Niʻihau
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Niihau ( Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Niihau ( ), is the westernmost
main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...
and seventh largest inhabited island in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
. It is southwest of
Kauaʻi Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the List of islands of th ...
across the Kaulakahi Channel. Its area is . Several intermittent playa lakes provide
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
habitats for the
Hawaiian coot The Hawaiian coot (''Fulica alai''), also known as the alae ke'oke'o'' in Hawaiian, is a bird in the rail family, Rallidae, that is endemic to Hawaii. In Hawaiian, ''alae'' is a noun and means ''mud hen''. ''Kea'' or its synonym ''keo'' is an ad ...
, the
Hawaiian stilt The Hawaiian stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus knudseni'') is an endangered Hawaiian subspecies of the black-necked stilt (''H. mexicanus'') species. It is a long-legged, slender shorebird with a long, thin beak. Other common names include the Hawai ...
, and the
Hawaiian duck The Hawaiian duck (''Anas wyvilliana'') or koloa is a species of bird in the family Anatidae that is endemic to the large islands of Hawaii. Taxonomically, the koloa is closely allied with the mallard (''A. platyrhynchos''). It differs in that i ...
. The island is designated as critical habitat for ''
Brighamia insignis ''Brighamia insignis'', commonly known as ''ʻŌlulu'' or ''Alula'' in Hawaiian, or colloquially as the vulcan palm or cabbage on a stick, is a endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid in the bellflower family, Campanulaceae. It is native to t ...
'', an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. The
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
defines Niihau and the neighboring island and State Seabird Sanctuary of
Lehua Lehua Island is a small, crescent-shaped island in the Hawaiian islands, north of Niihau, due west of Kauai. The uninhabited, barren island is a tuff cone which is part of the active Niihau volcano. Lehua was one of the first five islands ...
as Census Tract 410 of
Kauai County, Hawaii Kauai County ( haw, Kalana o Kauaʻi) (officially known as the County of Kauai) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Hawaii, Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Kauai, Kauai, Niʻihau, Niihau, Lehua, and Kaʻula, Kaula. As ...
. Its 2000 census population was 160, most of whom are native Hawaiians; Its 2010 census
population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
was 170. At the 2020 census, the population had fallen to 84.
Elizabeth Sinclair Elizabeth McHutcheson Sinclair (26 April 180016 October 1892) was a Scottish homemaker, farmer, and plantation owner in New Zealand and Hawaii, best known as the matriarch of the Sinclair family that bought the Hawaiian island of Niihau in 1864 ...
purchased Niihau in 1864 for from the
Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...
. The island's private ownership passed on to her descendants, the
Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 1960s ...
s. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the island was the site of the Niihau incident, in which, following the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
, a
Japanese navy , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
fighter pilot crashed on the island and received help from the island's residents of Japanese descent. The island, known as "the Forbidden Isle", is off-limits to all outsiders except the Robinson family and their relatives,
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
personnel, government officials, and invited guests. From 1987 onward, a limited number of supervised activity tours and hunting safaris have opened to tourists. The island is currently managed by brothers Bruce and Keith Robinson. The people of Niihau are noted for their gemlike '' lei pūpū'' (shell lei) craftsmanship. They speak Hawaiian as a primary language.


Geography

Niihau is located about west of
Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
, and the tiny, uninhabited island of
Lehua Lehua Island is a small, crescent-shaped island in the Hawaiian islands, north of Niihau, due west of Kauai. The uninhabited, barren island is a tuff cone which is part of the active Niihau volcano. Lehua was one of the first five islands ...
lies north of Niihau. Niihau's dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (10 km × 30 km). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is . The island is about 6 million years old, making it geologically older than the 5.8-million-year-old neighboring island of Kauai to the northeast. Niihau is the remnant of the southwestern slope of what was once a much larger volcano. The entire summit and other slopes collapsed into the ocean in a giant prehistoric landslide.


