Ka La Ho`iho`i Ea Is Hawaiian Independence Day
The Honolulu Advertiser - Friday, July 29, 2005
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Two events are planned for Sunday to commemorate the day in 1843 when the Hawaiian nation re-established its independence following five months of British military occupation.
Ka La Ho'iho'i Ea - Sovereignty Restoration Day - was a national holiday in the days of the monarchy. The occasion has gained renewed significance in recent years for Native Hawaiians and others who seek national independence from the United States.
As has been the custom for more than a decade, a gathering of independence groups and their supporters will lower the American flag and raise
Hawaiian Kingdom banners at Thomas Square.
It was at the site in 1843 that Adm. Richard Thomas, British Pacific fleet commander, ordered the lowering of the British flag after condemning and
withdrawing the military occupation headed by another British sailor, Lord George Paulet.
Kekuni Blaisdell, among the chief organizers for the Thomas Square event, said it is important for Native Hawaiians to ponder the events of 1843. Blaisdell and others want the United States to "withdraw from the illegal occupation" of Hawai'i.
They oppose the Akaka bill, now stalled in Congress, which provides a process for Native Hawaiians to be federally recognized.
"Britain recognized its wrong - the illegal occupation of our homeland," Blaisdell said. The United States in 1993 issued an apology for its role in the overthrow of the monarchy in 1893, but unlike the British, has not withdrawn from Hawai'i, he said.
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