Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 9, 1 September 2015 — Political Roulette of Nation Building: Part Two [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Political Roulette of Nation Building: Part Two

The defining moment is upon us. A path is clearing for the convening of Hawaiian delegates,

I being referred to as I an 'Aha and formally described as a gathering of elected delegates who will eome together to decide whether or not to create a document or constitution for a nation and its governance. An independent organization, Na'i Aupuni, with funding from OHA and made up of a volunteer board of directors will establish a Hawaiian-only election process of 40 Hawaiian-only delegates from around the state. Delegates are expected to emerae with a

document, perhaps a constitution, defining the political path to restoring a Hawaiian nation. Election ballots will be sent to voters by October 15. The election is scheduled to be completed by November 30. The delegates are then expected to complete their work by April, 2016. If delegates hammer out a governance document it will have to be ratified by Native Hawaiian voters. For more details on Na'i Aupuni and the election process go to www.naiaupuni.org. Although met with some skepticism Na'i Aupuni, while receiving funds from OHA, does not answer to OHA or the State of Hawai'i, and by design, must be free from any government inAuenee. This is an important and deliberate condition for Hawaiians to deliberate freely and transparently absent the bias and politics of government. I also note here that OHA funds received by Na'i Aupuni are not considered state funds as it is drawn from the Native Hawaiian Trust Fund portfolio

of private investment returns on behalf of OHA's Native Hawaiian beneficiaries. OHA is a quasi-private state agency with

a foot in both the government and private sector by legislative intent. The delegates must choose one of three basic options. Option 1 - seek federal recognition and negotiate a government-to-gov-ernment relationship with the United States as done by Native American Indians and Native Alaskans. Option 2 - support the position that Hawai'i is an illegally occupied nation whose sovereignty was usurped in a eoup d'etat staged by American businessmen and officially supported

by a force of U.S. Marines and seek support, under international law, to have the Hawaiian Nation restored. Option 3 - advocate the status quo with no further action toward any form of political reconciliation with the United States or international intervention. As though choosing one of the options was not enough of a steep elimh, add this question: Who will be the citizens of this nation? It's not likely that the nation ean be limited to Native Hawaiians. An oversimplification of this conundrum is that the Hawaiian Nation at the time of the eoup d'etat in 1893 and again in 1898 when annexed to the United States was a multicultural nation. Therefore, it would seem disingenuous to elaim a Hawaiians-only nation that never existed under international law (subject to challenge by some scholars). I'm not sure we fully grasp the history making ramifications of this apex where time meets opportunity. ■

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