Climate

The island is relatively
arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...
because it lies in the
rain shadow A rain shadow is an area of significantly reduced rainfall behind a mountainous region, on the side facing away from prevailing winds, known as its leeward side. Evaporated moisture from water bodies (such as oceans and large lakes) is carrie ...
of Kauai and lacks the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of
trade wind The trade winds or easterlies are the permanent east-to-west prevailing winds that flow in the Earth's equatorial region. The trade winds blow mainly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere and from the southeast in the Southern Hemisph ...
rainfall. Niihau, therefore, depends on winter
Kona storm Kona storms (also called Kona lows) are a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, usually formed in the winter from winds coming from the westerly "kona" (normally leeward) direction. They are mainly cold core cyclones, which places the ...
s for its rain, when more northerly weather systems intrude into the region. As such, the island is subject to long periods of
drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D.  Jiang, A.  Khan, W.  Pokam Mba, D.  Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...
. Historical droughts on Niihau have been recorded several times, one in 1792 by Captain
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
's former junior officer,
George Vancouver Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of what a ...
, who 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.


Flora and fauna

As an arid island, Niihau was barren of trees for centuries – Captain
James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...
reported it treeless in 1778. Aubrey Robinson, grandfather of current owners Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, planted 10,000 trees per year during much of his ownership of the island; Robinson's
afforestation Afforestation is the establishment of a forest or stand of trees (forestation) in an area where there was no previous tree cover. Many government and non-governmental organizations directly engage in afforestation programs to create forests a ...
efforts increased rainfall in the dry climate. Island co-owner Keith Robinson, a noted conservationist, preserved and documented many of Niihau's natural plant resources. The island is designated as a critical habitat for the '' ōlulu'', an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. '' Aylmer robinsonii'', a
Pritchardia The genus ''Pritchardia'' (family Arecaceae) consists of between 24 and 40 species of fan palms (subfamily Coryphoideae) found on tropical Pacific Ocean islands in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Tuamotus, and most diversely in Hawaii. The generic name ho ...
palm Palm most commonly refers to: * Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand * Palm plants, of family Arecaceae **List of Arecaceae genera * Several other plants known as "palm" Palm or Palms may also refer to: Music * Palm (ba ...
tree named for Keith Robinson's uncle Aylmer Robinson, is an endangered species native to Niihau. Several bird species thrive on Niʻihau. The largest lakes on the island are Hālaliʻi Lake, Halulu Lake and Nonopapa Lake. These intermittent playa lakes on the island provide
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
habitats for the '' ʻalae keʻokeʻo'' (Hawaiian coot), the '' āeʻo'' (Hawaiian subspecies of Black-necked Stilt), and the '' koloa maoli'' (Hawaiian duck). The critically endangered
Hawaiian monk seal The Hawaiian monk seal (''Neomonachus schauinslandi'') is an endangered species of earless seal in the family Phocidae that is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. The Hawaiian monk seal is one of two extant monk seal species; the other is the Med ...
(''Monachus schauinslandi'') is found in high numbers on Niʻihau's shores. Robinson states that Niʻihau's secluded shoreline offers them a safe haven from habitat encroachments. According to Robinson, conditions there are better than the government refuges of the
Northwestern Hawaiian Islands The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or Leeward Hawaiian Islands are a series of islands and atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest (in some cases, far to the northwest) of the islands of Kauai and Niihau. Politically, they are all p ...
. When the Robinsons originally purchased Niʻihau, no monk seals were present, because they lived in the northwestern part of the Hawaiian island chain, Necker and Midway islands. They have been relocated to the main Hawaiian island chain by
NOAA The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (abbreviated as NOAA ) is an United States scientific and regulatory agency within the United States Department of Commerce that forecasts weather, monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditio ...
fisheries over the past thirty years, and some have found homes on Niʻihau. Big game herds, imported from stock on
Molokai Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands, Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length an ...
Ranch in recent years, roam Niihau's forests and flatlands. Eland and
aoudad The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been describ ...
are abundant, along with
oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which l ...
es, wild
boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...
s and feral
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
. These big game herds provide income from
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
tourism.


