Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 28, Number 9, 1 September 2011 — Celebrating Hawaiʻi's women [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Celebrating Hawaiʻi's women

By Kathy Muneno n a milestone in Hawai'i's history, Honolulu's City Hall stayed open until midnight to accommodate the throng of women who eame after work to register to vote. That was in 1920, the year women in the Territory of Hawai'i earned the right to vote through the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It was the eulminahon of a long and hardfought battle to win the right to vote, and at the forefront of Hawai'i's effort were Native Hawaiian women, says Hannah Miyamoto, a University of Hawai'i Ph.D. student in sociology. "The Hawai'i women's suffrage movement was largely the product of Native Hawaiian women and supportive men," says Miyamoto. "The most exciting element of the suffrage campaign is how the distinct Hawaiian eulture is rellected in the work," she says. For example, Native Hawaiian women organized lū'au, speeches in 'A'ala Park and caravans to Ko'olauloa to spread the word and gain the momentum for the right to vote. Women received voting education from a Native Hawaiian woman lawyer at the YWCA, and Mi-

yamoto says the story would make any woman in Hawai'i proud and inspired. "I found no evidence that the women sought the vote for anything more than a sincere desire to vote for civic betterment," she says. Miyamoto will highlight certain women in the suffrage movement at the fifth annual Distinctive Women in Hawai-

īan History Program īn October. Put on by the nonprofit educational organization Hawai'i Council for the Humanities, the program features "under told" stories, dialogue and scholarship regarding women's accomplishments in Hawai'i. "Whether it is Queen Lili'uokalani, Korean activist Dora Moon who organized protest activities in Hawai'i in opposition to the Japanese occupation of Korea, or female firefighters during World War II, our audiences ean relate to their commitment and urgency of their causes," the program's Executive Director Jamie Conway says. "We heeome connected to their personal sacrifices. Yet they persevered usually with the next generation in mind." This year, topics range from pioneering puhlie heahh nurses and social workers, to Mormon missionary women and Princess Nahinu Kamehaokalani, to a range of poets. Miyamoto will speak in the afternoon session, whieh focuses on women social reformers and women activism. The morning session focuses on ancient women of Hawai'i. A featured presenter will be San Francisco-based Kumu Hula Patrick SEE WOMEN ON PAGE 29

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Queen Lili'uokalani - Photo: KWOArchives

WOMEN

Continued from page 23 Makuakāne, whose hālau, Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu, will perform Daughters of Haumea: Ancient Women ofHawai'i, whieh Conway describes as "a story about strong, resilient women" expressed through "mythology, Hawaiian culture, extraordinary choreography, humor and the excitement of well-told, fast-moving stories." Makuakāne is helping to elevate women in the collective consciousness. "I want the audience to walk away with a sense of how women were really an equal part in society and contributed to the preservation and welfare of society. We don't often get to hear that," he says. The performance, based on a book of the same name, commemorates those women as well as the women in his life. "My grandmother, mother, my sister and my aunt were powerful forces in my home. They were

fantastic, loving, compassionate and disciplinarians, and I owe my life to them," says Makuakāne, who studied under Robert Cazimero and Mae Kamāmalu Klein. The performance opens with a chant dedicated to Haumea, "mother earth, one who gives us life," he says. Among the many dances that follow is one he calls "dear to my heart" - Ho'okele, about women who prepared the bodies of loved ones upon their death. "To strip the flesh from the bones of your loved one - imagine the intensity, courage, devotion and love that would take. I was just completely fascinated by the whole idea," he says, describing this pieee as very intense and perhaps difficult to watch. It is danced in his trademark hula mua, danced to a song that is not Hawaiian but speaks to the context of what's happening on stage. ■ Kathy Muneno is a weekenā weather anchor and reporter for KHON2.

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