My Name is Opukahaia at First Congregational Church

The Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives will present a cultural and theatrical program in association with the bicentennial of the departure of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions’ Pioneer Company from New England to the Sandwich Isles (Hawaii) in 1819. Poai Lincoln, a gifted vocalist and Hawaiian music historian, will trace cultural change and adaptation, in ways both obvious and subtle, through the lens of music in Hawaii and the Western influences that affected Hawaii during the 19th century. Moses Goods, Hawaii’s premiere actor, storyteller, and writer, recounts the life of Opukahaia, a young Native Hawaiian man that changed the history of Hawaii forever, in a dramatic one-person play which takes you through Opukahaia’s life, from Hawaii to New England, his conversion, and finally his death in Cornwall, Connecticut – all before the first company of missionaries left New England for the shores of Hawaii.