Portugal em Accão
California's Portugal en Accão (Portugal in Action) will be
among the performers taking part in Festa Portuguesa '99
Saturday. The troupe has been performing the dances of
Portugal for more than 19 years. Group
members range in age from 6 to 33.

Genealogical searches
part of Portuguese Festa

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In 1878, the Priscilla -- the first of the 29 ships being sent to Hawaii to help with the sugar industry -- carried 123 Portuguese people from Madeira to Oahu -- 22 women, 36 children and 65 men. Many were families who were in search of new land because a blight made food and water scarce in their homeland.

Today, there are approximately 55,000 Portuguese in Hawaii, said Doris Naumu of the Portuguese Genealogy Society of Hawaii, and a single name may be the clue one needs to trace the path back to their ancestral land.

CELEBRATE PORTUGUESE CULTURE What: Festa Portuguesa '99 Where: Blaisdell Exhibition Hall When: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday Admission: Free Call: 845-1616

At Saturday's Festa Portuguesa '99, the society, as well as The World Genealogy Center, will offer help in tracing family roots not only through Portuguese lines, but also through Hawaiian, Okinawan, Japanese, Puerto Rican, Samoan, Chinese, Filipino, Tongan and Korean sources.

A computer will also be set up by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for those of Samoan ancestry and the Sandwich Isle Genealogy Society will assist those with other ethnic backgrounds.

Naumu requests that people bring a document -- a birth or baptismal certificate for example -- to begin their quest for their ancestors.

And if that's not enough, there's a heavy dose of cultural education up for grabs at the Festa, a giant celebration of Portuguese heritage at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall.

Events run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and they are packed with food, music and learning, in the form of displays highlighting the role of the Portuguese in Hawaii's history.

Other festival highlights:

For the faithful: Bid on the bell-shaped charola, created of eggs, fruit and wine, a symbol of Thanksgiving.

For the hungry: Stuff yourself with bean soup, malassadas, sweet bread and all things Portuguese.

For the musical: Absorb the haunting "Fado" -- it means fate translated into music -- a song-story accompanied by guitar.

For fun: Frank DeLima dolls out the jokes, and for more serious stuff there's Capoeira Batuque Hawaii (Afro-Brazilian martial arts), Portuguese dancing and more.

As an example of what's to come, take the charola, an offering of thanks for the blessings of the year, to be made at the festival by children. The charola is made of seven dozen eggs and hundreds of fruit, hung on a bell-shaped frame with a bottle of wine for the clapper. The eggs symbolize life; the wine, the joy of life.

Traditionally, the charola is auctioned off several times, with each top bidder returning it to auctioned again -- all to benefit the church.

Admission to the festa is free. For information call the Hawaii Council on Portuguese Heritage, 845-1616.

Naumu said further genealogical help will be available after the festa by calling the Portuguese Genealogical Society of Hawaii at 841-5044, or visiting them at Palama Settlement, 810 N. Vineyard Blvd., Room 11.

The society's office is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

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