The internationally recognised nation of Hawaiʻi was overthrown in 1893. Queen Liliʻuokalani wrote her autobiography, Hawaii’s Story by Hawaii’s Queen, while waiting to present her case for restoring the Hawaiian nation in Boston to the Congress of the United States. America was a country that had an active treaty with the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi at the time of the overthrow. A group of businessmen who had pledged their citizenship to the Kingdom while at the same time embedded in the Islands expanding sugar industry.
This story is a first-person narrative from Queen Liliʻuokalani, a Hawaiian leader at the epicenter of change in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. The Queen’s autobiography will help readers understand the complex history of Hawaiʻi, the nature of Hawaiian people, and their deep commitment to aloha ‘āina–love of country and the continuation of a sovereign future.
This lāhui edition, reprinted from the first edition of the first printing of a book, is now in its 15th printing. Deepening our understanding of the history of Hawaiʻi will bring pono forward for kānaka ʻōiwi, the people of Hawaiʻi, and humanity. The words of Queen Liliʻuokalani help all of us understand our hana, the work we must do together, creating pilina, trusting relationships inspired by the Queen’s legacy of aloha, and care for all people of this resilient and reaffirming lāhui.
Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono.