Hawaiian Independence Day

Hawaiian Independence Day - La Ku'oko'a

From an email from Kaho`ola:

Aloha kakou,

This Friday, 28 November is La Ku`oko`a, Hawai`i Independence Day.

It marked the day in 1843 that the treaties of international recognition were signed in London. On that day, Belgium, France, Germany and the UK recognized Hawai`i as a full fledged member of the international community. These treaties established that we were subject to the Law of Nations.

It has been a holiday of independant Hawai`i since 1844 when Kauikeaouli declared it so. It stopped being so when the provisional government outlawed it in 1893.

Come celebrate La Ku`oko`a, whoever wants to come celebrate this great National Holiday. Will be there at `Iolani Palace to celebrate it at Noon to whenever. Anyone else interested in celebrating is welcome to come. If we don't remember our history and make it live, then we will have no history.

And if you can't be there, you can celebrate La Ku`okoa wherever you are!

Potluck, bring `ukulele, whatever.

Malama pono,

Kaho`ola

Read more on the history of Ka La Ku'oko'a from Noenoe Silva and Ke Aloha Aina (Hawaiian language newspaper) from November 1895.

Excerpts from "La Kuokoa"

By Noenoe K. Silva, 1998

La Ku'oko'a--Hawai'i's Independence Day--was officially celebrated around the same time as Thanksgiving from about 1844 until 1895, and for some years afterwards unofficially. La Ku'oko'a is the 28th of November. It marks the day, November 28, 1843, that the Ali'i Timoteo Ha'alilio succeeded in obtaining the signatures of the authorities of Great Britain and France on a treaty recognizing Hawai'i as a sovereign nation. Ha'alilio, with the missionary William Richards along as his secretary, traveled through Mexico on foot and donkey to Washington D.C., where they met President John Tyler. President Tyler agreed to the intent of the proposed treaty. Ha'alilio and Richards, armed with his agreement, then went on to Europe, to Belgium, Paris, and London, where the treaty was finally signed. They returned to the United States to cement U.S. agreement. On the journey Ke Ali'i Timoteo Ha'alilio died, on December 3, 1844.

Although the treaty of independence did not solve Hawai'i's problem--being a target for colonizers--it was a substantial achievement under international law. This achievement was recognized by the government of the kingdom through the official celebration of La Ku'oko'a.

After the haole coup in 1893, and the attempted counter coup of 1895, the so-called Republic of Hawai'i government announced that November 28, 1895 --a Thursday--would not be celebrated as La Ku'oko'a. Thanksgiving would become the official national holiday instead.

The po'e aloha 'aina--the thousands of Kanaka Maoli opposed to the illegal haole government--were incensed. They ignored the government's orders, and held celebrations of La Ku'oko'a instead. At those gatherings, they told the story of Ha'alilio's journey and significant achievement. James Kaulia of the Hui Aloha Aina said that the Kanaka Maoli recalled with gladness the restoration and perpetuation of the independence of Hawaii, but that their happiness was mixed with feelings of distress because the right to independence had been snatched from the shoulders of the Kanaka Maoli. He said: Ke ku nei ke kanaka Hawaii me he kuewa la, aohe ona aina: The Hawaiian person stands as a homeless vagabond, one who has no land.

The colonizers of 1895-1896 not only deprived Hawaii of a national holiday, they enacted laws which caused us the loss of our language and the related loss of our own history. That process caused us to be deprived of even the memory of this national holiday.

Source: _Ke Aloha Aina_ (Hawaiian language newspaper)
November-December 1895, January 1896.

Posted: Mon - November 24, 2003 at 12:29 PM

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Hawaiian Independence Day - La Ku'oko'a

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