Ni?ihau (; Hawaiian: ['ni?i'h?w]) is the westernmost and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawai?i. It is 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southwest of Kaua?i across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is 69.5 square miles (180 km2). Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the black-winged stilt, and the Hawaiian duck. The island is designated as critical habitat for Brighamia insignis, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. The United States Census Bureau defines Ni?ihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of Lehua as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. Its 2000 census population was 160; Its 2010 census population was 170.
Elizabeth Sinclair purchased Ni?ihau in 1864 for $10,000 from the Kingdom of Hawaii and private ownership passed on to her descendants, the Robinson family. During World War II, the island was the site of the Ni?ihau Incident: A Japanese navy fighter pilot crashed on the island and terrorized its residents for a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The people of Ni?ihau are known for their gemlike lei p?p? (shell lei) craftsmanship, and speak Hawaiian as a primary language. The island is generally off-limits to all but relatives of the island's owners, U.S. Navy personnel, the Robinson family, government officials and invited guests, giving it the nickname "The Forbidden Isle." Beginning in 1987, a limited number of supervised activity tours and hunting safaris have opened to tourists. The island is currently managed by brothers Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson.
Video Niihau
Geography
Ni?ihau is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kaua?i, and the tiny, uninhabited island of Lehua lies 0.7 miles (0.61 nmi; 1.1 km) north of Ni?ihau. Ni?ihau's dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (10 km x 30 km). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is 1,280 feet (390 m). The island is about 4.9 million years old, making it geologically younger than the 5-million-year-old neighboring island of Kaua?i to the northeast. Ni?ihau consists of one extinct volcano that had a large landslide to the east.
Climate
The island is relatively arid because it lies in the rain shadow of Kaua?i, and lacks the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of trade wind rainfall. Ni?ihau therefore depends for its rain on winter Kona storms, when more northerly weather systems intrude into the region. As such, the island is subject to long periods of drought. Historical droughts on Ni?ihau have been recorded several times, one in 1792 by Captain James Cook's former junior officer, George Vancouver, who had been told that the people of Ni?ihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kaua?i to escape famine.
Flora and fauna
As an arid island, Ni?ihau was barren of trees for centuries -- Captain James Cook reported it treeless in 1778. Aubrey Robinson, grandfather of current owners Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, planted 10,000 trees per year during much of his ownership of the island; Robinson's afforestation efforts increased rainfall in the dry climate. Island co-owner Keith Robinson, a noted conservationist, preserved and documented many of Ni?ihau's natural plant resources. The island is designated as a critical habitat for the ??lulu, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. Aylmer robinsonii, a Pritchardia palm tree named for Keith Robinson's uncle Aylmer Robinson, is an endangered species native to Ni?ihau.
Several bird species thrive on Ni?ihau. The largest lakes on the island are H?lali?i Lake, Halulu Lake and Nonopapa Lake. These intermittent playa lakes on the island provide wetland habitats for the ?alae ke?oke?o (Hawaiian coot), the ?e?o (black-winged stilt), and the koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck). The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is found in high numbers on Ni?ihau's shores. Robinson states that Ni?ihau's secluded shoreline offers them a safe haven from habitat encroachments. According to Robinson, conditions there are better than the government refuges of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. When the Robinsons originally purchased Ni?ihau, no monk seals were present, because they lived in the northwestern part of the Hawaiian island chain, Necker and Midway islands. They have been relocated to the main Hawaiian island chain by NOAA fisheries over the past thirty years, and some have found homes on Ni?ihau.
Big game herds, imported from stock on Moloka?i Ranch in recent years, roam Ni?ihau's forests and flatlands. Eland and aoudad are abundant, along with oryxes, wild boars and feral sheep. These big game herds provide income from hunting safari tourism.
Maps Niihau
History
Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, Ni?ihau was ruled by the ali?i. Kahelelani was the first of the Ni?ihau ali?i. His name is now used to refer to the Ni?ihau kahelelani, the puka shell of the wart turbans (Leptothyra verruca), used to make exquisite Ni?ihau shell jewelry. K??eok?lani was a ruler of northern Ni?ihau who unified the island after defeating his rival, a chief named Kawaihoa. A stone wall (P?p?haku) across a quarter of the island's southern end marked the boundaries of the two chiefs: K??eo's land was identified by black stones and Kawaihoa's by white stones. Eventually, a great battle took place, known as Pali Kamakaui. K??eo's two brothers from the island of Maui, Kaiana and his half-brother Kahekili II, the King of Maui, fought for K??eo and Ni?ihau was united under his rule. Kawaihoa was banished to the south end of the island and K??eo moved to the middle of the island to govern. K??eo married the Queen Kamakahelei and a future king of Ni?ihau and Kaua?i named Kaumuali?i was born in 1790. Kaua?i and Ni?ihau are said to have carried the "highest blood lines" in the Hawaiian Islands.
