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). Known as the "Forbidden Isle," Niʻihau lies 17.5 miles (15.2 nmi; 28.2 km) across the Kaulakahi Channel, southwest of Kauaʻi. 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; as of June 2009, the population was 130.

In 1864, the island was purchased from the Kingdom of Hawaii by the Robinson family and has been privately owned since that time. It 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 beach, diving, hiking, and hunting safaris. Niʻihau is also referred to as the "Mystery Island," or the "Distant Isle."

The island is historically notable as the location for the Niʻihau Incident, in which a Japanese fighter pilot crashed on the island and terrorized its residents for about a week following the World War II attack on Pearl Harbor. Commercially, the people of Niʻihau are known internationally for their gemlike lei pūpū (shell lei) craftsmanship.

(via Wikipedia)

Geography and climate

Niʻihau is located about 18 miles (29 km) west of Kauaʻi, and the tiny, uninhabited island of Lehua is positioned 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 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 Kauaʻi in the northeast. Niʻihau was formed by a secondary vent that formed after the Kauaʻi volcano began erupting. Niʻihau consists of one extinct volcano that had a large landslide to the east.

The island is relatively arid as it lies in the rain shadow of Kauaʻi, and lacks the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of trade wind rainfall. Niʻihau therefore, is rather dependent 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 Niʻihau 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 Niʻihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kauaʻi to escape famine.

Flora and fauna

As an essentially arid island, Niʻihau was barren of trees for centuries — Captain James Cook reported it treeless in 1778. Aubrey Robinson, grandfather of current owners Bruce and Keith Robinson, planted 10,000 trees per year during much of his ownership of the island. This forestation of the island increased rainfall, and has been very beneficial to its climate. Many of Niʻihau's natural plant resources have been preserved and documented by island co-owner Keith Robinson (Niihau owner), a noted conservationist. Niʻihau is designated as critical habitat for the ʻōlulu, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. Aylmer robinsonii, a Pritchardia palm tree named for Keith Robinson's uncle Aylmer, is an endangered species native to Niʻihau.

Several bird species thrive on Niʻihau. Intermittent playa lakes on the island provide wetland habitats for the ʻalae keʻokeʻo (Hawaiian Coot), the āeʻo (Black-winged Stilt), and the koloa maoli (Hawaiian Duck). The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is found in high numbers on Niʻihau's shores. Keith Robinson believes that the private, secluded shoreline of Niʻihau offers a safe haven from encroachments on the seal habitat; According to Robinson, conditions for the monk seal on Niʻihau are better than the government refuges of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. When Niʻihau was originally purchased as a private family holding in the 1800s, there were no monk seals present, as the Native Hawaiians had killed them off to preserve their fishing stock.

Big game herds, imported from stock on Molokaʻi Ranch in recent years, roam Niʻihau's forests and flatlands. Eland and aoudad herds are abundant, and an oryx population is present as well, in addition to wild boars and feral sheep. These big game herds provide income from hunting safari tourism.

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.

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.

Kamehameha managed to unify all of the islands by 1795, except for Kauaʻi and Niʻihau: 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. 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.

Elizabeth Sinclair (later Sinclair-Robinson) purchased Niʻihau and parts of Kauaʻi from Kamehameha V in 1864 for the asking price of $10,000 in gold. Sinclair chose Niʻihau over other real estate options, including Waikīkī and Pearl Harbor. By around 1875, Niʻihau'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 Niʻihau. Makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus), a native sedge, used to grow on the edges of Niʻihau'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 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.

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. Upon Aubrey's death the island passed to his son Albert, and then to Albert's youngest brother Lester and his wife Helen. Upon Helen's death the island passed to Lester's sons Bruce and Keith Robinson, the current co-owners of the island.

Niʻihau played a small role during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. In what has come to be called the Niihau Incident, or the Battle of Niʻihau, an off-course Japanese pilot crash landed on the island and was captured by locals. With the assistance of local Japanese residents, the pilot escaped, but was later recaptured and killed.

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. 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. 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.

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, reliable economic base without the impact of tourism or industrial development. The sale of shells and shell jewelry is an additional source of income. The beaches of Niʻihau are known for their pūpū, tiny prized shells that wash onto the shores of the island during the winter months. The shells and jewelry are so popular that Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill in 2004 to protect lei pūpū o Niʻihau (Niʻihau shell leis) from counterfeiting. A single intricate Niʻihau shell lei can sell for thousands of dollars.

Many residents of Niʻihau had been employees of the Niihau Ranch, farming cattle and sheep until the Robinson family 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 Mexican underpricing ended that as well. Mullet farming has been 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 being harvested and sold on the islands of Kauaʻi and Oʻahu.

Niʻihau's owners have offered half-day helicopter and beach tours of the island since around 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.

Bruce Robinson, Niʻihau's co-owner, is seeking and considering new forms of non-invasive income generation for the island. Depending on feasibility, low-impact, and their ecological footprint on the island's ecosystem and culture, these forms could include: JP-4 or JP8 generation by lignocellulose process; increased military presence, including a possible runway; and windmill energy production. Robinson has declined offers to purchase sand from Niʻihau's beaches, noting that the environment would be adversely affected.

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. In addition to academic subjects and computer literacy, the schoolchildren learn to "thrive from the land." The school is run entirely on solar power.

Many of the island's schoolchildren go back and forth to the western part of the island of Kauaʻi, staying with relatives. While there, they attend one of two Niʻihau-focused public charter schools in west Kauaʻi. At one, Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha, students speak primarily the Niʻihau dialect through the early elementary grades, and then Hawaiian and English through grade 12. The school has a digital recording and video system, which is used to preserve and teach traditional Niʻihau and Hawaiian culture. At the other west Kauaʻi school, Kula Aupuni Niihau a Kahelelani Aloha (KANAKA), English is used in all grades, while still supporting the Niʻihau dialect. Both schools foster the culture, values, and spirituality of Niʻihau.

Culture

Niʻihau has approximately 130 permanent inhabitants, nearly all of whom are Native Hawaiians who live in the island's main settlement of Puʻuwai. They support themselves largely by subsistence fishing and farming and welfare, and generally lead a rural, low-tech life. All residents live rent-free, and are provided free meat. There are no telephones on Niʻihau, and no automobiles. The residents are not allowed to own radios, televisions or cell phones and visitors are not allowed to bring a cell phone to the island, even for personal use. Horses are the main form of transportation; bicycles are used as well. There are no electric lines, and electricity is solar generated. Water on the island comes from rainwater catchment systems. Most of these conditions are established by the Robinson family. There is no hotel or general store; groceries are delivered by barge from Kauaʻi, often purchased by relatives, and incur no shipping charges.

Residents speak the Hawaiian language, in part encouraged by terms in the original purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. The Niʻihau dialect differs from standard Hawaiian in that, for example, "T" sounds replace the Hawaiian "K." Niʻihau is the only Hawaiian island where the Hawaiian language is spoken as a primary language; English is actually the second language on the island.

Residents are functionally isolated from the outside world. 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. Residents commonly also visit Kauaʻi for work, medical care, or school, and many of them call both places home. 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.

A form of ipu art is known to have developed solely on the island of Niʻihau. 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 Native Hawaiians of Niʻihau, and there are three separate styles of slack-key music, with an older style originating from Kohala.