On August 12, 1898, the flag of the Republic of Hawaii over ‘Iolani Palace was lowered to raise the United States flag to signify annexation.

The Newlands Resolution, was a joint resolution written by and named after United States Congressman Francis G. Newlands. It was an Act of Congress to annex the Republic of Hawaii and create the Territory of Hawaii.

In 1898 President of the United States William McKinley signed the treaty of annexation for Hawaii, but it failed in the Senate after the 38,000 signatures of the Ku’e Petitions were submitted.^{[citation needed]} After the failure, Hawaii was annexed by means of joint resolution, called the Newlands Resolution.

It was approved on July 4, 1898 and signed on July 7 by William McKinley. In August of the same year, a ceremony was held on the steps of Iolani Palace to signify the official transfer of Hawaiian sovereignty to the United States.

The Newlands Resolution established a five-member commission to study which laws were needed in Hawaii. The commission included: Territorial Governor Sanford B. Dole (R-Hawaii Territory), Senators Shelby M. Cullom (R-IL) and John T. Morgan (D-AL), Representative Robert R. Hitt (R-IL) and former Hawaii Chief Justice and later Territorial Governor Walter F. Frear (R-Hawaii Territory). The commission's final report was submitted to Congress for a debate which lasted over a year. Congress raised objections that establishing an elected territorial government in Hawaii would lead to the admission of a state with a non-white majority.

See also[link]

• Hawaiian Organic Act, approved in 1900 by Congress to adopt a form of government for the new territory, in supplement of the Newlands Resolution.

External links[link]

• Text of the Newlands Resolution

File:Hawaii petition against annexation image1.jpg A page of the Ku’e Petitions that prevented Hawaii from being annexed by treaty.

On the day of annexation most Hawaiians shuttered themselves at home and mourned for the end of Hawaii's independence and the monarchy. Queen Liliuokalani gathers with Princess Kaiulani, Prince Kawananakoa, and other members of the royal court at Washington Place to mourn.

Sanford B. Dole, left, continued as President of the newly created Territory of Hawaii until the Hawaiian Organic Act of 1900 established a permanent territorial government led by a governor.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Annexation of the Hawaiian Islands

v t e Territorial expansion of the United States Concept: Manifest destiny Thirteen Colonies (1776) · Treaty of Paris (1783) · Louisiana Purchase (1803) · Red River Cession (1818) · Adams–Onís Treaty (1819) · Texas Annexation (1845) · Oregon Treaty (1846) · Mexican Cession (1848) · Gadsden Purchase (1853) · Guano Islands Act (1856) · Alaska Purchase (1867) · Annexation of Hawaii (1898) · Treaty of Paris (1898) · Treaty of the Danish West Indies (1917)

Native Hawaiians
(Kānaka Maoli)

Notable Native Hawaiians: Kamehameha the Great · James "Duke" Aiona Daniel Akaka · Queen Liliʻuokalani.
Total population
alone: 164,918, any combination: 527,077 as of the 2010 census.
Regions with significant populations
United States
Hawaii  California  Nevada  Washington  Guam
Languages
English, Hawaiian, Hawaiian Pidgin English
Religion
Protestant, Roman Catholic
Related ethnic groups
Marquesans, Tahitians, Māori, Samoans and other Polynesian peoples

Native Hawaiians (in Hawaiian, kānaka ʻōiwi, kānaka maoli or Hawaiʻi maoli) refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants.^[1] Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau report for 2000, there are 401,162 people who identified themselves as being "native Hawaiian" alone or in any combination.^[2] 140,652 people identified themselves as being "native Hawaiian" alone.^[3] The majority of native Hawaiians reside in State of Hawaiʻi, California, Nevada and Washington. Two-thirds live in the State of Hawaiʻi while the other one-third is scattered among other states with a high concentration in California.

The history of native Hawaiians, and of Hawaiʻi in general, is classified into four major periods: antiquity (Ancient Hawaiʻi), monarchy (Kingdom of Hawaiʻi), territorial (Territory of Hawaiʻi), and statehood (State of Hawaiʻi).

