Who is the Robinson family that owns Niihau?
It has been privately owned since 1864, when Elizabeth Sinclair bought it from King Kamehameha V. Her descendants, the Robinsons (brothers Bruce and Keith), continue to own it. The 72-square-mile Niihau is everything the major Hawaiian islands — Oahu, Maui, the Big Island and its neighbor Kauai — are not.
Does anyone live on the island of Niihau?
Niihau is the only place left in the world where the predominant language is Hawaiian. About 250 natives live on the 73-square-mile island, most working on the Robinsons' cattle and sheep ranch. Guns, alcohol and cigarettes are forbidden. There is no doctor, no jail, no paved roads.
Are tourists allowed on Niihau?
The only tourists allowed on Niihau, 18 miles across a rough ocean channel from Kauai, are those few who join an owner-controlled half-day helicopter tour or a hunting safari day trip (for feral sheep and eland, an antelopelike creature that was introduced to the island).
Can Hawaiians go to Niihau?
Niihau is also knows as "The Forbidden Island" because non-native Hawaiians are restricted to go there. Today, there are approximately 250 native Hawaiian residents living on Niihau and their lifestyle has remained the same over all these years.
Which Hawaiian island Does Bill Gates Own?
Bill Gates got married on this private Hawaiian island CNBC's “Secret Lives of the Super Rich” takes a tour of Lanai, a private island that's almost completely owned by a billionaire.
Are there cars on Niihau?
There are no cars, no bars and no public transportation. On Niihau, one either walks or rides a bicycle. A Jeep trail used by the ranch trucks is considered a major highway. Niihau is the last island to be inhabited almost totally by Hawaiians.
How much are Niihau shells worth?
With an official notary, Niihau shells can be evaluated based on its strain and style of stringing. Some Niihau shell leis have been known to be valued for up to $20,000. The value of a Niiahu shell lei is calculated based on its uniqueness, color, type of shell, and how clean the shell is.
Does Niihau have Internet?
How You Can Visit Niihau. Although there isn't an island in the state that encompasses Hawaiian culture more than Niihau, it is not a place to vacation. There are no cars, no stores, no paved roads, no indoor plumbing, and no internet.
How much is Niihau worth?
The most re cent published estimate of Niihau's land value' was about $1‐million in an estate appraisal made three years ago.
Are there any pure blooded Hawaiians left?
“Native Hawaiian” is a racial classification used by the United States. In the most recent Census, 690,000 people reported that they were Native Hawaiian or of a mixed-race that includes Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. There may now be as few as 5,000 pure-blood Native Hawaiians remaining in the world.
Are lepers still on Molokai?
A tiny number of Hansen's disease patients still remain at Kalaupapa, a leprosarium established in 1866 on a remote, but breathtakingly beautiful spit of land on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. Thousands lived and died there in the intervening years, including a later-canonized saint.
Are there any Royal Hawaiians left?
Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawananakoa is Hawaii's last living princess. She descends from an Irish businessman named James Campbell, who came to Hawaii in the 1800s and made a ton of money off his sugar plantation.
Why is the island of Niihau forbidden?
During a 1952 polio epidemic in the Hawaiian Islands, Niihau became known as the “Forbidden Island” since you had to have a doctor's note to visit in order to prevent the spread of polio.
Are there any pure blooded Hawaiians left?
“Native Hawaiian” is a racial classification used by the United States. In the most recent Census, 690,000 people reported that they were Native Hawaiian or of a mixed-race that includes Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. There may now be as few as 5,000 pure-blood Native Hawaiians remaining in the world.
Does Niihau have Internet?
How You Can Visit Niihau. Although there isn't an island in the state that encompasses Hawaiian culture more than Niihau, it is not a place to vacation. There are no cars, no stores, no paved roads, no indoor plumbing, and no internet.
How does Niihau make money?
Ranching Provided Employment for Ni'ihau Residents until 1999. Since the forebears of the current owners purchased the island in 1864, there had always been full-time employment for the residents with Ni'ihau Ranch.
Who owns Niihau?
Their sons, Keith and Bruce Robinson, inherited the remainder, and have been sole owners of Niihau since their mother passed away in 2002.
How much did Lester Robinson spend on Niihau?
Both Aylmer and Lester Robinson worked to preserve the lifestyles and culture of its Hawaiian residents to the extent that Aylmer reportedly maintained Niihau financially with his own funds, and it was also noted that Lester likewise spent about $50,000 a year for the same purpose.
What language did the Pu‘uwai people speak?
The natives of the main village of Pu‘uwai spoke a dialect that was a variation of Hawaiian and continued to practice hula. This dance was used as entertainment for special occasions and a way for them to preserve and pass on their history.
What animals roamed the land in Hawaii?
Land was not considered property to natives of Hawaii, and this allowed the islanders to live freely, without having the responsibility of renting or leasing land. Wild sheep, boar, and cattle roamed the land as well and were merely considered neighboring inhabitants of the island. A group of villagers at Puʻuwai Beach settlement, Niʻihau in 1885.
What did Elizabeth Sinclair Robinson do to preserve the Hawaiian culture?
In 1864, Elizabeth Sinclair-Robinson, born in Scotland and a plantation owner in New Zealand, purchased the island of Ni‘ihau from King Kamehameha V and the Kingdom of Hawaii for $10,000. With this exchange, she promised to preserve the “ kahiki ” or native Hawaiian culture. The natives of the main village of Pu‘uwai spoke a dialect that was a variation of Hawaiian and continued to practice hula. This dance was used as entertainment for special occasions and a way for them to preserve and pass on their history. Land was not considered property to natives of Hawaii, and this allowed the islanders to live freely, without having the responsibility of renting or leasing land. Wild sheep, boar, and cattle roamed the land as well and were merely considered neighboring inhabitants of the island.
