This hour-long documentary is a provocative look at a historical event of which few Americans are aware. In mid-January, 1893, armed troops from the U.S.S Boston landed at Honolulu in support of a treasonous coup d’état against the constitutional sovereign of the Hawaiian Kingdom, Queen Lili‘uokalani. The event was described by U.S. President Grover Cleveland as an “act of war.”
Stylized re-enactments, archival photos and film, political cartoons, historic quotes and presentations by Hawaiian scholars tell Hawaiian history through Hawaiian eyes.
Produced in association with the Center for Hawaiian Studies, University of Hawai’i. Featuring historians and scholars Haunani-Kay Trask, Lilikala Kame‘eleihiwa, Kekuni Blaisdell and Jonathan Kamakawiwoole Osorio.
Act of War – The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation was one of the first productions funded by the fledgling Independent Television Service in late 1991 with supplemental funding from Native American Public Telecommunications, then called the Native American Public Broadcasting Consortium. It was broadcast on Hawai’i Public Television (PBS Hawai‘i) in 1993 during the centennial year observance of the U.S. armed invasion.
In that same year, the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution admitting the illegal taking of Hawai‘i and formally apologizing to the Hawaiian people who “never relinquished their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people or over their national lands.” President Clinton signed the resolution in November of 1993.
NĀ MAKA O KA ʻĀINA
We are Joan Lander and Puhipau (1937-2016) of Nā Maka o ka ‘Āina (“The Eyes of the Land”), an independent video production team that, since 1981, has focused on the land and people of Hawai‘i and the Pacific.
We exist to document and give voice and face to traditional and contemporary Hawaiian culture, history, language, art, music, environment and the politics of independence and sovereignty. Our over 100 documentary and educational programs have been seen on PBS, Hawai‘i public and commercial television stations, public access cable channels, and broadcast/cable networks in Canada, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Japan, Mexico and Europe.
Our award-winning productions have been used by teachers and scholars in classrooms in Hawai‘i and throughout the world, and our iconic footage of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement has been featured in numerous documentaries by other producers.
