Public Invited to Attend Fifth Annual Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program | Arts & Culture

The following information is provided by Distinctive Women Hawaii:

The little-known stories of strong, resilient women who have helped to shape the social and multi-cultural fabric of Hawaiʻi will be shared at the Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program on Saturday, October 29, 2011, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Hawaiʻi Convention Center.

Presented by the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, the annual program bridges academic history and community memory through dance, multi-media presentations, music, poetry and film. This year’s program themes are ancient women of Hawaiʻi and women activists. Featured are diverse presentations ranging from Native Hawaiian mythology through hula performance; local female activists during the women’s suffrage movement leading up to the 1920 women’s right to vote; Princess Nahinu Kamehaokalani and Mormon missionary women from 1851 to 1895; moving World War II-era stories that include Korean activist Dora Moon and the advocacy work of public health nurse Harriet Kuwamoto and social worker Jennie Lee In; and poetry paying homage to women whose lives are in transition.

The program closes with the screening of two films, Barbara F. Kawakami: A Textured Life, directed by Akira Boch and Queenie: The Spirit of a Dancer, directed by Maile Loo-Ching. Cultural treasure Queenie Dowsett will make a special appearance that includes dancing a few hulas. A program highlight is a performance of “Daughters of Haumea: Ancient Women of Hawaiʻi” by San Francisco-based Kumu Hula Patrick Makuakāne and Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, who interpret the female goddess Haumea (she who gives birth) as the foundation and cultural inspiration for Hawaiian women. Blending hula kahiko with traditional movements put to unexpected modern music, the dynamic performance comes alive with mythology, Hawaiian culture, extraordinary choreography and “captures the humor and excitement of well-told, fast-moving stories,” said program director Jamie Conway.

Afternoon presentations include stories of multi-decade activism and the Hawaiian perspective of women’s suffrage; the settlement house movement’s impact on public health in Hawaiʻi; and Dora Moon’s organization of the Korean Women’s Relief Society in response to the Japanese occupation of the

Korean peninsula, whose activities and convictions supported women and children in Korea, particularly during World War II.

“We can’t afford to limit our worldview by ignoring the voices of women that are largely missing from the official historical record,” noted Bob Buss, executive director of the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, the program’s fiscal and presenting sponsor. “This program shares women’s more intimate realms such as the history of our immediate families, communities and social networks, ” Buss added.

A living museum display will include renown kapa artist Dalani Tanahy and a textile display, Japanese Female Immigrant Clothing from the Barbara F. Kawakami Textile Collection sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi. A book bazaar, raffle and marketplace will also take place throughout the day. Attendees are encouraged to bring used cell phones for the Cell Phones for Soldiers Program and used printer and ink cartridges for recycling through Cartridge World-Honolulu. Canned meat and tuna will also be accepted to help Honolulu families served by the River of Life Mission.

What: 5th Annual Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program - A full day of celebrating the little-known stories of the women of Hawaiʻi

Where: Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Charlot Courtyard and Theatre 310, Level 3, 1801 Kalākaua Avenue, Honolulu 96815

When: Saturday, October 29, 2011, 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Registration: Register online at www.distinctivewomenhawaii.org. The $70 registration fee includes lunch. The ‘Ilima Special at $100 includes priority check-in, priority seating and lunch with available presenters. Registration entitles attendees to a 20% discount to Spookilau, a unique event sponsored by Mission Houses Museum that explores the paranormal, to be held in downtown Honolulu on the evening of October 29, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Spookilau discount is available ONLY from the program website at www.distinctivewomenhawaii.org.

Program Schedule:

Visit www.distinctivewomenhawaii.org for more details and for information on presenters.

Morning presentations

• Opening ceremony by Farrington High School students and T Unique, a Samoan female vocal group

• Daughters of Haumea: Ancient Women of Hawaiʻi, Native Hawaiian mythology hula presentation

• Panel Discussion on ancient Hawaiian women’s relevance and influence on 21st century culture

• Mormon Missionary Women in Hawaiʻi from 1851 to 1895, such as Princess Nahinu Kamehaokalani

• Homage in Poems to Women in Transition by Filipina-American poets in recognition of October as Filipino American History Month

Afternoon presentations

• Hawaiʻi Women’s Suffrage Movement

• Women of Action: Dora Moon and the Korean Women’s Relief Society

• Public Health Nursing and Social Work in 20th-Century Hawaiʻi

• Roe v. Wade: A Moral Debate, documentary film by youth historians from Ewa Makai Middle School

• Film Profiles of Barbara F. Kawakami and Queenie Ventura Dowsett

Donations: For those unable to attend but wish to support this unique, community-based program and its mission of perpetuating women’s storytelling, donations are heartily welcomed for this 5th year anniversary program. Please make checks payable to Hawaiʻi Council for Humanities and designate in the lower left check memo section, Distinctive Women in History. Donation checks may be mailed to: Distinctive Women in Hawaiian History Program, P. O. Box 3166, Honolulu, HI 96802. For more information: www.distinctivewomenhawaii.org or email info@distinctivewomenhawaii.org.