Origins[link]

The early settlement history of Hawaiʻi is still not completely resolved. Some believe that the first Polynesians arrived in Hawaiʻi in the 3rd century from the Marquesas and were followed by Tahitian settlers in AD 1300 who conquered the original inhabitants. Others believe that there was only a single, extended period of settlement. Patrick Kirch, in his 2001 Hawaiki, argues for an extended period of contact but not necessarily for a Tahitian invasion:

There is substantial archaeological as well as paleoecological evidence confirming Hawaiian settlement no later than 800 AD, and quite possibly as early as AD 300–500 (Kirch 1985; Athens 1997). The immediate source of the colonizing population in Hawaiʻi is likely to have been the Southern Marquesas, but continued contact between Hawaiʻi and islands in the core region is indicated by linguistic evidence (lexical borrowings from the Tahitic subgroup), abundant oral traditions (Cachola-Abad 1993), botanical indications, uniquely shared mtDNA sequences in populations of the Pacific Rat (Matisoo-Smith et al. 1998), and possibly some archaeological style changes as well. However, long-distance voyaging between Hawaiʻi and the central Eastern Polynesian core became less frequent after about AD 1200, and was little more than a memory encoded in Hawaiian oral traditions by the time of European contact.^[4]

The only evidence for a Tahitian conquest of the islands are the legends of Hawaiʻiloa and the navigator-priest Paʻao, who is said to have made a voyage between Hawaiʻi and the island of "Kahiki" (Tahiti) and introduced many new customs. Some Hawaiians believe that there was a real historical Paʻao. Early historians, such as Fornander and Beckwith, also subscribed to this Tahitian invasion theory, but later historians, such as Kirch, simply do not mention it.

King Kalakaua, in his book, The Legends and Myths of Hawaii, claims that Paʻao was from the South Pacific. The religion he brought, the Kahuna religion was from Tahiti or Samoa. Paʻao was instrumental in bringing the High Chief Pili from Tahiti to rule the island of Hawaii. These later chiefs from the South Pacific would intermarry with the existing Hawaiian chiefs of that time.

Some writers believe that there were other settlers in Hawaiʻi, peoples who were forced back into remote valleys by newer arrivals. They claim that stories about menehune, little people who built heiau and fishponds, prove the existence of ancient peoples who settled the islands before the Hawaiians.^[5] Luomala, in her 1951 essay on the menehune, argues that these stories, like stories of "dog people" with tails living in deep forests, are folklore and not to be construed as evidence of an earlier race. Archaeologists have found no evidence suggesting earlier settlements and menehune legends are simply not mentioned or discussed in current archaeological literature.

The very First of three Native Hawaiians to arrive on mainland American soil were Mormon convert Jonathan Hawai'i Napela who came for a visit to Salt lake City, then returned to Hawaii and later, with permission from King Kamehameha V, in 1873 arrived two keiki's (boys) from Laie Hawaii (Maui county) who were to become the very first native Hawaiian residents in America, named Kiha Kaa'wa (living descendants of Kiha still live in American mainland including his grandchildren), and Kahana Pukahi. The Native Hawaiian Kieki's learned to speak English and were adopted by two Mormon missionaries, whose names were George Nebeker (adopted kiha Kaawa) and William King (kahana Pukahi) The following years several Native Hawaiians traveled to American mainland and settled in Salt Lake City and then the town of Iosep Utah!

Demographics[link]

At the time of Captain Cook's arrival, native Hawaiians may have numbered some 250,000 to 800,000; there has been debate over such estimates.^[6][7] Over the span of the first century after first contact, the native Hawaiians were nearly wiped out by new diseases introduced to the islands. It seemed like there was no overcoming it but, they had. Native Hawaiians did not have resistance to influenza, smallpox, measles, and whooping cough, among others. The census of 1900 identified only 40,000 native Hawaiians. The census of 2000 identified 400,000 native Hawaiians, demonstrating a trend of dramatic growth since annexation by the U.S. in 1898.^{[citation needed]}

Old Hawaiian woman, photographed by Christian Hedemann (1883)

Hawaiian language[link]

The Hawaiian language was once the primary language of the native Hawaiian people. Today, native Hawaiians predominately speak the English language because of over a century of being a part of the United States of America, as a Territory and then as a State of the Union. Another large contributing factor was an 1896 law that required that English "be the only medium and basis of instruction in all public and private schools." This law prevented the Hawaiian language from being taught as a second language. Some native Hawaiians (as well as non-native Hawaiians) have learned the native Hawaiian language as a second language. As with others local to Hawaii, native Hawaiians often speak Hawaiian Creole English (referred to in Hawai'i as Pidgin), a creole which developed during Hawaiʻi's plantation era in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with the influence of the various ethnic groups living in Hawaii during that time.

