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Wayne Ricks
POLS 302
05/12/2016
Spring Final Exam

Argumentative Essay: The Nai Aupuni-Organized Aha 2016

The Aha 2016 produced a constitution of the Native Hawaiian Nation in the 45 days in
which they met. I have my reservations about the constitutions resolve for these reasons

stated. A constitution of any nation is a concise, deliberate, and a purposeful binding document
that ensures a nations sovereignty. This constitution must be written with precise wellthought out, and detailed literature that is impervious to outside scrutiny. The constitution is
etched in stone as it must hold up to the sands of time.
I believe that the Native Hawaiian Nation has waited so long for a chance to gain some
form of sovereignty that the Aha 2016 wanted so badly to produce a constitution that they
ended up taking a short-cut by overlooking or dismissing what was really crucially important
that should have preceded the making of the constitution and that was discussing a
collaborative vision for the Native Hawaiian Nation.
What is it that we (we as in Native Hawaiian people) want? What is that we want
exactly? What do we see as our future? Where do we go from here and how do we get there?
These are just some of the basic questions and there are many more pertinent questions that
need reasonable answers to before any constitution can be manufactured.

In answering these questions we must face reality. Its been over 100 years that we

have lived under a settler colonial state, the State of Hawaii, USA and lets face this stark reality,
they are not going to just hand over the Hawaiian Islands back to us. You want proof, how
about this, the International community has acknowledged that the Hawaiian Nation was
sovereign and recognized as such by great nations such as Great Britain back in the 1800s.
President Clinton made a formal apology to the Hawaiian Nations people for its transgressions
and yet we still do not have sovereignty. Anything is possible but I really dont think it can
happen just as long as the US has control over Hawaii.
Its like your book, Seeds We Planted. The Hawaiian charter schools were granted but
only so they (State of Hawaii-settler colonial state) could monitor the activities and control the
parameters of how far the Hawaiian charter schools could achieve. The pursuit of the Native
Hawaiian Nation has been allowed just as long as it happens within the confines and control of
State of Hawaii, USA. It must be done under the constitution of the US, within the judicial
system of the US and on and on. All of these constraints were established to prevent just this
kind of thing and that is what the constitution of the US does. It protects the sovereign nation
of the United States.
I believe the State of Hawaii through its agency, OHA has sponsored the Aha 2016. A 45
day time frame was established, delegates signed up and according to our guest speaker, Zuri
Aki, a stipend was awarded to those who attended under certain time-spent requirements.
There are three thing here that I want to point out. First of all, Aki our guest speaker was a
delegate and he was there and he helped construct the constitution. Im examining his name,
Zuri, where did that come from? What Im getting at is that so much time has gone by and the

settler colonialists have interracially married to the point that we cannot overlook the fact that
even many of our Native Hawaiians have haole blood in them. Im not being racial, Im just
being realistic. Some of our most influential Native Hawaiian-kanaka maoli have haole blood
and last names. Blaisdell, Winchester, Ritte and so on. Our education that helped our
distinguished prominent kanaka maoli came from the settler colonialism of the US. Its
unimaginable to me that we can separate ourselves from the US and become a sovereign
nation and still be able to maintain a relationship with the US. Will we not be the 50th state, will
there only be 49 states, and what if we did somehow gain sovereignty, what about the other
Native Indigenous peoples and their sovereignty? Im sorry, I just dont think its going to
happen, at least not from the constitution created by the Aha 2016.
Secondly, the 45 days allotted of which Aki admitted that a good portion of the
beginning was lost to confusion and logistical chaos, actually produced a constitution in less
than 30 days. That just cant be enough time to forge a document that secures the sovereignty
of the Native Hawaiian Nation. Such a document must endure constant scrutiny, long arduous
debate and discussion should precede any form of a constitutional document. Im arguing that
the time frame allotted was not sufficient to produce a document as important as a
constitution for the Native Hawaiian Nation. The time allotted was not enough time to draft a
comprehensive constitution and surely not sufficient enough to be ratified, which is what they
want to do next.
I mean were talking about a constitution that will be cherished as a treasured piece of a
written document that will guide a sovereign nation in its dealings throughout the rest of
eternity. A constitution is nothing to besmirch. Its a sacred testament to human existence. It

manifests how you will conduct ourselves in respect to all other living beings. The time allotted
is definitely not enough time to produce a constitutional document substantial to govern the
Native Hawaiian Nation.
Aki even said that there was some discussion about creating and crafting an innovative
designed governance but there wasnt enough time, not enough time to brainstorm a
potentially different type of governance. I believe that is where it went astray. Before you can
begin crafting anything, you first must have a foreseeable realistic, reasonable, obtainable goals
and for that you must have a vision. That vision needs time to develop and we need to explore
the realm of potentialities.
Thirdly, the stipend issue bothers me. These delegates were paid to attend. I realize
that time is money and many needed that stipend in order to attend but my question is where
did that stipend originate from? I believe it came from OHA, an agency of the State of Hawaii,
the very structure that the constitution aims to separate themselves from. This presents a
conflict of interest concerning the motives for the delegates attending. When there is money
awarded for participation, there lies an inevitable question of why are you participating in the
Aha 2016? No matter what their intentions were even if it was truly to participate to come to
some consensus, their motives would be questionable due to the stipend. Is it possible that
some delegates were there to obstruct the proceedings or to persuade the direction in which
the conference took? We will never know but the stipend makes that those questions
plausible.

So its obvious where I stand on the outcome of Aha 2016. So this may come as a shock
to you because I have taken a complete turnaround to say that the Aha 2016 was a necessary
step in the future of Hawaiian sovereignty and therefore claim it an unmeasurable success. I
mean you have to start somewhere and the Aha 2016 was just one of those seeds that
sprouted. With all its flaws and shortcomings, it still has created much controversy and that is a
good thing. It engages more Hawaiian people to get involved, for and against and it gives them
something to dwell on. The Aha 2016 has given us a constitution that can be digested and
discussed, which will only help the Hawaiian people to self-educate themselves to the issues we
face. The more we educate ourselves the better decisions we will be able to make.
We are so influenced by the settler colonial governance that we seek structure to our
gatherings but its this structure that disables and inhibits creative minds who in turn may
envision a different type of governance. It's difficult to think outside of the box when we are so
influenced and controlled by settler colonial standards. It is possible that a new type of
governance will work entirely different from the settler colonial version. This new governance
may indeed be the answer to a workable equitable system of standards by which to live by.
So again, the Aha 2016 was a success because it has given us another starting point in
which to continue to build and to promote more such gatherings with many more different
Hawaiian people who can contemplate their future. From these gatherings, a possible
foreseeable workable vision will evolve to give the Hawaiian people a fair equitable livelihood
and future. Educate our nations people so that they may join in and cast a net that will gain
our freedom and respect.