Mokolii (), also known as Chinaman's Hat, is a

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

islet An islet ( ) is generally a small island. Definitions vary, and are not precise, but some suggest that an islet is a very small, often unnamed, island with little or no vegetation to support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/ ...

Kāneʻohe Bay Kāneohe Bay, at , is the largest sheltered body of water in the main Hawaiian Islands. This reef-dominated embayment constitutes a significant scenic and recreational feature along the northeast coast of the Island of Oahu. The largest populatio ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. Mokolii is part of Kualoa Regional Park and located offshore of Kualoa Point,

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

. The islet was at one time part of a basaltic ridge on Oahu before marine erosion separated it.

Etymology

Mokolii translates from Hawaiian as "little lizard." "Moko” is an older form of the word "mo’o" and means "lizard" or dragon-like creature; "li’i" means "small" or "tiny." According to the Pele epic in Hawaiian mythology, while the goddess

Hiʻiaka In Hawaiian religion, Hiʻiaka is a daughter of Haumea and Kāne. Hiʻiakaikapoliopele is the Hawaiian patron goddess of hula dancers, chant, sorcery, and medicine. Born in Tahiti and brought by her sister to Hawaii Pelehonuamea, Hi'iaka is al ...

was traveling to retrieve Pele's lover, Hi’iaka killed an evil giant lizard at Kuala. Part of its body fell into the bay and became Mokoli’i: the island is the tip of the tail sticking out of the water. The closest land on the main island is Hakipu’u, which bears the broken spine of the lizard, with "haki" meaning to break or broken and “Pu’u” meaning the hill or back. The alternative name, Chinaman's Hat, derives from a comparison of its shape to the

Asian conical hat The Asian conical hat is a simple style of conically shaped sun hat notable in modern-day nations and regions of China, Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and ...

. Of this alternative name, scholar

kuʻualoha hoʻomanawanui kuualoha hoomanawanui is a Native Hawaiians, Native Hawaiian author who is known for her scholarship on Pele (deity), Pele. Early life and education Born in Kailua, Hawaii, Kailua, Oahu, Oʻahu, hoʻomanawanui also spent part of her childhood o ...

has written: "It completely erases the Native perspective of the ‘āina as mo’o, a living entity that Hi’iaka—a female, no less—overpowers…Mokoli’i doesn’t exist in isolation as 'Chinaman's Hat' does." A resolution was introduced at the Hawaii State Legislature in 2007, requesting that the Hawaii Tourism Authority discourage the use of the name "Chinaman's Hat" in favor of Mokoliʻi, noting that the name "Chinaman's Hat" "has no historical or cultural significance" and "is offensive to many people of Chinese ancestry." The resolution did not pass the legislature.

Flora and fauna

Both wildlife and plants of Mokoliʻi have been affected by the presence of non-native species, in particular the

black rat The black rat (''Rattus rattus''), also known as the roof rat, ship rat, or house rat, is a common long-tailed rodent of the stereotypical rat genus ''Rattus'', in the subfamily Murinae. It likely originated in the Indian subcontinent, but is n ...

and

yellow crazy ant The yellow crazy ant (''Anoplolepis gracilipes''), also known as the long-legged ant or Maldive ant, is a species of ant, thought to be native to West Africa or Asia. They have been accidentally introduced to numerous places in the world's trop ...

. Although other species of birds previously nested there, the

wedge-tailed shearwater The wedge-tailed shearwater (''Ardenna pacifica'') is a medium-large shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. It is one of the shearwater species that is sometimes referred to as a muttonbird, like the sooty shearwater of New Zealand and ...

is the only species of bird that nests on Mokoliʻi. Seventy-two species of plants have been identified, the majority of which are invasive non-native species. Native plants thrive in the coastal margins and include ahu awa ('' Cyperus javanicus''), naupaka ('' Scaevola taccada''), and ilima (''

Sida fallax ''Sida fallax'', known as yellow ilima, golden mallow,, or Ilima is a species of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plant in the ''Hibiscus'' family, Malvaceae, indigenous to the Hawaiian Archipelago and other Pacific Islands. Plants may be e ...

''). Invasive plants which dominate the slopes are ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant in the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduced i ...

'', Spanish needles ('' Bidens alba'' var. ''radiata''), and christmasberry. The island was designated as a critical habitat for Carter's panicgrass (''Panicum fauriei'' var. ''carteri'') by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 1983. In 2002, the USFWS initiated a program to eradicate rats from Mokoliʻi.

History

The U. S. Exploring Expedition of 1840 drew up a chart of Kaneohe Bay Harbor where it labeled Mokoliʻi as "Namu Island". Mokolii was under private ownership until the 1970s, when the City and County of Honolulu purchased it.

Access

Mokolii is owned by the City and County of Honolulu and is protected by state and federal park regulations. It is open to the public from dawn to dusk. It can be accessed by kayak, boat, surfboard, or by swimming, or wading at low tide. There is also a 20-minute hike to the top of the island.

References

External links

Mokolii Island on Google Maps
As of 15 July 2011
Mokolii Island on Yahoo! Maps
As of 27 May 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mokoli'i Islands of Hawaii Stacks of the United States Geography of Honolulu County, Hawaii