Hawaiian convention signs nearly 100 delegates
Nearly 100 delegates have committed to attending the Native Hawaiian self-determination convention planned for February, the nonprofit sponsoring the event said Monday.
The deadline for any other candidates who intend to become convention delegates is tonight at 11:59, according to Na‘i Aupuni.
“We are gratified by the large number of persons who have already committed to participating in this conference for self-determination,” Na‘i Aupuni President Kuhio Asam said in a news release. “We encourage those who have not yet done so to seriously consider confirming their participation by the Dec. 22 deadline.”
Na‘i Aupuni will announce the names of the delegates Wednesday.
Initially, 196 Native Hawaiians from Oahu, neighbor islands and the mainland signed up to run for 40 delegate slots in a constitutional convention that aims to consider proposals for self-governance.
But last week the Na‘i Aupuni board decided to cancel the voting to avoid a potentially lengthy court delay caused by a lawsuit that accuses the election of being unconstitutionally race-based and view-based.
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The U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 2 granted an injunction blocking the election while the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals considers the lawsuit against it.
INSTEAD of finishing the election, the Na‘i Aupuni board Wednesday cut off the voting and offered all 196 candidates seats as delegates.
Also, the convention, or aha, to be held in Kailua, was reduced to four weeks from eight and is now scheduled to start Feb. 1.
The first week will be dedicated to presentations regarding constitution building, federal Indian law, international law regarding de-occupation, decolonization, the rights of indigenous people, U.S. constitutional issues that relate to self-governance, ceded lands and kingdom law.
Peter Adler and Linda Colburn of the Mediation Center of the Pacific will serve as facilitators to lead the first week’s informational sessions and help in organizing the group.
After that, what happens at the convention will be up to the delegates without interference by Na‘i Aupuni or any government entity, Asam said.
Walter Ritte, a Molokai activist who ran as a delegate and later renounced the election, was nevertheless invited to serve as a convention delegate, Na‘i Aupuni officials said.
But Ritte said he still wouldn’t participate because he contends the outcome is rigged in favor of a campaign to push federal recognition and essentially turn Hawaiians into an Indian tribe.
21 responses to “Hawaiian convention signs nearly 100 delegates”
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Hmmm…but, then the Naʻi Aupuni ʻvotersʻ did not exercise their rights to vote for these delegates. This does not seem right.
If it walks like a duck………..
Here is a fascinating conversation among three very knowledgeable and well-spoken gentlemen, about a topic of immense importance to the people of Hawaii. Keli’i Akina is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit to block the Na’i Aupuni race-based election of delegates to a constitutional convention, which is expected to produce a governing document for a wannabe Hawaiian tribe. The document would then be a vital part of an application to the Department of Interior requesting federal recognition of the Hawaiian tribe as having the same rights as all the mainland tribes. The result would be to divide the lands and people of Hawaii along racial lines — something which has never been done throughout the entire history of Hawaii. Michael Lilly is a distinguished former Attorney General of the State of Hawaii who is an attorney in the lawsuit, and whose ancestor was an Attorney General of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Williamson Chang is a distinguished Professor of Law at University of Hawaii, who is also one of 196 candidates for the convention. Professor Chang indicates that Na’i Aupuni could probably be held in contempt of the injunction of the U.S. Supreme Court which, by a 5-4 majority, prohibited Na’i Aupuni from certifying delegates to the convention. And Professor Chang also expressed concern for himself and the other candidates (now certified as delegates) that they also could be found in contempt of court because their attendance at the convention would make them accessories to Na’i Aupuni’s violation of the injunction. Mahalo nui loa to all three participants in this splendid discussion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ-beLkxgi4&feature=youtu.be
“Contempt” is the right concept for this circus. All this only goes to substantiate that a state’s majority population cannot be trusted to self regulated its state’s police powers without the supreme checks and balances of federal law. This is the opposite of “independence” where all offenses under that law would be washed away, allegedly. Add absurd to contemptuous. The “Hawaiian” meme is a fantasy. The native Hawaiian is the actual “Hawaiian” and the convention is about how to control the native Hawaiian by the self appointed so called Hawaiian nobility now morphed into a kinda, sorta, “Indian” tribe so the actual native Hawaiian Native Americans do not take their stolen lands from them. It’s complicated, for sure and this comment is not as clear as it ought to be.
And that sir is why we have that bogus “MONROE DOCTRINE”.
Of course it applies only to foreign countries and not INDIANS or HAWAIIANS. They are not foreign, they are friends and that is how you treat friends, WORSE THAN YOUR ENEMIES !
No one is mistreating “Hawaiians” toledo. Stop with the worn out crap that Polynesian-Hawaiians are being somehow treated any different than anyone else. They just use that excuse for their racist desires.
