This is not the outcome the leaders of Na‘i Aupuni had envisioned.
The nonprofit organization formed to organize a sovereignty ‘aha, or convention — and others within the Native Hawaiian community anticipating the event — had hoped elected delegates could be seated at the ‘aha.
Instead, in the wake of the election’s legal challenges, the certification of the voting results, now never to be announced, has been abruptly canceled. The ‘aha itself will go forward, though.
Its organizers saw that as the better option, rather than sitting back and waiting for the court proceedings to play out.
A federal lawsuit contesting the constitutionality of the Hawaiians-only election drew an order from the U.S. Supreme Court to hold off on certifying the results until the appeal is decided.
What remains on the calendar for February is a greatly diminished version of that landmark event.
Anyone who values representative democracy, as most in Hawaii do, would agree that delegates chosen by their constituent group have an additional level of legitimacy.
However, if properly managed, the ‘aha could still give dimension to the various approaches to Native Hawaiian self-determination — even the choice to keep the status quo.
Ultimately, Na‘i Aupuni made the best of a bad situation by choosing to move ahead.
“What we’re doing is a reasonable reaction to changing circumstances,” said Kuhio Asam, the organization’s executive director.
That might be true — as long as the convention is set up for success. But given that it’s likely to mushroom in size, keeping discussions focused and productive will be the difficult task of the mediation team hired for that purpose.
The plan was to hire mediators all along, but now that all 196 candidates for the 40 defined delegate seats are invited to participate, it’s sure to be unwieldy and challenging, to say the least.
Many critics of the plans are sure to charge that it will be a waste of time and money, because it lacks the validation of an election. After all, developments over the past several years — creation of the Native Hawaiian Roll Commission, the composition of the roll — all have pointed toward an election.
That would have elevated the process of the self-governance ‘aha from previous conventions because its delegates would have been elected from a broad sector of the Hawaiian community, within the state and from the mainland.
Asam, however, made a cogent point: The larger group of delegates, though unelected, could bring value by widening the discussion to a wider range of viewpoints.
These prospective delegates, he said, are people who were willing to seek election and likely have particular interest in a productive debate.
If some kind of organizing document emerges and the convention decides to put it up for ratification as originally planned, Asam and the group’s attorney, William Meheula, acknowledge the prospect that the court battle could resume.
But the outcome of the ‘aha is uncertain, they added, and there are paths that could avert a further legal challenge: The delegates could produce a document but opt to open the ratification vote to non-Hawaiians as well, as some in the sovereignty movement have advocated.
Or they could decide to continue meeting and find other private backers to finance a future Native Hawaiian vote.
The grant from the state Office of Hawaiian Affairs that has financed the current ‘aha was one source of contention by opponents, who saw the grant as public funds going to an unconstitutional race-based election and Na‘i Aupuni as an agent of the state.
That’s why it’s a prudent decision by Na‘i Aupuni to stay out of the ‘aha. Even the appearance of control involving OHA funds would bolster the legal case against the convention.
The ‘aha, Asam said, still has purpose in advancing the conversation about sovereignty. That’s the rational conclusion.
Although voter participation would have offered a course with more robust public standing, at least the organization will have tapped the momentum created by the original process, and there is a chance for progress to be made.
