MAKENA - The Maui Arts & Cultural Center, University of Hawaii - Maui Community College and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs separately will sponsor four showings of a trio of Hawaiian activist offerings this week.
The MACC will screen "Biography Hawai'i: Joseph Nawahi" at 3 p.m. today in the McCoy Studio Theater. Admission is free.
Nawahi was a 19th-century legislator, lawyer, painter and publisher of Ke Aloha 'Aina Hawaiian-language newspaper. The Puna, Hawaii, native served in Lili'uokalani's Cabinet. As president of the Hawaiian Patriotic League, he opposed the 1893 overthrow of the queen and later died as a political prisoner.
The Nawahi documentary premiered June 25 on PBS Hawaii with professor Kalena Silva of the University of Hawaii at Hilo in the title role. Silva and writer Victoria Kneubuhl will appear at the screening.
On Monday, UH-MCC will present a dramatic re-enactment of an 1897 meeting of Hui Aloha 'Aina O Na Wahine, or the Women's Hawaiian Patriotic League, at the Salvation Army Hall in Hilo. David Keanu Sai, who holds a doctorate in political science from UH-Manoa, will give a preamble about the league's effort to protest the annexation of Hawaii to the United States.
MCC will present the play at 7 p.m. in Ka Lama Building, Room 103, on campus; followed by a staging from 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in the Makena Salon.
The latter production is part of the 50th annual convention of the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs from Sunday to Nov. 8 at the Makena Beach & Golf Resort (former Maui Prince Hotel).
On Thursday, UH-MCC will screen "Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawaii" at 6 p.m. in Ka Lama 103. Anne Keala Kelly's film, named best documentary at the 2008 Hawai'i International Film Festival, looks at Hawaiians' fate "under U.S. laws, economy, militarism and real estate speculation," a news release said.
For information on the UH-MCC events, call 984-3709.
Also, the convention will present a products and services expo from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at the Makena resort's Holokai Pavilion. Thirty vendors will offer items created by isle artisans, clothing and information from nonprofit organizations.
For convention information, contact Matthew Erickson, president of the Lahaina Hawaiian Civic Club, at 283-2411 or send e-mail to lhccmatt@gmail.com, or see Web site www.aohcc.org.
The Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs has 55 clubs, including four Maui groups: the Central Maui, Ho'olehua on Molokai, Lanai and Lahaina clubs.
