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Niihau: See the U.S. Pacific News Watch (USPNW) Below
The Niihau Award
"In honor of being so mysterious. Many of those who live here [Hawaii] really don't know what Niihau is all about, considering that we have never visited it." -- 1999 Hawaiian International Scrimshaw Competition -- Award Category Description
Map of Niihau's Proximity To KauaiNiihau Area Map
Two Rare Photos of Niihau Beach
Space Shuttle View Of Niihau With Partial Cloud Cover
Niihau -- (1) Satellite Photo Assemblance & (2) Aerial Oblique
USPNW: "Robinson Family May Sell Niihau" -- Star-Bulletin Article
USPNW: "Other Views" by Keith Robinson, Niihau Family (S-B)
The Hawaiian Island of Ni'ihau
The Forbidden Isle
James Patton
Ni'ihau ("nee-ee-how") is fascinating, forbidden, and the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands. Purchased in 1864 by Mrs. Elizabeth Sinclair from King Kamehameha V for $10,000 in gold, the island is still owned by direct Sinclair descendants who continue to operate the island (the Robinson family of Kauai). The market value of the island is estimated at $100,000,000 in today's dollars.*
Outwardly, Ni'ihau is a large, 73 square mile cattle ranch isolated 17 miles off the southwest coast of Kauai. Inwardly, it is something else. For over one hundred years, Ni'ihau has been off-limits (kapu or "taboo") to all but the owners, the resident Hawaiian families, and their relatives. If the true traditional Hawaiian mode of living exists anywhere, it's at Puuwai village, Ni'ihau, home of virtually the total island population of about 200 mostly full-blooded Hawaiians. Many of the Hawaiians work for the Robinson's ranching and farming operations. There is no electricity, plumbing, television, telephones, cars, or paved roads. Transportation is by foot, bike, and horse, and work is by sweat, brow, and traditional plow. Ni'ihau is the only island (or place in the world, for that matter) where Hawaiian is the official language -- though many if not most of the residents speak American or Pidgin English.
Ni'ihau, the original home of the volcano goddess Pele in Hawaiian legend, is a deeply eroded remnant of an ancient "shield" volcano ringed by several younger volcanoes. In the space shuttle, satellite, and aerial photos linked above, the long ribbon-like light patch on the lower eastern side of the island is a massive set of very large sand dunes. Situated on the leeward side of the Hawaiian Island chain and in the shadow of Kauai, the Ni'ihau climate is semi-arid.
Though rainfall is light, several fresh water lakes provide more than enough water for Ni'ihau's current use. The island is more suited to ranching than crop agriculture, and much of the food and supplies must be imported from nearby Kauai. Residents regularly cross the channel to Kauai to purchase groceries and other "high tech" items. The rare quaintness of the island makes it surprising that one "resident" of the island is an extremely sophisticated mechanical contraption -- the helicopter used in the movie "Jurassic Park" (filmed sometime back in neighboring Kauai). On the other hand and in beautiful poetic contrast, the people of Ni'ihau have their own small "K through 8" grade school -- where the language of instruction is strictly Hawaiian.
Outside developers and "development" at Ni'ihau are prohibited. Traditionally, uninvited visits by professionals, curiosity seekers, and the public have not been allowed under the 136 years of Robinson tenure. However, from 1987, this has changed somewhat. Although retaining the self-imposed kapu status, the Robinson family has permitted limited, non-intrusive helicopter tours for the benefit of outsiders wishing to visit one or two remote beaches of the island. The beaches of Ni'ihau are pristine and virtually untouched, and the sands and dunes are spectacular. The shell leis of Ni'ihau are world famous, hard to get, and expensive. Helicopter sightseeing tour companies based on Kauai Island may now fly passengers to Ni'ihau and reveal some of the island's beauty, provided the choppers set down or approach only approved areas and carefully avoid Puuwai village. It is a mixed blessing that financial considerations may eventually reduce visitor restrictions even further. One rule is likely to remain, however: except for relatives of the inhabitants, Ni'ihau is not to be visited without Robinson family permission
The awe-inspiring coast of Ni'ihau is host to wildlife, yachts, and scuba divers. Tiny Ka'ula Island, just southwest of Ni'ihau, is a breeding ground for the Laysan albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) and the halfway marker for the "Kenwood Cup Hawaii International Offshore Series," a sail racing event. A Kauai dive tour operator says this of Ni'ihau: "We can take you to certain visions that will remain in your memory as some of the best underwater possible. However, the chances of the unpredictable vision, or the cruise-bys, or the time when the marine life is checking us out, are extremely good also. The species of sharks most often encountered are Gray Reef sharks and White Tipped sharks. However, the pelagic sharks, the Galapagos, the Black Tip shark, Silkys, and others do cruise by occasionally. That is because the abundance of humankind has not invaded this area yet" (Capt. Ken Bail).
Ni'ihau is a priceless asset for Hawaii and Hawaiians socially, culturally, and biologically. Many Hawaiian-language singers, songwriters, and others have studied on the island and re-connected with their roots. Hawaiians throughout Hawaii are grouping together and anticipating ways to preserve Ni'ihau tradition should the Robinson family stewardship of the island become untenable. Residents of Ni'ihau have always been able to come and go as they please. In the resulting exchanges, Ni'ihau's rich cultural reservoir has exerted a profound wholesome influence on modern Hawaiian culture far exceeding what could be expected from so small an island and population. The irony is that features contributing to Ni'ihau's cultural value -- its isolation, small size, and insignificance to the West -- also contribute to worldly causes set to destroy that value.
Special Thanks To P. Mouginis-Mark, Lisa Weber, & Ken Bail.
Niihau's Proximity To Kauai* Contributed by Sherry Sagara Patton
Niihau is 17 miles off the coast of Kauai Island.
Niihau Area Map
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James Patton Toll Free (800) 997-8701 Ilikai
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