Speaker addresses Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow Speaker addresses Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow ADVERTISING Could it be that our current understanding of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government is based on an erroneous narrative of historical events? Keanu Sai addresses this question
Speaker addresses Hawaiian Kingdom overthrow
Could it be that our current understanding of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government is based on an erroneous narrative of historical events? Keanu Sai addresses this question in a Puana Ka Ike lecture in Kona and an Eia Hawaii presentation in Hilo.
Sai discusses “1893 Executive Agreements and the profound impacts today: Why the birthers are right for all the wrong reasons” from 12-1:30 p.m. March 15, at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Campus Center Room 301, and from 5:30 to 7 p.m. March 16, in the convention ballroom of the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa.
His presentation offers a political science perspective that incorporates law on the repercussions of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government, and the effect of two executive agreements entered into in 1893 between Queen Liliuokalani and President Grover Cleveland that have not only a profound legal and political impact on Hawaii and the international community, but also upon the office of the current President.
“The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom government on Jan. 17, 1893, remains a contentious moment in the history of Hawaii,” Sai said. “On the 100th anniversary, Congress enacted a joint resolution apologizing for the illegal overthrow and sought reconciliation efforts with the native Hawaiian population similar to its relationship with Native Americans.”
Sai received his doctorate in political science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa specializing in international law, state sovereignty, international laws of occupation, United States constitutional law and Hawaiian constitutional law. His research specifically addressed the legal and political history of the Hawaiian Islands since the 18th century to the present. Sai has authored several law journal articles on the topic of the continuity of Hawaiian Kingdom as a sovereign state, and served as lead agent for the Hawaiian Kingdom in arbitration proceedings before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, Netherlands, in Lance Larsen v. Hawaiian Kingdom (1999-2001).
For more information on Sai’s presentations, contact Joy Cunefare at 534-8528 or email info@kohalacenter.org. For lecture schedules and webcasts of previous lectures, visit kohalacenter.org/puanakaike/about.html and keauhouresort.com/learn-puanakaike.html.
The Puana Ka Ike and Eia Hawaii lecture series are presented in partnership with Keauhou-Kahaluu Education Group of Kamehameha Schools, The Kohala Center, the Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and Keauhou Beach Resort.
Several book clubs meet in Keauhou
Kona Stories book shop will host several book clubs during March.
Second Tuesday Book Club meets Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to discuss fiction titles. This month the group will be discussing the book “Breakfast with Budda,” by Roland Merullo. When Otto’s sister tricks him into taking her guru on a trip to their childhood home, Otto is not amused. In Merullo’s masterful hands, Otto tells his story with all the wonder and wry humor of a man who unwittingly finds what he’s missing in the most unexpected place. Attendees of the book club are asked to read the book in advance of the meeting and come prepared for discussion. This group is free and everyone is invited. Bring your favorite pupu or beverage to share. This group meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Kona Stories book shop located in the Keauhou Shopping Center.
The Lesbian Book Club meets at 6:30 p.m. March 20. This woman-identified group meets every month to discuss books and independent films. This month the group will be discussing the book “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas,” by Gertrude Stein. Largely to amuse herself, Gertrude Stein wrote “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” in 1932, using as a sounding board her companion Miss Toklas, who had been with her for 25 years. It has been said that the writing takes on very much Toklas’ conversational style, and while this is true, the style is still a variant of Stein’s conversation style. She usually insisted that writing is an entirely different thing from talking, and it is part of the miracle of this little scheme of objectification that she could by way of imitating Toklas put in writing something of her own beautiful conversation. This book is full of the most lucid and shapely anecdotes. Attendees of this book club are asked to read one of these books in advance of the meeting and come prepared for discussion. This group is free and everyone is invited. Bring a pupu or beverage to share. This group meets from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Kona Stories book shop located in the Keauhou Shopping Center.
Just the Facts Group meets at 6 p.m. March 27. Just the Facts Book Club meets the fourth Tuesday of each month to discuss nonfiction titles. This month the group will be discussing the book “The Last Stand,” by Nathaniel Philbrick. Philbrick, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for “Mayflower,” presents a monumental reappraisal of the epochal clash at the Little Bighorn in 1876 that gave birth to the legend of Custer’s last stand, and brilliantly explains how the battle has been shaped and reshaped by national myth. Attendees of the book club are asked to read the book in advance of the meeting and come prepared for discussion. This group is free and everyone is invited. Bring a pupu or beverage to share. This group meets from 6 to 8 p.m. at Kona Stories book shop located in the Keauhou Shopping Center.
For more information, call Brenda or Joy at 808-324-0350.
