"Ka Lei Maile Ali`i - The Queen's Women"
An article written aboard ship as she returned to San Francisco in September, 1897 by Miriam Michelson, a reporter for the San Francisco Call newspaper, details the activities at a meeting held during the month of September of that year in the Hilo Salvation Army Hall, wherein Hawaiians gathered to hear Mrs. Emma `Aima Nawahi and Mrs. Ku`aihelani Campbell (wife of James Campbell) speak of the Queen's wishes for the people to enter their names into a petition against annexation. The result of such meetings, held throughout the islands by both women's and men's branches of the Hui Aloha `Aina (Hawaiian Patriotic League), was the Great Petitions of some 21,000 signatures, which in 1997 found their way home to Hawai`i nei with Dr. Noenoe Silva, from the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C. Ms. Michelson's story is the basis for the re-enactment that has become the hallmark of our club.
The author of the play, the late Helen Edythe "Didi" Lee Kwai was inspired to adapt the article for live performances.
This play has been performed at:
Soon to go on tour to:
The complete article that appeared in the San Francisco Call can be found at "Strangling Hands Upon a Nation's Throat"
