FREEHAWAII.INFO PRESENTS
"Finding The Past At The Palace" -
What Really Happened At 'Iolani Palace - The Royal Seat Of Government Of The Hawaiian Nation
By Vicki Viotti - The Honolulu Advertiser - Wednesday, December 8, 2004
Here's Part One -
The dusk deepened and the lights came on, winking down from the surrounding high-rises and from the vintage electric lampposts of 'Iolani Palace, where students stepped into the past while the present swirled around them.
Their guide was Nalani Olds, an Isle entertainer who maintains a personal acquaintance with Hawaiian royal history, some from her own forebears' ties to the 'Iolani court, some from her research for touring presentations on the legacy of the last queen, Lili'uokalani.
Some of the information would not be heard on the tourist circuit. Olds pointed to the upper right window, where the queen was imprisoned after the monarchy was overthrown.
"See how that window is covered with paper?" she asked. "That was so she couldn't be seen by snipers who might try to assassinate her."
Her tour group for the day was about 30 college students, most of them from Hawai'i Pacific University, which conducts such field trips as part of its Classroom Without Walls program.
And because HPU enrolls a large number of international students, the series is part of an effort to acquaint them with Hawaiian history and culture, said cultural anthropology teacher Lynette Cruz.
"We ask them to participate in one of these, but we find if they do one, they will do two," Cruz said. "Students tend to not get a chance to get out in the community. I think it changes them. They end up thinking, 'At least I know something about this place. Real people live here.' "
Part Two Tomorrow...
