MEDIA RELEASE

The Pu’a Foundation is coming to Hilo to present Ua Mau Ke Ea, a collection of community educational resources that include a history textbook, historical documentary and special teachers’ unit, to address historical inaccuracies.

Two free events are scheduled Tuesday, Sept. 13:

* 9 a.m. at the University of Hawaii at Hilo’s University Classroom Building 127
* 5 p.m. at Imiloa Astronomy Center’s Moanahoku Hall

Textbook author Dr. Keanu Sai, historical documentary producer Kaui Sai-Dudoit, and Pu’a Foundation Executive Director Toni Bissen will lead the presentation to share specifics about the textbook and will also present Part I of the historical documentary that is currently being produced.

The textbook, Ua Mau Ke Ea, Sovereignty Endures: An Overview of the Political and Legal History of the Hawaiian Islands, by Sai, is now available for purchase ($35) online at www.puafoundation.org

The historical documentary, produced by Sai-Dudoit, chronicles Hawaii’s history through storytelling, interviews, archival images and Hawaiian-language newspaper articles. The historical documentary will be launched at a later date and will accompany the textbook as a supplementary DVD.

The special teachers’ unit is an instructional data CD containing sample exams and teaching materials is also available for educational instructors upon request. This includes sample tests, PowerPoint presentations, discussion questions and reference copies of primary historical documents.

Contact Pu’a Foundation to request the special teachers’ unit.

The presentations are sponsored by Imiloa Astronomy Center of Hawaii, Ka Haka Ula Keelikolani College of Hawaiian Language, and Kipuka Native Hawaiian Student Center. The Ua Mau Ke Ea project is supported by Kamehameha Publishing.

For further information, call (808) 945-3570, email puafoundation@hawaii.rr.com or visit www.puafoundation.org

About the Textbook

Based on more than 20 years of research and investigation, Sai’s book challenges the accuracy of previous events in the history of Hawaii that have been and continue to be taught in classrooms today.

Grounded in political science yet softened for easy reading, Ua Mau Ke Ea takes the reader on a journey beginning with Kamehameha I in the 18th century to present day Hawaii and exposes the fallacy of the United States’ annexation of Hawaii, thus revealing errors on what has been taught in classrooms in Hawaii for more than 100 years.

One of Sai’s many sources include author and researcher Tom Coffman, whose book Nation Within states: “I am compelled to add that the continued relevance of this book reflect a far-reaching political, moral and intellectual failure of the U.S. to recognize and deal with its takeover of Hawaii. In the book’s [Nation Within] subtitle, the word Annexation has been replaced by the word Occupation, referring to America’s occupation of Hawaii. Where annexation connotes legality by mutual agreement, the act was not mutual and therefore not legal. Since by definition of international law there was no annexation, we are left then with the word occupation.”

Sai received his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant from New Mexico Military Institute and retired as a Field Artillery Captain in the Army after 10 years service. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in sociology and Master’s degree in political science from the University of Hawaii.

In 2008, he earned his Ph.D. in political science specializing in international relations, international law and constitutional law, with a particular focus on Hawaii’s political and legal history.

Sai began to investigate the political and legal history of Hawaii when research of his family’s genealogy revealed that what he was taught in school about the Hawaiian Kingdom of the 19th century and after was not accurate.

Born in Kaimuki and raised in Maunalua Bay, Sai-Dudoit is a lifelong student and professional researcher of Hawaiian culture and history. She currently serves as the Project Manager for the Hoolaupai: Hawaiian Newspaper Resource, an innovative program initiated with the Dwayne and Marti Steele Fund, Bishop Museum and Hale Kuamoo, that creates searchable text files of the Hawaiian language newspapers and makes them available on the web at www.nupepa.org

Sai-Dudoit has also produced, directed and edited mini documentaries on William Charles Lunalilo and Queen Liliuokalani.

Pu’a Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization which develops projects that foster an understanding and holistic context of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy through research, knowledge sharing and open dialogue.

The Foundation’s mission is to heal and reconcile the past and present so that a better future in Hawaii’s community can be built. Ua Mau Ke Ea represents the Foundation’s latest piece of literature, which is chronologically separated into four parts, depicting the rightful politics and legalities of the islands by highlighting monumental events throughout Hawaii’s history.

Pu’a Foundation supports extensive research to create an understanding of Hawaii’s controversial past, and the organization’s leadership hopes that Ua Mau Ke Ea will do just that.