Hawaiian national holiday
Sovereignty Restoration Day
(
Hawaiian
:
L? Ho?iho?i Ea
) is a national holiday of the
Hawaiian Kingdom
celebrated on
July 31
and still commemorated by
Native Hawaiians
in
Hawaii
. It honors the restoration of sovereignty to the kingdom, following the occupation of Hawai?i by Great Britain during the 1843
Paulet Affair
, by British Rear-Admiral
Richard Darton Thomas
and when King
Kamehameha III
uttered the phrase:
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ??ina i ka Pono
(
'
The life of the land is preserved in the righteousness of the people
'
).
During the monarchy, the holiday was observed annually by the native and foreign communities in Hawaii. King
Kamehameha V
, who deemed the holiday inappropriate, officially dropped it as a national holiday in 1867 and replaced with
Kamehameha Day
(on June 11). It was briefly revived as a national holiday from 1891 until the
overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
in 1893. During the ensuing years of the 1890s, the holiday continued to be observed privately by loyalists of the monarchy as a form of
opposition and resistance
. It is still celebrated by proponents of the
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
as a day of resistance against what sovereignty advocates consider an ongoing
American occupation of Hawai?i
. In 2022, the day was recognized by the State of Hawaii as a special day of remembrance.
Background
[
edit
]
On February 10, 1843, Captain
Lord George Paulet
, of
HMS
Carysfort
landed in Honolulu in response to the complaints by the British Consul in Honolulu
Richard Charlton
, who had an underlying land dispute with the Hawaiian government, and claimed British subjects were being denied their legal rights. Paulet, without the authorization of his superiors, unilaterally occupied the kingdom in the name of
Queen Victoria
on February 25 despite the protests of Hawaiian King
Kamehameha III
and his ministers. The Hawaiian king ceded his sovereignty under protest to the British government. Paulet placed himself and a committee in charge, restricted trade in the ports, destroyed all
Hawaiian flags
that could be found, and raised the British
Union Jack
in their place.
After a five-month occupation, Rear-Admiral
Richard Darton Thomas
, the Commander-in-Chief of the
Pacific Station
, sailed into Honolulu on his flagship
HMS
Dublin
on July 26, 1843, and requested an interview with the king. Kamehameha III was more than happy to tell his side of the story, and a new treaty was negotiated with the British giving British subjects on the islands "perfect equality with the most favored foreigners".
On July 31, 1843, Thomas raised the Hawaiian flag in place of the Union Jack at the plains east of Honolulu (now part of
downtown Honolulu
), formally ending the occupation, and gave a speech affirming the independence and sovereignty of the Hawaiian kingdom and the friendship of the British government.
The site of the ceremony was later made into a park in honor of the event and named
Thomas Square
.
Official observation
[
edit
]
Following the restoration of sovereignty at Thomas Square, King Kamehameha III held an afternoon thanksgiving service at
Kawaiaha?o Church
where he uttered the phrase:
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ??ina i ka Pono
("The life of the land is preserved in the righteousness of the people"). This phrase was adopted in 1959 as the motto of the state of Hawaii.
The king declared a ten-day holiday and the entire community including foreigners and
native Hawaiians
rejoiced in festivities with a lavish
luau
of suckling
pig
, fish and
poi
. The event was later made into an annual holiday and was observed by his successor King
Kamehameha IV
(1855?1864).
During the fourth anniversary of the restoration in 1847, King Kamehameha III and his wife
Queen Kalama
hosted a grand luau at their summer palace,
Kaniakapupu
, attended by an estimated ten thousand guests.
During the latter part of the reign of King
Kamehameha V
(1864?1872) the celebration was deemed inappropriate by the king and his ministers since it brought back unpleasant memories of the British occupation by Paulet, and the official holiday was discontinued. The holiday was still being officially sanctioned in 1865 and 1866.
[11]
[12]
No public celebration was held in 1867, and it ceased to be officially observed.
[13]
[14]
[15]
There are also later assertions that the holiday was dropped "to suit the delicate feelings of a few Englishmen who did not like the memory of these events revived".
[16]
However, the anniversary was still remembered by people in private.
[18]
In 1872, the king replaced the holiday with
Kamehameha Day
(on June 11) to honor his grandfather
Kamehameha I
who had conquered and united the Hawaiian Islands in 1810. This is the only holiday from the time of the Hawaiian monarchy that remains an official holiday of the state of Hawaii.
[19]
The 1890 session of the Hawaiian legislature briefly restored the date as a national holiday effective July 31, 1891, during the reign of Queen
Liliuokalani
.
