Re-enactment at palace hopes to impart ‘lessons of history’

Hundreds gathered Tuesday at Iolani Palace to participate in a dramatic re-enactment of events that 123 years ago led to the completion of the overthrow of the independent nation of Hawaii.

Called “The Theft of a Nation,” the re-enactment depicted the formation of the Republic of Hawaii and the installation of Sanford B. Dole as president of the Territory of Hawaii on July 4, 1894. The re-enactment was based on the work of writer/producer Tom Coffman, Poka Laenui and Lynette Cruz of La Ho‘iho‘i Ea, a Hawaiian sovereignty group.

Several community leaders, including former Mayor Peter Carlisle, played some of the delegates who gathered at the palace on July 4, 1894, to help Dole achieve legitimacy for his provisional government. During the performance, some audience members booed and yelled “auwe” (shame).

When Carlisle came on as Albert Francis Judd, who served as chief justice of the Hawaii Supreme Court from 1881 to 1900, there were cries of “Go home, haole (white person) ” and even “pilau haole” (stinky white person).

Only Queen Lili‘uokalani, played by Hina Wong-Kalu, and narrators Coffman and Laenui were well received. Carlisle’s fellow cast members — Kioni Dudley, Jay Fidell, Stuart Feinberg, Henry Curtis, Jeff Pompadur, Thomas Baldwin, Roger Epstein and Scott Foster — also were taunted.

Chants from the audience included, “Fake story,” “What about the kanaka maoli?” or “We’re not Americans!”

But the overriding message of the day was a gentler one summarized by Wong-Kalu, who told the crowd, “Let us uplift one another,” and “Let us never forget the lessons of our history.”

Marsha Rose Joyner, who staged the production, said the historic event depicted in the re-enactment is an important step that has often been left out in historical accounts from the overthrow to the annexation. The participatory format provided healing, said Joyner, who praised the community leaders who stepped in to play “the bad guys.”

“It was an unlikely group. I asked, and I was very proud that they were willing to take on these roles,” Joyner said.

Imai Winchester, lead organizer for La Ho‘iho‘i Ea, said the re-enactment provided a “chance to share our story as told by us.” Winchester said it’s part of a monthlong series of events leading up to La Ho‘iho‘i Ea 2017, Sovereignty Restoration Day, which will be held July 30 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Frank S. Fasi Civic Grounds at 650 S. King St.

“We aren’t just living in the past. We are blazing, wayfinding our way to the future,” Winchester said.

Kehau Jahn said she brought three of her children to watch the re-enactment and to “protest American independence.”

“We’re living sovereign. We believe in the Hawaiian nation. This was just the next step for us,” Jahn said.

Comeshia Workman and Simone Davis, who hail from the mainland, said they took their children to the event to provide them with an opportunity to learn another side of history.

“It’s important to understand that what the school might teach them might not be the whole side of the story,” Workman said.

Davis, who is Native American and black, said the quest for Hawaiian independence resonates with her.

“I totally agree that what happened wasn’t OK,” she said.