“And so it happened that on the 16th day of January, 1893, between four and five o’clock in the afternoon, a detachment of marines from the United States Steamer Boston, with two pieces of artillery, landed at Honolulu. The men, upwards of 160 in all, were supplied with double cartridge belts filled with ammunition and with haversacks and canteens, and were accompanied by a hospital corps with stretchers and medical supplies. This military demonstration upon the soil of Honolulu was of itself an act of war. . .”

By nightfall of the next day, the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi had been illegally overthrown.

Hawaiʻi’s people today live in the resulting repercussions of that infamous day. For some, reflection on those historical events still conjures up the ʻeha (pain, hurt) of being wronged.

There may never be an adequate outlet to express the ʻeha, nevertheless, this story commemorates the 122nd anniversary of the illegal overthrow and honors some of the great expressions of aloha ʻāina (patriotism) coming from Hawaiʻi’s aliʻi (monarchs) and lāhui (people).→Continue reading.

Queen Liliʻuokalani, Hawaiʻi’s last reigning monarch, was imprisoned after her kingdom was illegally overthrown on January 17, 1893.