Ka Lei Maile Alii Hawaiian Civic Club, a founding member group of the Hawaiian Independence Action Alliance, performed the re-enactment titled Ka Lei Maile Alii - The Queen’s Women as part of the Native Hawaiian Health Festival & Hoikeike at Bishop Museum on Sunday, March 8. Dr. Keanu Sai provided context for both performances, at 10 am and 1 pm. Both performances were well-attended.
The re-enactment is based on a newspaper article titled “Strangling Hands Upon a Nation’s Throat”, authored by newspaper reporter Miriam Michelson. Ms. Michelson was present at a meeting of the Hui Aloha Aina o na Wahine, the Women’s Branch of the Hawaiian Patriotic League, which took place at the Salvation Army Hall in Hilo in September 1897. The meeting itself was conducted in Hawaiian language. Ms. Michelson had a translator and took note of everything that was said. On her way home to San Francisco, while on the passenger ship AUstralia, she wrote this article about how the people of Hilo and surrounding areas responded to a plea by Mrs. Emma Aima Nawahi and Mrs. Kuaihelani Campbell, officers in the Hui Aloha Aina o na Wahine, to sign petitions in resistance to the planned annexation of Hawaii to the United States.
Keanu Sai’s presentation helped the audience understand how actions of the men’s and women’s branches of the Hui Aloha Aina helped to defeat the treaty of annexation submitted to the U.S. by the Republic of Hawaii. Thus no treaty exists to this day, except in the hand of the statue of William McKinley, fronting McKinley High School in downtown Honolulu.
Next scheduled performance is March 16, 2009 @ 6 pm at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana Park. The Monday evening performance is part of several activities planned for Women’s History Month, and honors Queen Liliuokalani and the women who supported her in resisting U.S. invasion of the Hawaiian Kingdom.