Department of Accounting and General Services

Ticket to 30th Anniversary of Lā Kūʻokoʻa dinner to Professor W. D. Alexander
Ref No. M3

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On November 28, 1843, diplomatic representatives from England, France, and the Hawaiian Kingdom met at the Court of London where the English and French signed the Anglo-French Declaration. This international agreement declared:

"Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and His Majesty the King of the French, taking into consideration the existence in the Sandwich Islands of a government capable of providing for the regularity of its relations with foreign nations, have thought it right to engage, reciprocally, to consider the Sandwich Islands as an Independent State, and never to take possession, neither directly or under the title of Protectorate, or under any other form, of any part of the territory of which they are composed."

This diplomatic event brought to fruition the dedicated efforts of the Hawaiian monarch, Mōʻī (King) Kauikeaouli (Kamehameha III) to protect his nation's independence amidst ongoing colonization of the Pacific. The incredible achievement saw the Hawaiian Islands, with a population of less than 150,000, become the first country of non-European provenance to be internationally recognized as a co-equal sovereign state.

The plan originated on April 8, 1842 when Timoteo Haʻalilio, William Richards, and Sir George Simpson were commissioned as minister's plenipotentiary of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Haʻalilio was a Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian) of chiefly class, Lahainaluna graduate, and long-time confidant of Mōʻī Kauikeaouli. Richards was a former American Protestant missionary who had resigned to become a teacher and advisor of political economy to the aliʻi (chiefs). The English-born Simpson was a former governor of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada. After the initial agreement in 1843, the Hawaiian Kingdom would move forward to sign nearly two-dozen treaties and international agreements with other nations and open 136 accredited Hawaiian Kingdom diplomatic consulates, legations, and embassies on six continents across the globe.

The anniversary of the signing of the Anglo-French Declaration on November 28, 1843 was celebrated in Hawaiʻi as a national holiday named Lā Kūʻokoʻa (Independence Day). State-sponsored celebrations tapered off after the seizure of the Islands by the United States in 1898 and ended in 1903 with the passage of Act 66 which set a new slate of public holidays which no longer included Lā Kūʻokoʻa. As the language, culture, and history of the Hawaiian Kingdom became subsumed in an early twentieth century Americanization of the Islands, even informal celebrations of the Hawaiian Kingdom's Independence Day became uncommon. Pro-Independence Hawaiian-language newspapers continued to remind their readers of this incredible national achievement, but celebrations of the historic day tapered off.

A renewed interest in Hawaiian Kingdom history, born from the second Hawaiian Renaissance of the mid-1970s, sparked a revival of celebrations of the once official national holiday. Lā Kūʻokoʻa celebrations were re-started at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 2007 under the guidance of Hawaiian Studies Professor Terry Kanalu Young, PhD and with the participation of Halau Lokahi school. Events across the Islands have grown in number and reach. The revival of awareness about this important day in the history of the Hawaiian Kingdom has also spawned celebrations far beyond Hawaiʻi’s shores. Annual Lā Kuʻokoʻa events have been founded in San Francisco, Salt Lake City, New York City, Las Vegas, Europe, Japan, and elsewhere.

I mea e maopopo iho ai ka Lā Kūʻokoʻa, na ka poʻe hana a ka Hale Waihona Palapala i wae a hoʻonoho i kekahi ʻohina palapala i pili no ka heluhelu ʻana me ka maʻalahi. Ma nā mahele poʻomanaʻo i hoʻonoho ʻia ai. ʻO nā kiʻi o kēia ʻaoʻao he nāmua, e kōmi i ke kiʻi e hoʻonui iki. No ka nānā ʻana o nā palapala kumu, e kipa mai i ka Hale Waihona Palapala me nā Helu kuhi i hāʻawi ʻia e noi ai. Inā he pākela loulou ka Helu kuhi ma nā papa kūmole, e kōmi iā ia e hiki aku i ko mākou Waihona Kikohoʻe kahi e mālama ʻia nei kekahi kope kikohoʻe o ka palapala a i ʻole ka faila i waiho ʻia ai.

Ma ka lā 28 o Nowemapa 1843 i ʻākoakoa mai ai nā ʻalele o nā aupuni o ʻEnelani, Palani a me Hawaiʻi ma ke kūlanakauhale o Lākana kahi i kākau inoa ʻia ai ke Kuahaua o ʻEnelani a me Palani e ʻae ana i ke kūʻokoʻa o Hawaiʻi nei. Penei ke kūkala ʻana:

“ ‘O ke Aliʻi ka Mōʻī Wahine o ke Aupuni Hui ‘ia o Pelekānia Nui a me ‘Irelani, a me ke Ali‘i ka Mōʻī o Palani, e mana‘o ana ‘o ia ma Ko Hawai‘i Pae ‘Āina, he aupuni mākaukau i ka hana pololei pū me nā aupuni ‘ē a‘e, no laila, no‘ono‘o ihola lāua, ua pono ke ‘ae like lāua i ka mana‘o aku iā Hawai‘i. He aupuni kū‘oko‘a ia, ‘a‘ole loa kekahi o lāua e lawe i kēlā ‘āina a me ke kauwahi o ia ‘āina ma ke ‘ano kū‘oko‘a a me kekahi ‘ano ‘ē a‘e paha.”