History

Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under
Kamehameha I Kamehameha I (; Kalani Paiea Wohi o Kaleikini Kealiikui Kamehameha o Iolani i Kaiwikapu kaui Ka Liholiho Kūnuiākea;  – May 8 or 14, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great, was the conqueror and first ruler of the Kingdom of Hawaii. T ...
, Niihau was ruled by the .
Kahelelani Kahelelani (born in the late 17th century) was the first ''Aliʻi, ali'i'' of the island of Niihau, Niʻihau, Hawaii; he was the son of High Chief Kanehuanui and High Chiefess Kaluahineloa. The small shells used in Ni'ihau ''Lei (garland), lei'' are ...
was the first of the Niihau alii. 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. Kāʻeokūlani was a ruler of northern Niihau who unified the island after defeating his rival, a chief named Kawaihoa. A stone wall () across a quarter of the island's southern end marked the boundaries of the two chiefs: Kāeo's land was identified by black stones and Kawaihoa's by white stones. Eventually, a great battle took place, known as Pali Kamakaui. Kāeo's two brothers from the island of
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
,
Kaʻiana Kaʻiana, also known as Keawe-Kaʻiana-a-Ahuula, (born about 1755 - died 1795) was a Native Hawaiian (kānaka ʻōiwi/maoli) warrior and ''aliʻi'' (noble) of Puna, Hawai‘i, who turned against Kamehameha I in 1795 during his conquest of Oahu an ...
and his half-brother
Kahekili II Kahekili II, full name Kahekilinuiʻahumanu, (c. 1737–1794) was an ali'i (''Moʻi'') of Maui. His name was short for Kāne-Hekili after the Hawaiian god of thunder. Because Kāne-Hekili was believed to be black on one side, Kahekili tattooed o ...
, the King of Maui, fought for Kāeo, and Niihau was united under his rule. Kawaihoa was banished to the south end of the island and Kāeo moved to the middle of the island to govern. Kāeo married the Queen Kamakahelei, and a future king of Niihau and Kauai named Kaumualii was born in 1790.
Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
and Niihau 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 Kauai and Niihau. Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: bodies covered the beaches on Kauai's eastern shores. Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumualii, the last independent , 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 Kaahumanu (March 17, 1768 – June 5, 1832) (''"the feathered mantle"'') was queen consort and acted as regent of the Kingdom of Hawaii as Kuhina Nui. She was the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I and also the most politically powerful, ...
kidnapped Kaumualii and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Niihau remained part of the unified
Hawaiian Kingdom The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the ...
. Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair (1800–1892) purchased Niihau and parts of Kauai from
Kamehameha IV Kamehameha IV (Alekanetero ʻIolani Kalanikualiholiho Maka o ʻIouli Kūnuiākea o Kūkāʻilimoku; anglicized as Alexander Liholiho) (February 9, 1834 – November 30, 1863), reigned as the fourth monarch of Hawaii under the title ''Ke Aliʻi ...
in 1864 for in gold. Sinclair chose Niihau over other options, including
Waikīkī Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu, Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six ...
and
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
. By around 1875, Niihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
. This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat-weaving made famous by the people of Niihau. (''
Cyperus ''Cyperus'' is a large genus of about 700 species of sedges, distributed throughout all continents in both tropical and temperate regions. Description They are annual or perennial plants, mostly aquatic and growing in still or slow-moving w ...
laevigatus''), a native
sedge The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus ''Carex'' wit ...
, used to grow on the edges of Niihau's three
intermittent lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
s. The stems were harvested and used to weave (mats), considered the "finest sleeping mats in
Polynesia Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...
". The mats were valued by and foreign visitors alike, but by the end of the 19th century, Hawaiians had stopped weaving due to changes in population, culture, economics, and the environment. In 1915, Sinclair's grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most visitors. Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission. Upon Aubrey's death in 1939 the island passed to his son Aylmer, and in 1968 to Aylmer's youngest brother Lester. Upon Lester's wife Helen's death, the island passed to his sons Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, the current co-owners. (See Sinclair-Robinson family tree) Niihau played a small role during the
attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
on December 7, 1941. In what has come to be called the Niihau Incident (or the Battle of Niihau), a
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
pilot whose
Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation Positional notation (or place-value notation, or positional numeral system) usually denotes the extension to any base of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system (or ...
had been hit crash-landed on the island hoping to rendezvous with a rescue submarine. The pilot was apprehended and later escaped with the assistance of local Japanese residents, but he was killed shortly afterwards. Despite its self-imposed isolation, Niihau has a long-standing relationship with the
U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
dating from 1924. There is a small
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
installation on the island. No military personnel are permanently stationed there, but the U.S. military has used the island for training
special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...
units, which included hiring Hawaiians who live on Niihau as "enemy" trackers.Sommer, Anthony
"Niihau: Opening Up."
''
Honolulu Star-Bulletin The ''Honolulu Star-Bulletin'' was a daily newspaper based in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the second largest daily newspaper in the state of Hawaii (after the ''Honolulu Advertiser''). ...
''. May 14, 1999.


