November 28: Lā Kūʻokoʻa

November 28th marks the 178th celebration of Lā Kūʻokoʻa, or Independence Day of the Hawaiian Kingdom. In 1842, Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) sent Timoteo Haʻalilio and William Richards to the United States and Europe in order to secure recognition of Hawaiʻi’s autonomy as a country. At this time, it was unusual for a diplomat to be of the skin complexion that Haʻalilio was and he was faced with a lot of racism, especially in the United States, even after Richards made it clear that he was an attendant to Haʻalilio and not the other way around.

In late 1842, the United States recognized the independence of the Hawaiian Kingdom then, in the following year on November 28th, Great Britain and France signed a joint declaration that did the same. When the news returned to Hawaiʻi of Haʻalilio and Richards’ success, November 28th was declared the official Independence Day of the Hawaiian Kingdom and Lā Kūʻokoʻa was celebrated annually ever since.*

Senate Bill 695 is currently circulating through the Hawaiʻi State Legislature to officially recognize Lā Kūʻokoʻa as a holiday.

*If you’re interested in reading more about how Lā Kūokoʻa was celebrated, check out the nūpepa ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi via Papakilo Database.

Resources

• National Holiday: Independence Day (November 28) – Hawaiian Kingdom Blog (link)
• La Kuokoa – Nupepa Hawaii blog (link)
• Paradoxes of Hawaiian sovereignty: land, sex, and the colonial politics of state nationalism by J. Kēhaulani Kauanui (book link)
• Seminar on Hawaiian sovereignty by Haunani Kay Trask and Mililani Trask (streaming video link)
• Ua mau ke ea = Sovereignty endures : an overview of the political and legal history of the Hawaiian Islands by Keanu Sai (book link or DVD link)
• Lā Kūʻokoʻa: How Timoteo Haʻalilio Helped Secure Hawaiian Independence by Kauʻi Sai-Dudoit in Ka Wai Ola (article link)

[About the header image: Timothy Haalilio is in the public domain and was retrieved via Wikimedia Commons. ]

[Video source: Kanaeokana]