Naʻi Aupuni Informational Sessions Set for Maui

Nā Makalehua candidates. Photos credit Naʻi Aupuni.

Na`i Aupuni informational sessions are planed at several Native Hawaiian events on Maui this month.

The activities include a Naʻi Aupuni informational session and candidate panel on Wednesday, Nov. 11 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Queen Liliʻuokalani Children’s Center, Col. David Peters auxiliary building in Wailuku.

The session will be hosted by three Native Hawaiian organizations: the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, or CNHA; the statewide Sovereign Councils of the Hawaiian Homelands Assembly, or SCHHA; and the SCHHA Maui Mokupuni.

There’s also a Hawaiian Homes Commission community meeting Nov. 16, and Hawaiian Homes Commission regular meetings Nov. 16 and 17.

Maui delegate candidates. Photo credit: Naʻi Aupuni.

The nearly 30-year-old host group SCHHA represents Native Hawaiian homesteaders, whose Hawaiian Homes Commission will hold an Upcountry community meeting Nov. 16. The 6 p.m. gathering will be at the Kula Community Center.

Meanwhile, a vote concerning the proposed NEXTera wind-energy project at Kahikinui homestead headlines the agenda for the commission’s regular daytime meetings. The latter will convene Nov. 16 and 17 at the Kula Community Center, said Monalani Kapaku of the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

Naʻi Aupuni refers to a convention set from February to April 2016 to create a governance document, or constitution, for an eventual Native Hawaiian sovereign entity. Fifteen Maui candidates are seeking three delegate spots to the constitutional convention.

Elections are being held now through Nov. 30 by mail-in ballot. Event organizers urge candidates to attend the Nov. 11 panel, to introduce themselves and to share how they view their prospective roles as delegates.

All events are open free to the public, particularly homesteaders and other Native Hawaiians.