Is Ni'ihau untouched?
Marjorie Perlas. Contributing Writer 9 March 2018. Add to Plan. None of Hawaii’s treasured shorelines are quite as untouched as those of Ni‘ihau, known to locals and foreigners as the “Forbidden Island.”. Even though it’s so close to modern civilization, in 2018, there are still no roads or running water, and the village runs solely on ...
How big is Niihau?
It is roughly 18 miles long and from 3 to 6 miles wide with a total area of approximately 70 square miles. The elevation of Pānī‘au, its highest peak, is only 1280 feet, which—along with being in the rain shadow of neighboring Kaua‘i—explains the arid climate of the island.
What is the population center of Ni‘ihau?
The village of Pu‘uwai on the leeward side is the population center of Ni‘ihau.
How many acres are there in Lehua Island?
Nearby Lehua island is located across the half-mile Lehua channel from Nanina. Lehua, geologically considered a tuff cone, is comprised of only 284 acres. In traditional Hawaiian chants, Lehua is known as the site of the setting sun.
What are the animals that live on the island of Kiawe?
Roaming freely among the kiawe and across the island are not only pigs, sheep, and cattle, but also more exotic animals such as herds of eland and aoudad as well as some oryx .
How many acres are there in Lake Halulu?
Lake Hālāli‘i is considered the largest lake in Hawai‘i with 841+ acres while nearby Lake Halulu is 182+ acres, but these are sometimes called “playa” or “intermittent lakes.”. This is because the water comes from rainfall, which only averages between 20 to 40 inches per year on Ni‘ihau.
Where is Keanahaki Bay?
Keanahaki bay rests in the windward shelter of Kawaihoa.
Where is the highest elevation on Niihau?
Highest elevations on Ni‘ihau are along the southwestern cliffs.
Who owns the island of Niihau?
Since Burns’ passing, the island’s current co-owners, brothers Keith and Bruce Robinson, continue to argue with Hawaiian authorities ...
When did Niihau close its coasts?
Niihau Closes Its Coasts. In 1864, Kamehameha V (the successor of Kamehameh IV) finalized the sale of Niihau Island to Eliza Sinclair. Sinclair and her descendants, the Robinsons, have done their best to honor the king’s request. They rejected the colonization of the Hawaiian islands by westerners, especially when in 1893 the Americans ousted ...
Why were Niihauan visits curtailed?
Yet great-grandson Keith Robinson reported that visits were actually officially curtailed in the 1930s to protect indigenous Niihauans from contracting foreign diseases, such as measles or polio. Though this effort was retroactive as 11 Niihauan children had already died from such diseases.
How far is Niihau Island from Kauai?
Niihau Island is only 17 miles from the resort-lined shores of Kauai, but access is restricted to outsiders, even Hawaiians from other islands.
What did Kamehameha IV say to Sinclair?
Kamehameha IV reportedly had one request for Sinclair: “Niihau is yours. But the day may come when Hawaiians are not as strong in Hawaii as they are now. When that day comes, please do what you can to help them.”
When did the Hawaiian Islands become forbidden?
They rejected the colonization of the Hawaiian islands by westerners, especially when in 1893 the Americans ousted the indigenous monarchy and banned the Hawaiian language. Accounts vary on exactly when Niihau became the “Forbidden Island.”. By one account, Sinclair descendant Aubrey Robinson stopped outsiders, ...
Who took the Niihau shells?
Wikimedia Commons A group of Niihauan villagers in 1885, taken by Francis Sinclair, son of Elizabeth Sinclair. The families that supplement their income with traditional lei making can sell a piece for thousands, but access to these Niihau shells has become scarce.
Overview
Niʻihau , anglicized as Niihau (/ˈniː(i)haʊ/ NEE-(ee-)how), is the westernmost main and seventh largest inhabited island in Hawaii. It is 17.5 miles (28.2 km) southwest of Kauaʻi across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is 69.5 square miles (180 km ). Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian coot, the Hawaiian stilt, and the Hawaiian duck. The island is designa…
Geography
Niʻihau is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kauaʻi, and the tiny, uninhabited island of Lehua lies 0.7 miles (0.61 nmi; 1.1 km) north of Niʻihau. Niʻihau's dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (10 km × 30 km). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is 1,280 feet (390 m). The island is about 6 million years old, making it geologically older than the 5.8-million-year-old neighboring island of …
History
Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, Niʻihau was ruled by the aliʻi. Kahelelani 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. Kāʻeokūlani was a ruler of northern Niʻihau who unified the island after defeating his rival, …
Society
The island of Niʻihau was considered as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who 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 …
Economy
Approximately 80% of Niʻihau'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 ba…
In popular culture
• The final missions of the campaigns in the 2007 real-time strategy video game Supreme Commander and its expansion, Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance take place on Niihau, which houses the Black Sun installation. The island is roughly portrayed correctly, and the missions also feature several fictitious islands around the island of Niihau itself.
• The Niʻihau Incident is portrayed in the 2019 film Enemy Within.
Further reading
• Barnhart, Sky (July 2008). "The Flowers of Niihau". Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine. 12 (4). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
• Clark, John R. K. (1990). Beaches of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. 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. …
• Barnhart, Sky (July 2008). "The Flowers of Niihau". Maui Nō Ka ʻOi Magazine. 12 (4). Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved August 17, 2009.
• Clark, John R. K. (1990). Beaches of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau. 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.