Hawaiian rights activist Dennis Pu'uhonua "Bumpy" Kanahele's planned constitutional convention for Native Hawaiians won't take place next month as some had envisioned.

Kanahele said he is still gathering support from Native Hawaiians for the effort, which would be separate from a Hawai'i state ballot issue in November asking voters whether they want a convention that would consider changes to the Hawai'i State Constitution. Kanahele believes a Native Hawaiian convention could work toward unifying the historically fractured Hawaiian independence movement.

Meanwhile, an Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee is seeking to organize a summit as well, soliciting the input of groups and individuals who oppose the Akaka bill and other OHA initiatives in an effort to jumpstart a dialogue with parties that don't see eye to eye with the agency.

Former partners of Kanahele told The Advertiser in June that they had penciled in a convention for Sept. 2-3 at a Hawai'i location to be determined. Kanahele said those dates were established by the former partners to satisfy potential supporters of a convention who wanted a definitive date.

Kanahele last week said he has disassociated with those Mainland partners and that he is now focused on getting a minimum of 50,000 signatures supporting a constitutional convention before he wants to move forward.

He would not say how long he thinks that will take. He estimated that he has "over a few thousand right now." About 10,000 forms have been released and those have the potential of becoming 100,000 signatures, he said.

"We're just plugging away and getting more signatures," Kanahele said.

The signatures are considered important because they would form the basis for people who would vote in a constitutional convention and because the signatures would establish credibility with an international tribunal or independent entity.

The leader of the Independent and Sovereign Nation State of Hawaii (Nation of Hawaii), Kanahele has stressed that while he wants to take the lead organizing a gathering, his group's view will be only one of the views that would be presented for participants to consider.

Convention participants may ultimately decide they favor federal recognition for a Native Hawaiian entity through the Akaka bill as advocated by OHA instead of sovereignty, he said.

But that's not likely, given that most sovereignty groups don't think federal recognition will offer enough in compensation for the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian government and that a Hawaiian government entity should be negotiating with an international tribunal rather than the U.S. government.

In a related development, OHA Trustee Boyd Mossman has sent letters to Kanahele and other activist leaders asking them if they want to participate in a summit to discuss Hawaiian independence and other sensitive issues.

Mossman's invitation states that "as part of a continuing effort to work with the Hawaiian community, we would like to hold a summit with activists and organizations who are pro-independence and/or have expressed opposition to the Akaka bill and federal recognition."

The purpose of such a summit "would be to exchange positions and hear each other's perspectives, seeking a common ground where possible."

The letter goes on to say that he would like to establish a planning committee that would look at organizing a meeting between Hawaiian independence organizations and OHA representatives.

Mossman on Wednesday said it was premature to talk about his proposal and he would not give specifics, including how many invitations he sent out and how many have been returned.

"This is something I think is important and we'll see what happens," he said, adding that he would like to see what kind of response he gets to his letter before speaking too much about the idea.

Mossman said he wants to reach out and provide an "open door" not just with those who oppose the Akaka bill, but those who have opposed other OHA initiatives and policies as well.

"Let's just listen to each other," he said.