The Hawaiian language has been promoted for revival most recently by a state program of cultural preservation enacted in 1978. Programs included the opening of Hawaiian language immersion schools and the establishment of a Hawaiian language department at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. As a result, Hawaiian language learning has climbed among all races in Hawaiʻi.

In 2002, the University of Hawaii at Hilo established a masters program in the Hawaiian Language.^[8] In fall 2006, they established a doctoral (Ph.D) program in the Hawaiian Language. In addition to being the first doctoral program for the study of Hawaiian, it is the first doctoral program established for the study of any native language in the United States of America. Both the masters and doctoral programs are considered by global scholars as pioneering in the revival of native languages.

Hawaiian is still spoken as the primary language by the residents on the private island of Niihau.

Education[link]

Native Hawaiian schoolchildren, circa 1900

Hawaiian children are publicly educated under the same terms as any other kids. In Hawaii, native Hawaiians are publicly educated by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education, an ethnically diverse school system that is the United States' largest and most centralized. Hawaiʻi is the only U.S. state without local community control of public schools.

In all U.S. states, native Under the administration of Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano from 1994 to 2002, the state's educational system established special Hawaiian language immersion schools. In these schools, all subject courses are taught in the Hawaiian language and use native Hawaiian subject matter in curricula. These schools were created in the spirit of cultural preservation and are not exclusive to native Hawaiian children. Currently, these schools are challenged by a relative lack of native speakers of the Hawaiian language and a dearth of educational materials in Hawaiian, since olelo Hawaii is typically a first language only for those who live on Niihau.

Some native Hawaiians are educated by the Kamehameha Schools, established through the last will and testament of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a princess of the Kamehameha Dynasty. Arguably the largest and wealthiest private school in the United States, Kamehameha Schools was intended to benefit indigents and orphans, with preference given to native Hawaiians. Although this Hawaiians-only preference is not explicitly stated in her will, subsequent Bishop Estate trustees have interpreted her wording to mean that. Kamehameha provides a quality education to thousands of children of whole and part native Hawaiian ancestry at its campuses during the regular school year, and also has quality summer and off-campus programs that are not restricted by ancestry. Kamehameha Schools' practice of accepting primarily gifted students, in lieu of intellectually challenged children, has been a controversial topic amongst the native Hawaiian community. Many 'rejected' families feel that the gifted students could excel at any learning institution, public or private. Thus, the Hawaiian community may be better served by educating children from high-risk, high-crime districts so that a greater proportion of disadvantaged youths may grow up to be responsible community contributors.

Since the late 1990s, Kamehameha Schools has faced several high profile legal battles. The highest profile of these legal battles involved the selection and remuneration of trustees. Ultimately, this suit, directly and indirectly, brought about the resignation or removal of all five of the then serving trustees, and a restructuring of the administration of both the trust and the schools. Other legal challenges have concerned the admission of non-native Hawaiians to the school. A few non-Hawaiians have sued for admission, claiming that the last will and testament of Bernice Pauahi Bishop has been misinterpreted, and further that the then current policies of race-based admissions were discriminatory and thereby should be struck down.^[9] In 2007, Kamehameha's Maui campus graduated its first non-Hawaiian student. The student's 2002 admission to the school created an uproar within the Hawaiian community.^[10]

As with other children in Hawaiʻi, some native Hawaiians are educated by other prominent private academies in the Aloha State. They include: Punahou School, Saint Louis School, Mid-Pacific Institute and Iolani School.

Hawaiian revival[link]

Native Hawaiian culture has seen a revival in recent years as an outgrowth of decisions made at the 1978 Hawaiʻi State Constitutional Convention, held 200 years after the arrival of Captain Cook. At the convention, the Hawaiʻi state government committed itself to a progressive study and preservation of native Hawaiian culture, history and language.

A comprehensive Hawaiian culture curriculum was introduced into the State of Hawaiʻi's public elementary schools teaching: ancient Hawaiian art, lifestyle, geography, hula and Hawaiian language vocabulary. Intermediate and high schools were mandated to impose two sets of Hawaiian history curricula on every candidate for graduation.

