Niihau

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Niʻihau The Forbidden Isle
Aerial view of Niʻihau looking southwestward from the north
Geography
Location of Niʻihau in the state of Hawaiʻi.
Location	21°54′N 160°10′W / 21.9°N 160.167°W / 21.9; -160.167
Area	69.5 sq mi (180 km2)
Rank	7th largest Hawaiian Island
Highest point	Mt. Pānīʻau
	1250 ft (381 m)[1]
Demographics
Population	160 (as of 2000)
Density	2.3/sq mi (1/km²)
Official Insignias
Flower	Pūpū keʻokeʻo (white shell)[2]
Color

Niʻihau or Niihau (pronounced /ˈniːhaʊ/ in English and [niˈʔihɐu] in Hawaiian) is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi, having an area of 69.5 square miles (180 km²).^[3] Known as the "Forbidden Isle", Niʻihau lies 17.5 miles (15.2 nmi; 28.2 km) across the Kaulakahi Channel, southwest of Kauaʻi, and the crescent-shaped island of Lehua is positioned 0.7 miles (0.61 nmi; 1.1 km) north of Niʻihau. Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Fulica alai), the āeʻo (Himantopus himantopus knudseni), and the koloa maoli (Anas wyvilliana). The island is designated as critical habitat for the ʻōlulu (Brighamia insignis), an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian Lobelioid.

Since 1864, the island has been privately owned by the Robinson family, and is currently run by Bruce and Keith Robinson. Niʻihau is generally off-limits to all but relatives of the island's owners, U.S. Navy personnel, government officials and invited guests. Tourists are able to visit the island through a limited number of supervised tours, including diving, hiking, and hunting safaris. Niʻihau is also referred to as the "Mystery Island", the "Distant Isle" and sometimes the "Forgotten Island", as it is frequently omitted on tourist maps. The island is famous as the location for the Niʻihau Incident, in which a Japanese fighter pilot crashed on the island and terrorized its residents on and for about a week after 7 December, 1941 during World War II. Commercially, the people of Niʻihau are known internationally for their gemlike lei pūpū (shell lei) craftsmanship.

[edit] History

Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, Niʻihau was ruled by the aliʻi. Kahelelani^[4] was the first of the Niʻihau aliʻi. His name is now used to refer to the Niʻihau kahelelani, the puka shell of the wart turbans (Leptothyra verruca), used to make exquisite Niʻihau shell jewelry.^[5][6]

Kaeo was a ruler of northern Niʻihau who unified the entire island after defeating his rival, a chief named Kawaihoa. A stone wall (Papohaku) was built across a quarter of the southern end to mark the boundaries of the two chiefs: Kaeo's land was identified by black stones and Kawaihoa's by white stones. Eventually, a great battle took place, known as Pali Kamakaui. Kaeo's two brothers from the island of Maui, Kaiana and his half-brother Kahekili, the King of Maui, fought the battle for Kaeo and Niʻihau was united under his rule. Kawaihoa was banished to the south end of the island and Kaeo moved to the middle of the island to govern. Kaeo married the noble Kamakahelei and a future king of Niʻihau and Kauaʻi named Kaumualiʻi was born in 1790. Kauaʻi and Niʻihau are said to have carried the "highest blood lines" in the Hawaiian Islands.^[7]

By 1795, Kamehameha had managed to unify all of the islands except for Kauaʻi and Niʻihau:^[8] Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: the dead bodies covered the beaches on the eastern shores of Kauaʻi.^[9] Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumualiʻi, the last native aliʻi, surrendered rather than risk further bloodshed. Independence again became feasible after Kamehameha's death in 1819, but was put down when Kamehameha's widow Kaʻahumanu kidnapped Kaumualiʻi and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Niʻihau remained part of the unified Kingdom of Hawaiʻi.

In 1864, Elizabeth Sinclair (later Sinclair-Robinson) purchased Niʻihau and parts of Kauaʻi from Kamehameha V, for the price of $10,000 in gold, over a few other pieces of real estate, including Waikīkī and Pearl Harbor. By around 1875, Niʻihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000 sheep grazing the island.^[10] This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat weaving made famous by the people of Niʻihau. Makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus), a native sedge, used to grow on the edges of Niʻihau's three intermittent lakes.^[11] The stems were harvested and used to weave moena makaloa (mats), considered the "finest sleeping mats in Polynesia". The mats were valued by aliʻi and foreign visitors alike, but by the end of the 19th century, Hawaiians had stopped weaving makaloa due to changes in population, culture, economics, and the environment.^[12]

In 1915, Sinclair's grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most outside visitors. Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission.

Niʻihau played a small role during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. An off-course Japanese pilot crash landed at Niʻihau and was captured by locals. With the assistance of local Japanese residents, the pilot escaped, but was later recaptured and killed. The incident is referred to locally as the "Niihau Incident" or the "Battle of Niʻihau."^[13][14]

Despite the self-imposed isolation, Niʻihau has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military dating from before World War II. There is a small Navy installation on the island, but no military personnel are permanently stationed there. More recently, however, the U.S. military has used the island for training special operations units, hiring the Niihauans as "enemy" trackers.

Many residents of Niʻihau had been employees of the Niihau Ranch until the Robinson family finally shut down the operation in 1999; it had not been profitable for most of the 20th century. Many of the residents ended up on federal welfare, although these benefits will expire soon. The Robinson family has been considering alternative economic options to keep the residents employed, such as an increased economic role for the U.S. military (an earlier 1999 proposal to establish a missile testing program on the island fell by the wayside), or increased tourism. Either of these would erode the relative isolation that the residents currently enjoy.

