Ka Lei Maile Alii Hawaiian Civic Club formed itself in March 2003 and became a member of both the Oahu Council and the Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs that same year. The Club was created around the re-enactment titled “Ka Lei Maile Alii – The Queen’s Women”, a drama written by activist-scholar, musician, and singer, Didi Lee Kwai, a founding member of the club and activist in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement. The re-enactment was first peformed two years earlier, on Sept. 2, 2001 at the Kanaina Building on Iolani Palace grounds, to celebrate the birthday of Queen Liliuokalani and to honor the women and men of the Hui Aloha Aina.
Our name reflects the kaona of the Queen’s supporters, those who loved her and who loved the nation. These supporters, primarily women, assisted the Queen when she journeyed to Washington, DC in 1897 to plead her case before the US Congress in support of the continuity of the rule of law and the Hawaiian Kingdom, and against annexation to the United States. The women supported the Queen at home, corresponded regularly with her while she was away, and were instrumental in gathering signatures for the Great Petitions of 1897. In her letters to the Queen during that turbulent period, Mrs. Emma Aima Nawahi, wife of Hawaiian patriot and newspaperman Joseph Nawahi and a patriot herself, referred to our Queen as Ka Maile Ali`i. The Hawaiian patriots of her time were the “Lei”, as we are today; hence the name of our club and our drama, Ka Lei Maile Ali`i — The Queen’s Women.
The re-enactment is based on an article written in September 1897 by Miriam Michelson, a reporter for the San Francisco Call newspaper. Ms. Michelson described in detail a meeting held in the Hilo Salvation Army Hall, wherein Hawaiians gathered to hear Mrs. Emma Nawahi and Mrs. Kuaihelani Campbell (wife of James Campbell) speak of the Queen’s request that the people enter their names into a petition to oppose annexation of Hawaii to the U.S. Numerous similar meeting were held throughout the islands by both women’s and men’s branches of the Hui Aloha Aina (Hawaiian Patriotic League). The resulting large petition became known as the Great Petitions Against Annexation containing some 21,000 signatures, which in 1997 found their way home to Hawaii nei with Dr. Noenoe Silva, from the U.S. National Archives in Washington, DC.
Since its founding in 2003, club membership has grown and the scope of work has expanded to include sponsorship of public forums and educational outreach via video production on public access tv. All of our members tend to be social justice activists and proponents of Hawaiian independence.
Ka Lei Maile Alii’s mission:
To honor the life and work of Queen Lili`uokalani through 1) educational and cultural programs and 2) research, preservation and dissemination of information about the Queen and the times in which she lived.