Statutes and charter amendments were passed acknowledging a policy of preference for Hawaiian place and street names. For example, with the closure of Barbers Point Naval Air Station in the 1990s, the region formerly occupied by the base was renamed Kalaeloa.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)[link]

Another important outgrowth of the 1978 Hawaiʻi State Constitutional Convention was the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, more popularly known as OHA. Delegates that included future Hawaiʻi political stars Benjamin J. Cayetano, John D. Waihee III and Jeremy Harris enacted measures intended to address perceived injustices towards native Hawaiians since the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi in 1893. OHA was established as a trust, administered with a mandate to better the conditions of both native Hawaiians and the Hawaiian community in general. OHA was given control over certain public lands, and continues to expand its land-holdings to this day (most recently with Waimea Valley, previously Waimea Falls Park).^[11]

Besides purchases since its inception, the lands initially given to OHA were originally crown lands of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi used to pay the expenses of the monarchy (later held by the Provisional Government following the fall of the monarchy in 1893). Upon the declaration of the Republic of Hawaiʻi, they were officially designated as public lands. They were ceded to federal control with the establishment of the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1898, and finally returned to the State of Hawaiʻi as public lands in 1959.

OHA is a semi-autonomous government body administered by a nine-member board of trustees, elected by the people of the State of Hawaiʻi through popular suffrage. Originally, trustees and the people eligible to vote for trustees were restricted to native Hawaiians. Rice v. Cayetano reached the United States Supreme Court suing the state to allow non-Hawaiians to sit on the board of trustees and for non-Hawaiians to be allowed to vote in trustee elections. Justices ruled in favor of Rice on 23 February 2000 forcing OHA to open its elections to all residents of the State of Hawaiʻi regardless of ethnicity.

Federal developments[link]

Native American Programs Act[link]

In 1974, the Native American Programs Act was amended to include native Hawaiians. This paved the way for native Hawaiians to become eligible for some, but not all, federal assistance programs originally intended for Native Americans. Today, Title 45 CFR Part 1336.62 defines a Native Hawaiian as "an individual any of whose ancestors were natives of the area which consists of the Hawaiian Islands prior to 1778."

There is some controversy as to whether or not native Hawaiians should be considered in the same light as Native Americans.^[12][13]

Native Hawaiians Study Commission[link]

The Native Hawaiians Study Commission was created by the Congress of the United States on December 22, 1980 (Title III of Public Law 96-565). The purpose of the Commission was to "conduct a study of the culture, needs and concerns of the Native Hawaiians." The Commission published and released to the public a Draft Report of Findings on September 23, 1982. Following a 120-day period of public comment, a final report was written and submitted on June 23, 1983 to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

United States apology resolution[link]

On 23 November 1993, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed United States Public Law 103-150 also known as the Apology Resolution which had previously passed Congress. This resolution "apologizes to Native Hawaiians on behalf of the people of the United States for the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii".^[14]

Washington-based constitutional scholar Bruce Fein has outlined a number of counter-arguments disputing the accuracy of the assertions made in the Apology Resolution.^[15]

Akaka Bill[link]

In the early 2000s, the Congressional delegation of the State of Hawaiʻi introduced the Native Hawaiian Federal Recognition Bill named after U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI). The Akaka Bill would establish the process of recognizing and forming a Native Hawaiian government entity to negotiate with state and federal governments. The significance of the bill is that it would establish, for the first time in the history of the islands, a new political and legal relationship between a Native Hawaiian entity and the federal government. This Native Hawaiian entity would be a newly created one without any historical precedent in the islands or direct institutional continuity with previous political entities (unlike many Native American Indian groups, for example).

This bill came under scrutiny by the Bush administration's Department of Justice as well as the United States Senate Judiciary Committee. The political context surrounding the Akaka Bill is both controversial and complex. Proponents, who consider the legislation an acknowledgement and partial correction of past injustices, include Hawaiʻi's Congressional delegation as well as the current Republican Governor Linda Lingle. Opponents include the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who question the constitutionality of creating race-based governments, libertarian activists who challenge the historical accuracy of any claims of injustice, and other Native Hawaiian sovereignty activists who feel the legislation would thwart their hopes for complete independence from the United States.

A poll commissioned in 2005 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs asserted that 68 percent of Hawaiʻi residents support the bill, 17 percent do not support it and 15 percent refused to answer or had no opinion. Another poll conducted earlier that year by The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii indicated that 67% of Hawaiʻi residents were against the Akaka bill. It has been speculated that the phrasing of the questions asked in both of the respective polls influenced the results^{[citation needed]}, and so no definitive survey to determine levels of public support has yet been carried out in Hawaiʻi.

Akaka said on the floor of the U.S. Senate in Dec. 2010 that “misleading attacks” and “unprecedented obstruction” led to the failure of legislation in the 111th Congress.

