It was a small group of white men who robbed a people of their entire nation. On January 17, 1893, the government of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i was overthrown by 13 pro-American businessmen and sugar planters, the majority of whom were either U.S. citizens or kingdom subjects with foreign allegiances. With the support of the United States military, an even more imposing haole (foreign) power, they collectively carried out a notorious coup d’état against Queen Lili‘uokalani, the nation’s first female ali‘i (ruler) and ultimately its last sovereign, to seize her rightful throne.

This year is the 126th anniversary of that dark and tragic mark on Hawai‘i’s and America’s inseparable histories. Hawai‘i became a state in 1959 and is the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor naval base, but it rightfully belongs to the islands’ peoples.

To grasp what was stolen that day, it’s beneficial to have a better understanding of the context of the nation that Lili‘uokalani inherited and strived to protect. By 1893, Hawai‘i was already a thriving entity in global affairs, with a long lineage of self-determination.

Hawai‘i’s story never began with the popular classification of its lands as America’s “50th state,” but this is often where Hawai‘i’s history enters the American consciousness. The overthrow is reduced to a paragraph or two in most U.S. history textbooks, glossing over the fact that the sudden rift in Hawai‘i’s sovereignty was the result of a criminal act.

In 1810, Hawai‘i’s unified monarchy was founded by King Kamehameha I after he united and established control of the eight main Hawaiian islands. Thirty years later, when Kamehameha III enacted the nation’s first fully written constitution, a detailed document that set up a legislative system with two houses to include greater representation in its government, the Kingdom of Hawai‘i evolved to a constitutional monarchy, which limited and defined the powers of its ruler.

Hawai‘i’s isolated geography — 2,400 miles away from the nearest continent — and didn’t discourage its government from engaging in international affairs. It’s kings, queens, and the royal delegations who represented them were impressively astute and well-traveled: King Kalākaua became the first head of a country to circumnavigate the world in 1881, during a political campaign where he met heads of state from all over the world; his sister, Queen Lili‘uokalani, then a princess, represented Hawai‘i at the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria at Westminster Abbey in 1887. During the 19th century, the kingdom entered into treaties with the major nations of the world, which recognized its Hawaiian independence and allowed the kingdom to establish over 90 legations and consulates across their seaports and cities.

This was achieved during a tumultuous era of heightened cultural change and the decimation of kānaka maoli, native Hawaiians, by introduced diseases, including smallpox and leprosy, decreasing the population by as many as an estimated 680,000 after 1778, when the first documented European person arrived (British explorer Captain James Cook). By the time of the coup, there was a population of only about 40,000 left. Despite this, the ali‘i still managed to navigate their own political destiny.

During this period, this self-sufficient, independent country was recognized on the world stage, and Hawai‘i’s collective achievements and international affairs were of their own autonomy and intellect. Its history contained a richly dynastic and prosperous timeline, which routinely included women in power. Female ali‘i predominantly held the position of kuhina nui, a unique role in the administration of Hawaiian government, and advised their monarchs on decisions that would shape and guide the course of 18th- and 19th-century Hawaiian history.