Sovereignty Endures: Dr. Keanu Sai Speaks at UHMC

By Wendy Osher

Dr. Keanu Sai. Courtesy Photo.

Dr. Keanu Sai will be the featured speaker at a presentation tonight at the University of Hawai’i Maui College.

Sai began investigating the political and legal history of Hawai’i when research of his family’s genealogy revealed discrepancies from what he was taught in school about the Hawaiian Kingdom.

He is the author of a new book, UA MAU KE EA Sovereignty Endures: An Overview of the Political and Legal Hisotry of the Hawaiian Islands.

The text, released by the Pu’a Foundation, challenges current information listed in history of Hawai’i textbooks used in classrooms today.

Dr. Sai will discuss his findings at a presentation tonight at 6 p.m. at the UHMC, Student Lounge in the Pilina Building.

“Ua Mau Ke Ea is the most conservative, yet radical history book that covers over 200 years of Hawai’i’s political and legal history,” said Sai.

Ua Mau Ke Ea, cover art. Courtesy Photo.

“Ua Mau Ke Ea is an eye-opening text that fosters a new understanding of our history,” said Toni Bissen, Executive Director of Pu’a Foundation. Bissen said the work was commissioned under the Hawaiian Historical Production Project, “to support Pu’a Foundation’s mission of developing community educational teaching resources to serve Hawai’i’s communities to assist with reconciliation efforts that address consequences of the overthrow.”

Sai earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s degree in political science from the University of Hawai’i.  He earned his Ph.D.  in 2008 in political science, specializing in international relations, international law and constitutional law, with a focus on Hawai’i’is political and legal history.