Ka Huli Ao: Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law[link]

In 2005, with the support of Senator Daniel Inouye, federal funding through the Native Hawaiian Education Act created the Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's William S. Richardson School of Law. A few years later, the program became known as Ka Huli Ao: Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. The inaugural director of Ka Huli Ao is Honolulu attorney Melody Kapilialoha MacKenzie. MacKenzie is also recognized as the chief editor of the Native Hawaiian Rights Handbook which is a legal publication that describes Native Hawaiian law, a subset of laws of the State of Hawaiʻi. Melody MacKenzie worked as a clerk to the schoolʻs namesake, William S. Richardson for four years and also served as the Executive Director of the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation for four years, then worked as a senior staff attorney for another six years.

Ka Huli Ao focuses on research, scholarship, and community outreach. Ka Huli Ao provides a monthly lunch time discussion forum referred to as Maoli Thursday which is free and open to the public. Ka Huli Ao maintains its own blog as well as a Twitter account and a Facebook group. Ka Huli Ao also provides law students with summer fellowships. Law school graduates are eligible to apply for post-J.D. fellowships that last for one year.

Notable Native Hawaiians[link]

Culture and arts[link]

There have been established several cultural preservation societies and organizations over the course of the twentieth century. The largest of those institutions is the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, established in 1889 and designated as the Hawaiʻi State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. Bishop Museum houses the largest collection of native Hawaiian artifacts, documents and other information available for educational use. Most objects are held for preservation alone. The museum has links with major colleges and universities throughout the world to facilitate research.

With the support of the Bishop Museum, the Polynesian Voyaging Society's double-hulled canoe Hōkūle‘a has contributed to rediscovery of native Hawaiian culture, especially in the revival of non-instrument navigation by which ancient Polynesians originally settled Hawaiʻi.^[16]

One of the most commonly known arts of Hawaii is hula dancing. It is an interpretive and expressive dance famous for its grace and romantic feel that expresses stories and feelings from almost any phase of life.

See also[link]

• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Culture of Hawaii
• Hawaiian sovereignty movement
• Population history of American indigenous peoples
• History of Hawaii
• Hawaiian kinship

References[link]

17.wn.com/Native_Hawaiian_Birds_of_Hawaii_and_their_Bird_Calls A poll commissioned in 2005 by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs asserted that 68 percent of Hawaiʻi residents support the bill, 17 percent do not support it and 15 percent refused to answer or had no opinion. Another poll conducted earlier that year by The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii indicated that 67% of Hawaiʻi residents were against the Akaka bill. It has been speculated that the phrasing of the questions asked in both of the respective polls influenced the results[citation needed], and so no definitive survey to determine levels of public support has yet been carried out in Hawaiʻi.Akaka said on the floor of the U.S. Senate in Dec. 2010 that “misleading attacks” and “unprecedented obstruction” led to the failure of legislation in the 111th Congress.

Further reading[link]

• Maenette K. Nee-Benham and Ronald H. Heck, Culture and Educational Policy in Hawaiʻi: The Silencing of Native Voices, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1998
• Scott Cunningham, Hawaiian Magic and Spirituality, Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd., 2000
• Rona Tamiko Tamiko Halualani, In the Name of Hawaiians: Native Identities and Cultural Politics], University of Minnesota Press, 2002
• Marshall D. Sahlins, How Natives Think: About Captain Cook, for Example, University of Chicago Press, 1995
• Thomas G. Thrum, Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends, International Law & Taxation Publishers, 2001
• Thomas G. Thrum, More Hawaiian Folk Tales: A Collection of Native Legends and Traditions, International Law & Taxation Publishers, 2001
• Houston Wood, Displacing Natives: The Rhetorical Production of Hawaiʻi, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999
• Kanalu G. Terry Young Rethinking the Native Hawaiian Past, Taylor & Francis, Inc., 1998
• Patrick W. Hanifin
  • Hanifin, Patrick (2002). "To Dwell on the Earth in Unity: Rice, Arakaki, and the Growth of Citizenship and Voting Rights in Hawaii". Hawaii Bar Journal (Honolulu, HI, USA: Hawaii State Bar Association) 5 (13): 15-44. ISSN 0440-5048. OCLC 1775767 and 474805275. Archived from the original on April 3, 2002. http://kenconklin.org/mediawiki/media/b/b7/HanifinCitizen.pdf. Retrieved May 19, 2012. 
  • Hawaiian Reparations: Nothing Lost, Nothing Owed. XVII Hawaiiʻi Bar Journal No. 2 (1982)^{[dead link]}