ʻO kēia hanana a ia mau aupuni ʻē ka hopena o nā hana nui a ka Mōʻī Kamehameha III (Kauikeaouli) e hoʻomalu ai i ke kūʻokoʻa o kona aupuni ma waena o nā hana hoʻopanalāʻau i ka Pākīpika. Ma muli o ka hoʻokō ʻia o kēia hana kamahaʻo i lilo ai Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina, me ka huinanui o ka poʻe noho ma lalo o 150,000, i ke aupuni mua o ke kinohi ʻEulopa ʻole i ʻae ʻia e nā aupuni ʻē he aupuni kūʻokoʻa hoa like ia.

Ma ka lā 8 o ʻApelila 1842 i hoʻomaka aʻe ai ka papa hoʻolālā ma ka hoʻokohu ʻia o Timoteo Haʻalilio, William Richards a me Sir George Simpson he mau kuhina mana nui o ke aupuni Hawaiʻi. He kanaka ʻōiwi, aliʻi a mea puka mai Lahainaluna mai ʻo Haʻalilio a he hoa pili manawa lōʻihi hoʻi o ka Mōʻī Kamehameha III. He mikanele Kalawina ʻAmelika ʻo Richards, ua haʻalele ʻo ia ia hana e lilo i kumu a mea aʻoaʻo i nā aliʻi ma ka ʻike kālaiaupuni. ʻO Simpson he Pelekānia a he kiaʻāina ma mua o ka Hudson Bay Company ma Kanakā. Ma hope o ia kuahaua mua o 1843, ua holomua ke aupuni Hawaiʻi me ka hoʻokō ʻia o nā kuʻikahi a me ʻaelike he ʻaneʻane ʻelua kākini me nā aupuni ʻē aʻe a me ka wehe ʻia o nā keʻena kanikela, kuhina a ʻemepake ma nā ʻāinapuniʻole ʻeono a puni ka honua.

ʻO ka lā hoʻomanaʻo o ke Kuahaua o ʻEnelani lāua ʻo Palani ma Nowemapa 28, 1843 he lā kulāia aupuni i hoʻolauleʻa ʻia a i kapa ʻia ʻo Lā Kūʻokoʻa. Ma hope o ke kāʻili ʻia o ke ea o Hawaiʻi nei e ʻAmelika Hui Pū ʻIa ma 1898 ua hoʻolauleʻa liʻiliʻi ʻia ia lā nui e ke aupuni a ua pau loa ma 1903 ma muli o ka hoʻonoho ʻia o nā lā kulāia hou e ke Kānāwai 66 me ka hoʻokomo ʻole ʻia o ka Lā Kūʻokoʻa. Ma ka hoʻohaʻahaʻa ʻia ʻana o ka ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, moʻomeheu Hawaiʻi a mōʻaukala aupuni mōʻī Hawaiʻi e ka hoʻoʻamelika ʻana o Hawaiʻi nei ma ka mua loa o ke kenekulia iwakālua he mea maʻamau ʻole ka hoʻolauleʻa ʻia ʻana o ia lā e ka lehulehu. Na nā nūpepa ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi a kākoʻo kūʻokoʻa i hoʻomanaʻo mau aku i nā mea heluhelu no ia hana aupuni kamahaʻo, akā ua emi ka hoʻolauleʻa ʻia ʻana i ka hala ʻana o ka manawa.

Ma muli o ka hoʻihoʻi hou ʻana o ka hoihoi i ka mōʻaukala aupuni mōʻī Hawaiʻi, mai ka Hoʻāla ʻIke Hawaiʻi hou kualua mai ma ka waenakonu o nā makahiki 1970, e hoʻolauleʻa hou ʻia nei ia lā kulāia aupuni o ka wā ma mua. Ua hoʻomaka hou ʻia ka hoʻolauleʻa ʻana o ka Lā Kūʻokoʻa ma ke Kula Nui o Hawaiʻi ma Mānoa ma 2007 ma lalo o ke alakaʻi ʻana o Polopeka Terry Kanalu Young, he Lae ʻUla ma ka Māhele haʻawina Hawaiʻi, me ke kōkua pū o ke kula ʻo Hālau Lōkahi. Ua māhuahua a laha nā hanana pili i ka Lā Kūʻokoʻa ma waena o nā kai ʻewalu a ma ʻō aku hoʻi o ko Hawaiʻi nei kapakai me nā hanana hoʻolauleʻa Lā Kūʻokoʻa kūmakahiki ma Kapalakiko, Loko Paʻakai Kaona, Laka Wekaka, ʻEulopa, Iāpana a me nā ʻāina ʻē aʻe.

Hawaiian Kingdom Diplomatic Mission, 1842-1844
Ka Papahana Pilina me nā Aupuni ʻē a ke Aupuni Hawaiʻi, 1842-1844

1842-1844 Mission / 1842-1844 Ka Papahana

Journal of Diplomatic Mission of 1842-1844
Puke Moʻolelo o ka Papahana Pilina Aupuni ʻē o 1842-1844
Ref No. 404-61 volume 1
Helu Kuhi 404-61 puke 1

Photograph of T. Haʻalilio and W. Richards
Kiʻi paʻi o T. Haʻalilio & W. Richards
Ref No. PP-96-5-003
Helu Kuhi PP-96-5-003

Calling Card of T. Haʻalilio
Kāleka Hoʻolauna a T. Haʻalilio
Ref No. M418-1-6
Helu Kuhi M418-1-6