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Following another round of lineup changes, Na‘i Aupuni announced Wednesday that 154 people will attend the February convention to discuss Native Hawaiian self-governance.
Four delegates were added to the list after Na‘i Aupuni learned that delays and failures with computer systems caused candidates to miss the deadline to sign up for the convention, or aha.
One of the additions was Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Rowena Akana, who was on vacation and said she did not receive emails informing her of the deadline.
Akana said Wednesday that she agreed to sign a notarized letter saying that she did not receive the emails.
Other additions were Rosalie Lenchanko, Kalaniakea Wilson and Karen Awana, all of Oahu.
Two others — Stanley Ornellas of Maui and Lydia Burt of Kentucky — who previously confirmed their intent to attend notified Na‘i Aupuni that they are now unable to attend.
The aha participants were derived from a list of 196 former candidates vying for 40 seats at the constitutional convention.
Na‘i Aupuni terminated the election Dec. 15 to evade a U.S. Supreme Court injunction and the likelihood that litigation would have delayed the process for years. Na‘i Aupuni, instead, offered all of the candidates a chance to join in the discussion for a path to self-governance.
“Every former candidate had an opportunity to participate in this gathering. We are excited that such a large group of committed persons — who represent a broad cross section of the Native Hawaiian community in Hawaii and elsewhere — will come together to discuss self-governance,” Kuhio Asam, Na‘i Aupuni president, said in a statement.
Na‘i Aupuni originally announced that 151 delegates would attend the convention, which starts Feb. 1.
List of Na`i Aupuni participants by Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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