Over the next decade, Nāwahī characterized himself as a leader of the Independent (Kuokoa) faction against the government-backed National Party. He opposed the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, introduced and personally negotiated by the king, fearing the negative consequences of aligning Hawaii too closely to the United States. Nāwahī blasted the treaty as "he ku ʻikahi kaʻili aupuni" ("a nation-snatching treaty") and prophesied that it "will be the first step of annexation". He was also vehemently against the proposed cession of Pearl Harbor to the United States. Nāwahī and Pilipō were given the epithet of "Nā Pū Kuni Ahi o ka ʻAhaʻōlelo" (the Cannons of the Legislature) for their steadfast defense of Hawaiian sovereignty. In the election of 1886, Kalākaua personally journeyed to the districts of Pilipō and Nāwahī, on Hawaii, and John William Kalua, on Maui, to sway the vote against these three politicians. This resulted in Nāwahī's first electoral defeat in his home district of Hilo.