Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 23, Number 12, 1 December 2006 — Nationhood meeting [ARTICLE]

Nationhood meeting

On Dec. 9, OHA will fund one final meeting to give Native Hawaiian Coalition members a ehanee to finish the Hawaiian nation-building work the group began in 2004. The purpose of the meeting is to further define three of the six nation-building steps identified by the coalition in December

2004. Those steps are the registration of Hawaiian voters, the election of delegates to a eonvention and the convention itself, where delegates would draft and ratify the organic documents of the Hawaiian nation. OHA will lead the discussion with the help of assigned facilitators, and the group will use eonsensus to maintain order, OHA Administrator Clyde Nāmu'o wrote in a letter to coalition members. If those present are not able to complete the work or eome to any agreement on the process, he added, OHA will eonhnue the discussion with community organizations and members who are able to dialogue and eome to a resolution. The coalition may decide to convene again after the Dec. 9 meeting; however, OHA will not eonhnue to fund the group, Nāmu'o wrote, adding that the eoalihon may apply for an OHA grant for future activities. The meeting will run from 8-11:30 a.m. at the Honolulu International Airport Conference Center, and continental breakfast will be served. For more information, eall 594-0217.