Virtual celebration honors Hawaiian History Month

For a second consecutive year, Hawaiian History Month in September recognizes social justice and reconciliation of historical and cultural wrongs in Hawaiʻi. 

“By educating ourselves about Hawai’i’s past history, we can, as community and family, work to develop and strengthening personal, familial and community bonds, to more readily create meaningful, healing conversations and actionable work towards justice—and ties with others throughout Hawai’i and the world.”
— Hawai’i Pono’i Coalition

The month-long virtual celebration spearheaded by the Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition in collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hawaiʻinuākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge commenced on Thursday, September 2, in honor of Queen Liliʻuokalani’s 183rd birthday.

In 1881, Liliʻuokalani served as queen regent for her brother, King David Laʻamea Kalākaua, while he was on his year-long world tour. Just weeks after the king departed, a virulent outbreak of smallpox impacted Honolulu. To prevent the disease from spreading, Liliʻuokalani imposed a strict quarantine and was praised for saving thousands of lives.

“We hope people take away that Queen Liliʻuokalani was a leader that created solutions for our people and the larger community and took action even when it was a hard decision to make. Our Hawaiian history and our ʻike kupuna (ancestral wisdom) shows us the solutions and the path ahead,” said Malia Nobrega, director of strategic partnerships at Hawaiʻinuākea and who helped organize the month-long celebration.

Virtual events will include discussions on Hawaiian health, songs and stories; and feature cinematography put together by UH Mānoa’s Academy for Creative Media highlighting the Liliʻu Project, a performing arts presentation which explores the queen through the lens of her music and poetry. 

For details of upcoming events and recordings of earlier events visit Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī Coalition. To learn more, view a timeline of key points in Hawaiian history and videos including Mai Poina: The Overthrow. 

Read more on UH News.