“the nonprofit sponsoring the event said Monday”. Where does everyone think Na‘i Aupuni got the money to “sponsor” the event? Dah, from OHA. So, just like the election this racist klan meeting is being funding by public money!
“The first week will be dedicated to presentations regarding constitution building, federal Indian law” well we know what the agenda is here don’t we! Funny, I’ve never heard an Indian tribe call themselves a “Kingdom”. Obviously trying to make up what never was seems to be the most difficult part.
““We are gratified by the large number of persons who have already committed to participating in this conference for self-determination,” Na‘i Aupuni President Kuhio Asam said”. Yah all 100, and I thought their klan meeting was to determine “what course, if any, they should take”. Again the agenda and bias of what Na’i Aupuni will be selling for OHA is quite evident.
Hawaiians gave up the right to call themselves an Indian tribe that owned its land collectively with Kuleana Act of 1850. This law gave the Hawaiian chiefs, who called themselves “royalty,” the ability to grab all the land for themselves and sell much it to foreigners. Which they promptly did. By establishing a kingdom with royal families who confiscated the land that commoners had been living on for centuries, Hawaiians gave up the collective land ownership rights that American Indian tribes have always maintained to the present day. Trying to create an artificial Indian tribe today in Hawaii with collective land ownership rights is highly unlikely.
You nailed it up to about halfway through. The takings were typical boiler plate takings. The remedy is also boiler plate. I believe it to be the INIA, Non Intercourse Act. One clue is that the late great Dan Inouye insisted that the INIA be deemed operational in any and all land transactions in Hawaii, including prior to Territorial Days, as a way to protect so called Royal Land Patent land titles from INIA’s application of the clause in the fifth amendment that requires governments to pay cash to those whose land they take. I don’t think any land taken by so called royalty ever paid any land owner a penny, even in 1778 money. In spite of all the smoke, mirror and memes, the law that actually cures this mess is just sitting there waiting to be applied.
“Walter Ritte, a Molokai activist who ran as a delegate and later renounced the election, was nevertheless invited to serve as a convention delegate, Na‘i Aupuni officials said.” So now even non-candidates have been invited, which means that they have to let all comers in as they would be discriminating against anyone else that wants to come too. These idiots just keep muddying the water, and now can’t even run a klan meeting properly!
This is the very kind of behavior coupled with Kamanao Crabbe’s letter to the Sec. of State the only confirms that Hawaiians need caretakers. We need to look beyond our noses and make things better for all us to be healthy and prosper. Stop the personnel agendas and come together.
Dawg, this is purely racial, and has nothing to do with making things better for anyone. There are more Polynesian-Hawaiians, about 550,000 by last census, more Polynesian-Hawaiians that own land and homes than ever before, and more Polynesian-Hawaiians attending higher education and trade schools than ever before. All these things since becoming a part, with everyone else, of the Greatest Nation on Earth, The United States of America.
Right, gentlemen. I believe the social economic scales are in the process of becoming more balanced so as you write, everyone comes out ahead. An era of probabilistic social and economic equality ushering out by among other things our own process the departing era of quasi deterministic “rule” of written and spoken language. The cats that put the federal constitution together after an amazing war with the British crown were thinkers – really smart guys. Compare them and their Constitution with this gaggle of jokers and circus acrobats, spewing gibberish in the form of media manipulation via public relations garbage.
Hah! You can’t get two Hawaiians sitting down together to agree on anything and you going have 100 of them get together to determine their future? What a joke!
Furthermore, why is it that only about 125,000 Hawaiians registered for this Na’i Aupuni? Aren’t there more than that number of native Hawaiians living in this world? If it truly will be a convention that will represent ALL Hawaiians, than the majority of them should be registering and voting.
Actually Kuokoa, only about 25,000 at most actually registered, the rest of the names were dumped on the list from previous lists and enrollment records of Kamehameha School’s alumni. The inside scoop is that less than 20,000 actually voted. As you point out hardly a popular mandate.
You are also right about the different factions all wanting their own enrichment agendas. With Ritte now allowed to attend there will not be a dull moment. I suspect half the “delegates” will walk out, and just enjoy the free hotel room and meals for a month on the OHA’s dime.
Correction DD not OHA’s dime; taxpayers dime, ALL the people of Hawaii. A result of the 1978 ConCon ceded lands money was re-directed from DOE to OHA.
Dis Poly-American is not an Indian. Enjoy da circus!
I stand corrected, MakaniKai.
Time for another Con Con to rid Hawaii of the scourge of institutionalized racism.
You got that right, liberty lover.
Sounds like this 100 delegates are dealing with a 100 degrees hot situation?