[edit] Geography

2005 view of the rugged cliffs of windward Niʻihau (the northeastern shore)

Contrary to popular belief, Niʻihau is not the geologically oldest of the eight main islands. Kauaʻi, which neighbors Niʻihau in the north-east, is older. This is because Niʻihau was formed by a secondary vent that formed after the Kauaʻi volcano began erupting. It is estimated that Kauaʻi was formed 5.1 million years ago, while Niʻihau is estimated to have been formed 4.9 million years ago. Niʻihau consists of one extinct volcano that had a large landslide to the east.

The island is relatively arid, being situated in the rain shadow of Kauaʻi and lacking the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of Trade Wind rainfall (see orographic precipitation); This is similar to the island of Kahoʻolawe which is in the rain shadow of Maui. Niʻihau therefore is rather dependent on winter Kona storms, typical of Mediterranean climates, when more northerly weather systems intrude into this region. Like Kahoʻolawe, Niʻihau is subject to long periods of drought.^[15] Historical droughts on Niʻihau have been recorded several times, one by Captain James Cook's former junior officer, George Vancouver in 1792. Vancouver had been told that the people of Niʻihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kauaʻi to escape famine. It is thought that population movement from Niʻihau to Kauaʻi during severe drought periods may have been common.^[16]

The island is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kauaʻi. Its dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (30 km x 10 km); its land area is 56.6% larger than uninhabited Kahoʻolawe). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is 1,280 feet (390 m). The United States Census Bureau defines Niʻihau (with the neighboring small island of Lehua) as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. Its 2000 census population was 160.^[17]

Communities include:

• Puʻuwai

[edit] Politics

The island of Niʻihau was considered as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt had visited Hawaiʻi in 1934.^[18] Under Cordell Hull, Roosevelt's Secretary of State, the State Department seriously studied the proposal.^[19]

In 2004 President George W. Bush received all but one of the 40 votes cast on the island. The remaining vote was cast for Green Party nominee David Cobb. 51 registered voters did not cast ballots.^[20] In 2006 Dan Akaka received 33 votes in the 2006 Senate election to Cynthia Thielen's 3.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Niʻihau's precinct was one of only 3 of Hawaiʻi's 538 precincts to vote for John McCain over Barack Obama. McCain received 35 votes, Obama received 4, and Cynthia McKinney received 1. Hawaiʻi was Obama's strongest state in the nation, with only Washington, D.C. voting more strongly for him.^[21]

[edit] Economy

On the beaches of the island are found pūpū, shells that wash onto the shores of Niʻihau during the winter months. The sale of shells and shell jewelry provide an additional source of income for the local populace.^[22] The shells and jewelry are so popular, that in 2004, Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill to protect lei pūpū o Niʻihau (shell leis) from counterfeiting.^[23] Other economic activities include fishing, sheep ranching, charcoal production, and honey cultivation.^[24] Mullet farming is popular on Niihau, with ponds and lakes stocked with baby mullet which reach upwards of nine to ten pounds (4–4.5 kg) apiece before they are harvested and sold on the islands of Kauaʻi and Oʻahu.^[25] However, hunting on the island by the natives is forbidden as the Robinson family possesses exclusive hunting rights only to be granted to tourists of the island.^[26]

[edit] Culture

Navy contractors from PMRF arrive at Paniau Ridge on Niʻihau in an Agusta A109 helicopter. The seabird sanctuary island of Lehua can be seen in the background; Kauaʻi is in the distant background.

The island has approximately 160 permanent inhabitants,^[27] nearly all of whom are Native Hawaiians who live in the island's main settlement of Puʻuwai. They support themselves largely by subsistence agriculture and welfare and generally lead a rural, low-tech life. They speak the Hawaiian language, in part encouraged by terms in the purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. Niʻihau is the only Hawaiian island where the Hawaiian language is spoken as a primary language.^[28]

The Native Hawaiians are not isolated from the outside world, however: Niʻihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kauaʻi temporarily, until their fresh water supply is replenished by rainfall. To avoid a long boat ride, the island's owners maintain an Agusta A109 helicopter for use in emergencies and for transporting Navy contractors and residents to and from Kauaʻi. These helicopter trips are supported by its use for limited tours and safaris on the island.^[29]

A form of ipu art is known to have developed solely on the island of Niʻihau.^[30][31] In this method, after a design is carved in the skin of a fresh gourd, it is filled with dye which, after several weeks, changes the color of the uncarved portions of the surface where the skin is intact.

Music plays a central role on the island, with a cappella singers making use of only two or three tones and changing rhythms. Ukulele and guitar playing is nearly ubiquitous among the Native Hawaiians of Niʻihau, and there are three separate styles of slack-key music, with an older style originating from Kohala.^[32]

[edit] Education

The Hawaii Department of Education operates the Niʻihau School, a K-12 school on the island. Because of transience of student families, the student population number often fluctuates between 25 to 50.^[33]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Barnhart, Sky (July 2008). "The Flowers of Niihau". Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine 12 (4). http://www.nokaoimagazine.com/Features/v.12%20no.4/Niihau_shell_lei.html. Retrieved on 2008-08-08. 
• Clark, John R. K. (1990). Beaches of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 79–102. ISBN 0-8248-1260-3. 
• Meyer, Philip A. (1998). Niihau - Present Circumstances and Future Requirement in an Evolving Hawaiian Community. Ni'ihau, Hawai'i: Hoomana Ia Iesu Church. 

[edit] External links

• Article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin about Ni'ihau

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Coordinates: 21°54′N 160°10′W / 21.9°N 160.167°W / 21.9; -160.167