Kamehameha managed to unify all of the islands by 1795, except for Kaua?i and Ni?ihau: Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: bodies covered the beaches on Kaua?i's eastern shores. Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumuali?i, the last independent ali?i, surrendered rather than risk further bloodshed. Independence again became feasible after Kamehameha's death in 1819, but was put down when Kamehameha's widow Ka?ahumanu kidnapped Kaumuali?i and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Ni?ihau remained part of the unified Kingdom of Hawai?i.
Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair (1800-1892) purchased Ni?ihau and parts of Kaua?i from Kamehameha V in 1864 for $10,000 in gold. Sinclair chose Ni?ihau over other options, including Waik?k? and Pearl Harbor. By around 1875, Ni?ihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000 sheep. This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat-weaving made famous by the people of Ni?ihau. Makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus), a native sedge, used to grow on the edges of Ni?ihau's three intermittent lakes. The stems were harvested and used to weave moena makaloa (mats), considered the "finest sleeping mats in Polynesia". The mats were valued by ali?i 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.
In 1915, Sinclair's grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most visitors. Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission. Upon Aubrey's death in 1939 the island passed to his son Aylmer, and in 1968 to Aylmer's youngest brother Lester. Upon Lester's wife Helen's death, the island passed to his sons Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, the current co-owners. (See Sinclair-Robinson family tree)
Ni?ihau played a small role during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In what has come to be called the Ni?ihau Incident (or the Battle of Ni?ihau), a Japanese pilot whose Zero had been hit crash-landed on the island hoping to rendezvous with a rescue submarine. The pilot escaped with the assistance of local Japanese residents, but was later recaptured and killed. It was the subject of a popular song, "You Can't Conquer Niihau, Nohow".
Despite its self-imposed isolation, Ni?ihau has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military dating from 1924. There is a small Navy installation on the island. No military personnel are permanently stationed there, but the U.S. military has used the island for training special operations units, which included hiring Hawaiians who live on Ni?ihau as "enemy" trackers.
Society
Politics
The island of Ni?ihau was considered as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt had visited Hawai?i in 1934. Under Cordell Hull, Roosevelt's Secretary of State, the State Department seriously studied the proposal.
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. In 2006 Dan Akaka received 60.3% of votes in the 2006 Senate election to Cynthia Thielen's 36.1%. In 2008, Ni?ihau's precinct was one of only 3 of Hawai?i's 538 precincts to vote for John McCain over Barack Obama. McCain received 35 votes, Obama received 4, and Cynthia McKinney received 1. In the 2016 Presidential Election, nearly 60% of the vote went for Donald Trump.
Population
The 2010 census states that there were 170 people living on the island. However, witness accounts estimate that the population actually ranges between 35-50 people. Some support themselves largely by subsistence fishing and farming, while others depend on welfare. All residents live rent-free, and meat is free. Ni?ihau has no telephone services and no paved roads. Horses are the main form of transportation; bicycles are also used. There are no power lines; solar power provides all electricity. There is no plumbing or running water on the island. Water comes from rainwater catchment. The Robinson family established most of these conditions. There is no hotel, and barges deliver groceries from Kaua?i, often purchased by relatives, with free shipping.
Residents generally speak the Niihau dialect of Hawaiian as their first language, in part encouraged by terms in the original purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. The Ni?ihau dialect differs from modern standard Hawaiian in that, for example, [t] and [?] are the most common realizations of the phonemes /k/ and /l/, respectively. Ni?ihau is the only island where Hawaiian is spoken as a primary language. Oral tradition maintains that the Ni?ihau dialect is closer to the Hawaiian register spoken during the time of discovery; there is linguistic evidence to support this claim. English is the second language.
Some residents have radio and television sets, although limited reception effectively limits the latter to watching VHS tapes and DVDs. Ni?ihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kaua?i temporarily, until rainfall replenishes their water supply. Residents commonly also commute to Kaua?i for work, medical care, or school, and many of them call both islands home. To avoid a long boat ride, the island's owners maintain an Agusta A109 helicopter for emergencies and for transporting Navy contractors and residents to and from Kaua?i. Helicopter tours and safaris help offset the costs of this service.
A form of ipu art is known to have developed solely on the island of Ni?ihau. 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. Hawaiian 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 islanders, and there are three separate styles of slack-key music, with an older style originating from Kohala.