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Native Hawaiians

• Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA)
• Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement
• Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law official website
• Ka Huli Ao Blog

Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver in September 2011.
Born	Susan Alexandra Weaver (1949-10-08) October 8, 1949 (age 62) Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1976–present
Spouse	Jim Simpson (m. 1984–present)
Children	Charlotte Simpson
Parents	Sylvester Weaver (deceased) Elizabeth Inglis (deceased)
Relatives	Doodles Weaver (uncle, deceased)

Sigourney Weaver (born Susan Alexandra Weaver; October 8, 1949) is an American actress. She is known for her role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition.

Other notable roles include Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and its sequel Ghostbusters II, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Working Girl, Death and the Maiden, The Ice Storm, Galaxy Quest, Snow Cake, Prayers for Bobby and Grace Augustine in Avatar.

Weaver has been nominated for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards (one win), two Emmy Awards, six Saturn Awards (two wins) and six Golden Globe Awards, winning two in 1988 for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, becoming the first person ever to have won two acting Golden Globe Awards in the same year.^[1] She was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award.

Her 1986 Academy Award nomination for Aliens is considered as a landmark in the recognition of science fiction, action, and horror genres, as well as a major step in challenging the gender role in cinema. Weaver progressively received notoriety for her numerous contributions to the science fiction film history (including minor roles in successful works such as Futurama, WALL-E and Paul) and gained the nickname of "The Sci-Fi Queen".^[2][3][4][5]

Early life[link]

Weaver was born Susan Alexandra Weaver in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Elizabeth Inglis (née Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins; 1913–2007), an English actress, and the NBC television executive and television pioneer Sylvester "Pat" Weaver (1908–2002).^[6][7][8][9] Her uncle, Doodles Weaver (1911–1983), was a comedian and actor. She began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963 after a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.^[10][11]

Weaver attended the Ethel Walker School, a girls' preparatory school in Simsbury, Connecticut. She also attended The Chapin School. Sigourney was reportedly 5′ 10½″ (179 cm) tall by the age of 14, although she only grew another inch during her teens to her adult height of 5′ 11½″ (182 cm). Weaver attended Sarah Lawrence College as well as Stanford University Bio where she first began her involvement in acting, by living in Stanford's co-ed Beta Chi Community for the Performing Arts.^[12] Weaver earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Yale University School of Drama in 1974,^[13] where one of her appearances was in the chorus in a production of Stephen Sondheim's musical version of The Frogs, and another was as one of a mob of Roman soldiers alongside Meryl Streep in another production.^[14] Weaver later acted in original plays by her friend and classmate Christopher Durang. She later appeared in an "Off Broadway" production of Durang's comedy Beyond Therapy in 1981, which was directed by the up-and-coming director Jerry Zaks.

Weaver with her father Pat Weaver in 1989

Film career[link]

Weaver's first role was in Woody Allen's 1977 comedy Annie Hall playing a minor role opposite Allen. Weaver appeared two years later as Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ripley in Ridley Scott's blockbuster 1979 film Alien. She reprised the role in the three sequels of the Alien movie franchise, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection. Ty Burr of The Boston Globe states, "One of the real pleasures of "Alien" is to watch the emergence of both Ellen Ripley as a character and Sigourney Weaver as a star."^[15] In the sequel Aliens directed by James Cameron critic Roger Ebert exclaims, "Weaver, who is onscreen almost all the time, comes through with a very strong, sympathetic performance: She's the thread that holds everything together."^[16] She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in Aliens, one of the very few actresses honored for a role in a science fiction film. Weaver followed the success of Alien appearing opposite Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously released to critical acclaim and as Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II.

Sigourney Weaver at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Baby Mama; she played a role in the film.

