Since 1864, the island has been privately
owned by the Robinson family, and is currently run by Bruce and Keith Robinson.
Niihau 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. Ni?ihau 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 Niihau Incident, in which a Japanese fighter pilot crashed on the island
and terrorized its residents during World War II. Commercially, the people of
Niihau are known internationally for their gemlike shell lei craftsmanship.
History
Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, Niihau was ruled by the ali'i. Kahelelani was the first of the Niihau ali'i. His name is now used to refer to the Niihau kahelelani, the puka shell of the wart turbans (Leptothyra verruca), used to make exquisite Niihau shell jewelry.
Kaeo was a ruler of northern Niihau 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 Niihau 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 Niihau and Kaua?i named Kaumualii was born in 1790. Kauai and Niihau are said to have carried the "highest blood lines" in the Hawaiian Islands.
By 1795, Kamehameha had managed to unify all of the islands except for Kauai and Niihau: Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: the dead bodies covered the beaches on the eastern shores of Kauai. Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumualii, the last native alii, surrendered rather than risk further bloodshed. Independence again became feasible after Kamehameha's death in 1819, but was put down when Kamehameha's widow Kaahumanu kidnapped Kaumualii and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Niihau remained part of a unified Hawaii.
In 1864, Elizabeth Sinclair (later Sinclair-Robinson) purchased Ni'ihau and parts of Kaua'i from Kamehameha V, for the low price of $10,000 in gold, over a few other pieces of real estate, including Waikiki and Pearl Harbor. By around 1875, Ni'ihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000 sheep grazing the island. This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat weaving made famous by the people of Niihau. The stems of a native sedge called makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus) used to grow on the edges of Niihau's three intermittent lakes. These grasses were used to weave the makaloa mats of Niihau, considered the "finest sleeping mats in Polynesia". The mats were valued by alii 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 outside visitors; Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission.
Niihau played a small role during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. An off-course Japanese pilot crash landed at Niihau 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 Niihau."
Despite the self-imposed isolation, Niihau has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military dating from before World War II. There is a small U.S. 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 Niihau 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 their 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.
Geography
See also: List of beaches in Niihau
2005 view of the rugged cliffs of windward Ni?ihau (the northeastern shore)
Contrary to popular belief, Niihau is not the geologically oldest of the eight main islands. Kaua'i, which neighbors Niihau in the north-east, is older. This is because Ni?ihau was formed by a secondary vent that formed after the Kauai volcano was erupting. It is estimated that Kauai was formed 5.1 million years ago, while Niihau is estimated to have been formed 4.9 million years ago. Niihau 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 Kauai and lacking the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of Trade Wind rainfall (see orographic precipitation); This is similar to the island of Kaho'olawe which is in the rain shadow of Maui. And, like Kaho'olawe, Niihau is subject to long periods of drought. Historical droughts on Ni'ihau 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 Niihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kauai to escape famine. It is thought that population movement from Niihau to Kauai during severe drought periods may have been common.
The island is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kauai. Its dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (30 km x 10 km); its land area is 56.6% larger than uninhabited Kaho'olawe). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is 1,280 feet (390 m). The United States Census Bureau defines Niihau (with the neighboring small island of Lehua) as Census Tract 410 of Kauai County, Hawaii. Its 2000 census population was 160.
Communities include:
* Kamalino
* Ke'elinawili
* Ki'eki'e
* Ki'i
* Le-'ahi
* Lehua Landing
* Nonopapa
* 'O-'iamoi
* Pu'uwai
Politics
See also: Politics of Hawaii
The island of Niihau was considered as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt had visited Hawaii 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 33 votes in the 2006 Senate election to Cynthia Thielen's 3.
Economy
On the beaches of the island are found pupu, shells that wash onto the shores of Ni'ihau during the winter months. The sale of shells and shell jewelry provide an additional source of income for the local populace. The shells and jewelry are so popular, that in 2004, Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill to protect Niihau shell leis from counterfeiting Other economic activities include fishing, sheep ranching, charcoal production, and honey cultivation. 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 Kauai and Oahu. 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
Culture
Navy contractors from PMRF
arrive at Paniau Ridge on Niihau in an Agusta A109 helicopter. The seabird sanctuary
island of Lehua can be seen in the background; Kauai is in the distant background.
The island has approximately 160 permanent inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Native Hawaiians who live in the island's main settlement of Puuwai. They support themselves largely by subsistence agriculture and welfare and generally lead a rural, lowish-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. Niihau is the only Hawaiian island where the Hawaiian language is spoken as a primary language
The Native Hawaiians are not isolated from the outside world, however: Niihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kauai 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 Kauai. These helicopter trips are supported by its use for limited tours and safaris on the island.
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.
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 Niihau, and there are three separate styles of slack-key music, with an older style originating from Kohala, Hawaii.
See also: Music of Hawaii
Education
The Hawaii Department of Education operates the Ni`ihau School, a K-12 school on the island. Because of transience of student families, the student population number often fluctuates between 25 to 50.
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