Education
The Hawaii Department of Education operates the Ni?ihau School, a K-12 school. Academic subjects and computer literacy are combined with teaching students to "thrive from the land." The school is powered entirely by solar power. The number of students varies from 25 to 50 since families often travel between Ni?ihau and Kaua?i. Schoolchildren may stay with relatives in west Kaua?i, where they attend one of two Ni?ihau-focused public charter schools. At the Ke Kula Ni?ihau o Kekaha school, students speak primarily the Ni?ihau dialect through the early elementary grades, and then Hawaiian and English through grade 12. The school has a digital recording and video system, which helps to preserve and teach traditional Ni?ihau and Hawaiian culture. At the other west Kaua?i school, Kula Aupuni Ni?ihau a Kahelelani Aloha (KANAKA), English is used in all grades, while still supporting the Ni?ihau dialect. Both schools foster the culture, values, and spirituality of Ni?ihau.
Economy
Approximately 80% of Ni?ihau's income comes from a small Navy installation atop 1,300-foot-high cliffs. Remote-controlled tracking devices are used for testing and training with Kaua'i's Pacific Missile Range Facility. Modern missile defense tests are conducted at the site for the U.S. and its allies. The installation brings in millions of dollars a year, and provides the island with a stable economic base without the complexity of tourism or industrial development. The sale of shells and shell jewelry is an additional source of income. Its beaches are known for their p?p?, tiny shells that wash onto shore during winter months. Species used for shell leis includes momi (Euplica varians), laiki or rice shells (Mitrella margarita) and kahelelani (Leptothyra verruca). The shells and jewelry are so popular that Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill in 2004 to protect lei p?p? o Ni?ihau (Ni?ihau shell leis) from counterfeiting. A single, intricate Ni?ihau shell lei can sell for thousands of dollars.
Many residents of Ni?ihau were once employees of Ni?ihau Ranch, farming cattle and sheep until the Robinsons shut down the operation in 1999. It had not been profitable for most of the 20th century. Honey cultivation was also no longer viable by 1999. Kiawe charcoal was once a large-scale export, but aggressive Mexican price competition ended that as well. Mullet farming has been popular on Ni?ihau, with ponds and lakes stocked with baby mullet, which reach 9-10 pounds (4.1-4.5 kg) apiece before being harvested and sold on Kaua?i and O?ahu.
Bruce Robinson, Ni?ihau's co-owner, is seeking and considering new forms of non-invasive income generation. Depending on feasibility, impact, and ecological footprint on the ecosystem and culture, possibilities include: JP-8 generation by the lignocellulose process; military, including a possible runway; and windmill energy production. Robinson has declined offers to purchase sand from Ni?ihau's beaches, because of adverse environmental effects.
Tourism
Ni?ihau's owners have offered half-day helicopter and beach tours of the island since 1987, although contact with residents is avoided and no accommodations exist. Since 1992, hunting safaris provide income via tourists who pay to visit the island to hunt eland, aoudad, and oryx, as well as wild sheep and boars. Any meat the hunters do not take with them is given to the village.
Notes
References
Further reading
- Barnhart, Sky (July 2008). "The Flowers of Niihau". Maui N? Ka ?Oi Magazine. 12 (4). Retrieved 2009-08-17.
- Clark, John R. K. (1990). Beaches of Kaua?i and Ni?ihau. Honolulu, Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. pp. 79-102. ISBN 0-8248-1260-3.
- Conover, Adele; Gary Braasch (November 1996). "A Onetime Rancher Wages Lonely War to Save Rare Plants". Smithsonian. Smithsonian Institution. 27 (8): 114.
- Daws, Gavan; Timothy Heap (October 1962). "Niihau a shoal of time". American Heritage. American Heritage Publishing Company. 14 (6). Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- Laracy, Hugh (September 2001). "The Sinclairs of Pigeon bay and the Romantic 'Pre-history' of the Robinsons of Niihau". Journal of Pacific History. Routledge. 36 (2): 183-199. doi:10.1080/00223340120075560.
- Licayan, Emalia; Nizo, Virginia; Kanahele, Elama (2007). Kanahele, Elama; Armitage, Kimo; NeSmith, Keao, eds. Aloha Niihau: Oral Histories. Waipahu, Hawaii: Island Heritage Publishing. ISBN 1-59700-209-7.
- May, Ernest R (1946-11-02). "They Never Leave This Real Shangri-La". The Saturday Evening Post. 219 (18): 28-67. ISSN 0048-9239.
- Meyer, Philip A. (1998). "Niihau - Present Circumstances and Future Requirement in an Evolving Hawaiian Community". Ni'ihau, Hawai'i: Hoomana Ia Iesu Church.
- Paul, Caroline (2007). East Wind, Rain. Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-06-078076-2.
- Stepien, Edward R. (1988) [1984]. Ni?ihau, A Brief History. 1. Honolulu: Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian, & Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. pp. 1-134. hdl:10125/15544.
- Stepien, Edward R. (1988) [1984]. Ni?ihau, A Brief History. 2. Honolulu: Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian, & Pacific Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa. pp. 135-268. hdl:10125/15544.
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