn from the Hawaiian community to oversee the organizational steps.

The slow start raises the question about whether OHA will ever gain acceptance as the focal point for Hawaiian self-government in the face of multiple obstacles.

A group of non-Hawaiians led by ubiquitous Hawaiian-baiting attorney H. William Burgess tried unsuccessfully to participate in Kau Inoa last year and suggested legal action could follow.

Burgess represents six plaintiffs not of Hawaiian blood, including former Advertiser publisher Thurston Twigg-Smith, involved in ongoing legal efforts to have OHA declared unconstitutional for discriminating against non-Hawaiians.

There's contention on the Hawaiian side, as well, as many challenge whether OHA, as a state agency under the oversight of the Legislature and governor, can credibly lead a movement for an independent Hawaiian government.

Critics also question whether nation building is a legitimate core function of OHA, which was created by the 1978 Constitutional Convention to receive Native Hawaiians' share of the revenues from former Republic of Hawai'i's ceded lands, as designated by the Admissions Act that made Hawai'i the 50th state, and spend it to benefit Hawaiians.

Five Native Hawaiians have sued to force OHA to use its $500 million in assets and $28 million annual budget primarily to benefit Hawaiians with at least 50 percent native blood — the standard set by the federal Hawaiian Homes Act.

Many of the more than 400,000 Hawaiians living here and elsewhere that OHA counts as beneficiaries have less than 50 percent native blood.

OHA's tenuous standing with both the state and its Hawaiian constituency was seen in this year's Legislature when lawmakers — partly at the behest of disgruntled Hawaiians — rejected a $200 million deal OHA's elected trustees had struck with the Lingle administration to settle outstanding ceded-lands claims.

Critics in the Hawaiian community complained that OHA hadn't communicated with them before agreeing to the land-and-cash deal, and legislators treated the trustees like supplicants. Gov. Linda Lingle said she won't reopen negotiations for a revised agreement.

If Kau Inoa hasn't gained traction, it's not because OHA hasn't reached into its deep pockets to make it work.

OHA reports spending $1.64 million on Kau Inoa in fiscal 2005-2007 for general education to mobilize support and participation, $1.46 million for mass media advertising and $770,775 to administer the registry.

The big-picture dilemma for Hawaiians is that OHA, a primary backer of the Akaka bill in Congress for Native Hawaiian political recognition, is filling a vacuum by making the only widespread effort to organize a governing entity for a Hawaiian nation that's been discussed endlessly with no consensus for more than 30 years.

And until Hawaiians start settling their differences and come together with a leadership and an agenda, they're unlikely to get anywhere in pressing their native claims with either the state or federal governments.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at www.volcanicash.honadvblogs.com.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.