By the end of the decade Weaver appeared in two of her most memorable and critically acclaimed performances in 1988 as Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist. The same year she appeared opposite Harrison Ford in a supporting role as Katharine Parker in the film Working Girl. Weaver won Golden Globe awards for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for her two roles that year. She received two Academy Award nominations in 1988, for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Working Girl and Best Actress for Gorillas in the Mist, making her one of the few actors nominated for two acting awards in the same year. By the early 1990s Weaver appeared in several films including Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, earning her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress and winning a BAFTA Award, followed by Dave opposite Kevin Kline and Frank Langella. She played the role of agoraphobic criminal psychologist Helen Hudson in the 1995 movie Copycat. Weaver also concentrated on smaller and supporting roles throughout the decade such as Jeffrey (1994), Galaxy Quest (1999), and A Map of the World (1999) earning her another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

In 2001, she appeared in the comedy Heartbreakers playing the lead role of a con artist alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ray Liotta, Gene Hackman and Anne Bancroft. She appeared in several films throughout the decade including Holes (2003), the M. Night Shyamalan horror film The Village (2004), Vantage Point (2008), and Baby Mama (2008). Weaver also returned to Rwanda for the BBC special Gorillas Revisited. She was voted 20th in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 Greatest Movie Stars of All Time, being one of only two women in the Top 20 (the other was Audrey Hepburn).

In 2009, Weaver starred as Mary Griffith in her first made-for-TV movie, Prayers for Bobby, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award,^[17] Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. She also guest starred in the TV show Eli Stone in the fall of 2008.^[18] She reunited with Aliens director James Cameron for his 2009 film Avatar with Weaver playing a major part as Dr. Grace Augustine, leader of the AVTR (avatar) program on the film's fictional moon Pandora. The film has the distinction of being the highest grossing film of all time.

Weaver in December 2009

Weaver has done voice work in television and film. She had a guest role in the Futurama episode "Love and Rocket" in February 2002, playing the female Planet Express Ship. In 2006, she was the narrator for the American version of the Emmy Award-winning series Planet Earth. Also in 2006, Weaver narrated "A Matter of Degrees", a short film that plays daily at The Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks (The Wild Center) in Tupper Lake, New York. In 2008, Weaver was featured as the voice of the ship's computer in the Pixar and Disney release, WALL•E. She also voiced a narrating role in another computer-animated film, 2008's The Tale of Despereaux, based on the novel by Kate DiCamillo. Weaver has also expressed interest in starring in a fifth Alien film. Ivan Reitman has confirmed that Weaver will reprise her role as Dana Barrett^[19] in the rumored third Ghostbusters movie due for release in 2012.^[20]

Weaver at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

Weaver has hosted two episodes of the long-running NBC sketch show Saturday Night Live: once on the 12th season premiere in 1986, and again, on a season 35 episode in January 2010. In March 2010, she was cast for the lead role as Queen of the Vampires in Amy Heckerling's Vamps.^[21] She was honored at the 2010 Scream Awards earning The Heroine Award which honored her work in science fiction, horror and fantasy films. In May 2010, there were reports that Weaver had been cast for the lead role Margaret Matheson in the Spanish thriller film Red Lights.^[22]

In September 2011, it was confirmed that Weaver will be returning to Avatar 2, with James Cameron stating that "no one ever dies in science fiction."^[23]

Personal life[link]

Weaver was engaged to reporter Aaron Latham in 1967.^[24] She has been married to the filmmaker Jim Simpson since October 1, 1984.^{[citation needed]} They are the parents of one daughter, Charlotte Simpson, who was born on April 13, 1990.^[25]

After making Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, she became a supporter of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is now the DFGFI's honorary chairperson.^[26] Weaver is an environmentalist.^[27] In October 2006, she drew international attention through a news conference at the start of a United Nations General Assembly policy deliberation. She outlined the widespread threat to ocean habitats posed by deep-sea trawling, an industrial method for harvesting fish. On April 8, 2008, she hosted the annual gala of the Trickle Up Program, a non-profit organization focusing on those in extreme poverty, mainly women and the disabled, in the Rainbow Room.^[28]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Documentaries[link]

Video games[link]

Other accolades[link]

Lifetime Achievement[link]

Theatre awards[link]

Other[link]

Stage credits[link]

