(BIVN) – Today is Lā Kuʻokoʻa, an important date in Hawaiian history.

From the Hawaiian Kingdom blog:

November 28th is the most important national holiday in the Hawaiian Kingdom. It is the day Great Britain and France formally recognized the Hawaiian Islands as an “independent state” in 1843, and has since been celebrated as “Independence Day,” which in the Hawaiian language is “La Ku‘oko‘a.” Here follows the story of this momentous event from the Hawaiian Kingdom Board of Education history textbook titled “A Brief History of the Hawaiian People” published in 1891.

The kingdom’s independence day is being celebrated at various events being held around the islands, and as a precursor, a two-day educational conference was held at the Hilo Boys and Girls Club this weekend.