Sunday, November 30, 2014
More on restoration of the Hawaiian government
by Larry Geller
This comment, attached to Friday’s Today in Hawaii’s history: recognition of restored Hawaiian nation (11/28/2014), should be promoted to an article since not everyone looks at comments:
Larry, the events you describe are actually from Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea, or Sovereignty Restoration Day, which also became a Hawaiian national holiday celebrated on July 31. This in part led to the formal recognition later that year on Nov. 28, which was celebrated as Lā Kūʻokoʻa or Independence Day. It was at the time of Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea that Kamehameha III uttered the phrase "Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻaina i ka pono" which today is often interpreted as "the life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness" but "ea" also means "Sovereignty, rule, independence" and given the political context in which it occurred, it is clear that "the sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness" is actually the correct translation or interpretation of what ironically has continued to be the motto of the territory/state, even after the sovereignty was usurped through very unrighteous deeds by the U.S. government 50 years later.|
# posted by Blogger scottmaui : November 29, 2014 at 11:58:00 AM HST
I did not know that about the translation. Each time I post something about Hawaiian history I learn more, often by comments either attached to the post or emailed, for which I am grateful.
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