• Better Dead Than Sorry (1971, Yale Cabaret) as Jenny^[31]
• Story Theatre (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival)^[32]
• Sarah B. Divine! (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Anita, the Eternal Maid^[33]
• The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Dockdaisy^[34]
• The Rat Trap (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Cynthia Muldoon^[35]
• Once in a Lifetime (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Florabel Leigh^[36]
• The Elephant Calf (1972, Williamstown Theatre Festival)^[37]
• The Tempest (1973, Yale Repertory Theatre)^[38]
• Watergate Classics (1973-4, Yale Repertory Theatre)^[38]
• Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1974, Yale University Theatre)^[38]
• The Nature and Purpose of the Universe (1974, Direct Theatre) as Eleanor (workshop production)^[39]
• The Frogs (1974, Yale Repertory Theatre) as member of the Chorus^[40]
• The Constant Wife (1975, Shubert Theatre, understudy) as Marie-Louise Durham^[41]
• Titanic (1976, Direct Theatre) as Lidia/Annabella/Harriet^[42]
• Das Lusitania Songspiel (1976, Van Dam Theatre)^[43]
• Gemini (1976, Playwright's Horizons) as Judith Hastings^[44]
• Marco Polo Sings a Solo (1977, Public/Newman Theatre) as Freydis^[45]
• Conjuring an Event (1978, American Place Theatre) as Annabella^[46]
• A Flea in Her Ear (1978, Hartford Stage)^[47]
• New Jerusalem (1979, Public Theater)^[48]
• Das Lusitania Songspiel (new version) (1980, Westside Theatre).^[49] Also co-authored the play with Christopher Durang.
• Lone Star (1980) as Elizabeth
• Beyond Therapy (1981, Phoenix Theatre) as Prudence^[50]
• As You Like It (1981, Dallas Festival of Shakespeare) as Rosalind
• Animal Kingdom (1982, Berkshire Festival) as Cecelia Henry^[51]
• Old Times (1983, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Anna^[52]
• Hurlyburly (1984-5, Ethel Barrymore Theatre) as Darlene.^[53]
• A Streetcar Named Desire (1986, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Stella Kowalski^[54]
• The Merchant of Venice (1986-7, Classic Stage Company) as Portia^[55]
• The Show-Off (1988, Williamstown Theatre Festival) as Clara^[56]
• Sex and Longing (1996, Cort Theatre) as Lulu^[57]
• The Guys (2001-2, The Flea Theater) as Joan^[58]
• The Mercy Seat (2002, Acorn Theatre) as Abby Prescott^[59]
• Mrs Farnsworth (2004, The Flea Theater) as Marjorie Farnsworth^[60]
• Crazy Mary (2007, Playwright's Horizons) as Lydia^[61]
• Love Letters (2007, The Flea Theater, single benefit performance) as Melissa Gardner^[62]
• Love Letters (2008, The Detroit Film Theatre, single benefit performance) as Melissa Gardner^[63]

Soundtrack discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sigourney Weaver

• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Movie Database
• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• BBC News article on Sigourney Weaver
• Daily Telegraph interview with Sigourney Weaver
• Sigourney Weaver at Emmys.com

Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970)^[1] is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd since 2010, replacing the previous Labour MP Kim Howells, who decided to step down.^[2] In 2012, he joined Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

Smith joined the Labour Party at the age of 16, studying History and French at the University of Sussex. He worked for the BBC as a radio producer for 10 years, working on a variety of programmes in both Wales and London, including Today for BBC Radio Four and Dragon's Eye for BBC Wales.^[3]

In 2002 he left to become special advisor for Paul Murphy, then the Secretary of State for Wales. He later followed Murphy to the Northern Ireland Office. Immediately prior to be elected, Smith worked for five years in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals industry. He was brought up in Pontypridd, where he lives with his wife and three children.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Owen Smith MP Welsh Labour Party profile
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Owen Smith author archives at WalesHome.org
• Pontypridd Town website

John Tyler Morgan
United States Senator from Alabama
In office March 4, 1877 – June 11, 1907
Preceded by	George Goldthwaite
Succeeded by	John H. Bankhead
Personal details
Born	(1824-06-20)June 20, 1824 Athens, Tennessee
Died	June 11, 1907(1907-06-11) (aged 82) Washington, D.C.
Military service
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	American Civil War

John Tyler Morgan (June 20, 1824 – June 11, 1907) was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, and a six-term U.S. senator from the state of Alabama after the war. He was a strong supporter of states rights and racial segregation through the Reconstruction era. He was an expansionist, arguing for the annexation of the Republic of Hawaii and for U.S. construction of an interoceanic canal in South America.

Early life and career[link]

Morgan was born in Athens, Tennessee into a family of Welsh origin whose ancestor James B. Morgan [1] (1607–1704) settled in the Connecticut Colony. John T. Morgan was initially educated by his mother. In 1833, he moved with his parents to Calhoun County, Alabama, where he attended frontier schools and then studied law in Tuskegee with justice William Parish Chilton, his brother-in-law. After admission to the bar he established a practice in Talledega. Ten years later, Morgan moved to Dallas County and resumed the practice of law in Selma and Cahaba.