An overnight sit-in protest in the lobby of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs ended peacefully yesterday as a small group of Native Hawaiians who oppose the Akaka bill prayed, sang "Hawai'i Ponoi" and got their parking tickets validated by the office receptionist.

The group, Hui Pu, began the sit-in after meeting with the OHA trustees Thursday and demanding that they rescind support for the Akaka bill. When the board refused, the group began a non-violent protest by occupying OHA's fifth-floor lobby at 10 a.m. under threat of arrest.

There were no incidents and no arrests, however.

"Spiritually, we were successful," said protester Hinaleimoana Wong. "Emotionally, we were successful. When the day comes that our Hawaiian voice is stifled by the confines of our own mind, we have lost."

About 10 members of Hui Pu spent the night, watched most of the time by a state deputy sheriff. Their ranks included 17 adults at one point Thursday.

Throughout the evening and into the early morning hours, group members would join in traditional Hawaiian chants and read aloud the names of some of the 38,000 Hawaiians who signed an 1897 petition opposing annexation of Hawai'i to the United States.

Hui Pu objects to what it calls OHA's "single-minded" support of the bill and its "high-budget marketing of the bill to the exclusion of other perspectives."

"This is not our bill," group spokesman Ikaika Hussey said as the protest ended. "And because of the dangers and harms that it may bring, it is only prudent that the congressional delegation take it off the table and that our trustees here withdraw their support."

The Akaka bill starts a process that would lead to federal recognition of a Native Hawaiian entity. Supporters say it is necessary not just to address wrongs committed by the U.S. government, but will help stave off legal challenges to programs — including OHA and Kamehameha Schools — that give preference to Hawaiians.

None of the OHA trustees was in the lobby when the protest ended, but OHA spokesman Manu Boyd said Hui Pu conducted itself respectfully and that OHA was glad it could work with the building's owners to allow the overnight sit-in.

"They had a right to be here," Boyd said. "They had a voice and they had a message and we need to support that, too."

He called the sit-in an example of "true Hawaiian communication and sensitivity."

"I think there was a lot of aloha here today," Boyd said.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.