On September 7, 1898, Kaʻiulani hosted the United States Congressional commission party and more than 120 guests with a grand luau at ʻĀinahau. The commissioners: the new Territorial Governor Dole, Senators Shelby M. Cullom of Illinois and John T. Morgan of Alabama, Representative Robert R. Hitt of Illinois, and former Hawaii chief justice and later Territorial Governor Walter F. Frear were tasked with forming a new territorial government. Kaʻiulani arranged the event to highlight the importance of Hawaiian culture and started the luau by dipping her finger in the poi. The luau at ʻĀinahau for the congressional party was portrayed in the 2009 film as a fight for Hawaiian suffrage, which was ensured in the 1900 Hawaiian Organic Act.