[21]
In 1893, the Hawaiian monarchy was
overthrown
and the queen yielded her authority to the United States government under protest. The
Provisional Government of Hawaii
, which was established as an interim regime while a treaty of annexation was being pushed through the United States Congress, abolished the holiday. Private observance of the fiftieth anniversary on July 31, 1893, was watched by the
oligarchical government
with an air of suspicion, while royalists and supporters of the deposed queen hoped in vain for another restoration to occur.
[22]
After 1893, the holiday continued to be observed privately by loyalists of the monarchy as a form of
opposition and resistance
.
[24]
[25]
By the time the
Territory of Hawaii
was organized in 1898 the holiday had become a historical footnote.
[27]
Modern-day observation
[
edit
]
The tradition of this celebration was revived in 1985 by
Hawaiian sovereignty movement
activist
Kekuni Blaisdell
during the
Hawaiian Renaissance
.
Today, the holiday is upheld by proponents of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement who compare the British occupation of 1843 to what they believe is the ongoing modern American occupation of the islands and believe the United States government should "follow the example of the British to restore the Hawaiian nation".
[29]
In Honolulu, the holiday is marked by the celebration of Hawaiian culture, history and activism through organized speeches, presentations, marches, hula performances, music rallies and flag-raising. On the other islands, sovereignty groups organize historical reenactments, rallies, and the ceremonial raising of the Hawaiian flag in place of the American flag.
[29]
On July 31, 2018, a 12-foot bronze statue of Kamehameha III and a flagpole flying the Hawaiian flag was unveiled at Thomas Square in a ceremony honoring the 175th anniversary of the restoration of Hawaiian sovereignty in 1843. The statue was created by Oregon artist Thomas Jay Warren for $250,000 allotted by the Mayor's Office of Culture and the Arts and is part of Mayor
Kirk Caldwell
's plans to revamp the park.
Thomas Square is one of four sites in Hawaii where the Hawaiian flag is allowed to fly alone without the United States flag. The others are the Royal Mausoleum at
Mauna ?Ala
,
?Iolani Palace
and
Pu?uhonua o H?naunau
.
In 2022, the State of Hawaii passed a legislative bill officially recognizing L? Ho?iho?i Ea as a special day of observance.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Spencer, Thomas P. (1895).
Kaua Kuloko 1895
. Honolulu: Papapai Mahu Press Publishing Company.
OCLC
19662315
.
- ^
"Restoration Day"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. August 5, 1865. p. 2.
- ^
"Notes of the Week ? July 31st, 1866"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. August 4, 1866. p. 3.
- ^
"Notes of the Week ? July 31st"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. July 27, 1867. p. 3.
- ^
"The Thirty-First of July"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. August 3, 1867. p. 3.
- ^
"Legislative Jottings"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. June 11, 1870. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on October 30, 2016
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Hawaiian National Holidays"
.
Saturday Press
. Honolulu. December 1, 1883. p. 2.
- ^
"Notes of the Week ? Thirty-First of July"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. August 5, 1871. p. 3.
- ^
"Memorial Day"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. June 14, 1873. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on October 30, 2016
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
;
"Commemoration Day"
.
The Pacific Commercial Advertiser
. Honolulu. June 17, 1876. p. 3.
- ^
"By Authority"
.
The Hawaiian Star
. Honolulu. July 10, 1891. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on August 17, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Restoration Day"
.
The Hawaiian Star
. Honolulu. July 31, 1893. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on August 17, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
;
"Melange"
.
The Hawaiian Gazette
. Honolulu. August 1, 1893. p. 5.
Archived
from the original on November 8, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
;
"Maui News"
.
The Hawaiian Gazette
. Honolulu. August 8, 1893. p. 9.
Archived
from the original on November 8, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Ka La Hoihoi Ea"
.
Hawaii Holomua
. Vol. III, no. 272. Honolulu. July 31, 1893. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on July 31, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Restoration Day"
.
The Independent
. Honolulu. July 31, 1899. p. 2.
Archived
from the original on August 17, 2017
. Retrieved
May 30,
2017
.
- ^
"Reminiscences of the Past ? How Restoration Day Was Celebrated and What Happened to the Participants"
.
The Independent
. Honolulu. July 31, 1899. p. 3.
;
"Restoration Day"
.
The Hawaiian Gazette
. Honolulu. August 1, 1913. p. 4.
- ^
a
b
Scottmaui 2005
;
Tranquilli 2005
Bibliography
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edit
]
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.
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.
53
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.
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.
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.
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