Society


Politics

The island of Niihau was considered as a possible location for the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
headquarters in 1944 by
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, who had visited Hawaii in 1934. Under
Cordell Hull Cordell Hull (October 2, 1871July 23, 1955) was an American politician from Tennessee and the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ...
, Roosevelt's Secretary of State, the
State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...
seriously studied the proposal. In 2004 President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
received all but one of the 40 votes cast on the island. The remaining vote was cast for
Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...
nominee David Cobb. Fifty-one registered voters did not cast ballots. In 2006
Dan Akaka Daniel Kahikina Akaka (; September 11, 1924 – April 6, 2018) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Akaka was the first U.S. Senator of Nat ...
received 60% of votes in the 2006 Senate election to Cynthia Thielen's 36%. In 2008, Niihau's precinct was one of only 3 of Hawaii's 538 precincts to vote for
John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
over
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
. McCain received 35 votes, Obama received 4, and
Cynthia McKinney Cynthia Ann McKinney (born March 17, 1955) is an American politician, academic, and conspiracy theorist. As a member of the Democratic Party, she served six terms in the United States House of Representatives. She was the first African American ...
received 1. In the 2016 presidential election, 34 votes were cast for president, of which 20 were for
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
and 10 for
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. In 2020,
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
won 43 out of the 43 ballots cast in Niihau against Joe Biden.


Population

The 2010 census states that there were 170 people living on the island. However, witness accounts estimate that the population actually ranges between 35 and 50 people. Some support themselves largely by subsistence fishing and farming, while others depend on
welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
.Langlas, Charles and Kehaulani Shintani
"''Mälama ka ‘Äina: To Care For The Land''"
eview ''CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship.'' Vol. 3 No. 1 (Winter 2006).
All residents live rent-free, and meat is free. Niihau has no telephone services and no paved roads. Horses are the main form of transportation; bicycles are also used. There are no power lines; solar power provides all electricity. There is no plumbing or running water on the island. Water comes from rainwater catchment. The Robinson family established most of these conditions. There is no hotel, and barges deliver groceries from Kauai, often purchased by relatives, with free shipping. Residents generally speak the
Niihau dialect Niʻihau dialect ( haw, ʻŌlelo Niʻihau, label=Standard Hawaiian, haw, Olelo Matuahine, label=Niʻihau, lit=mother tongue) is a dialect of the Hawaiian language spoken on the island of Niʻihau, more specifically in its only settlement Puʻu ...
of Hawaiian as their first language, in part encouraged by terms in the original purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. The Niihau
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...
differs from modern standard Hawaiian in that, for example, and are the most common realizations of the
phonemes In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-west o ...
and , respectively. Niihau is the only island where Hawaiian is spoken as a primary language. Oral tradition maintains that the Niihau dialect is closer to the Hawaiian register spoken during the time of contact with Europeans; there is linguistic evidence to support this claim, such as the pronunciation of k as . English is the second language. Some residents have radio and television sets, although limited reception effectively limits the latter to watching pre-recorded media. Niihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kauai temporarily, until rainfall replenishes their water supply. Residents commonly also commute to Kauai for work, medical care, or school, and many of them call both islands home. To avoid a long boat ride, the island's owners maintain an Agusta A109 helicopter for emergencies and for transporting Navy contractors and residents to and from Kauai. Helicopter tours and safaris help offset the costs of this service. A form of
ipu Ipu is a percussion instrument made from gourds that is often used to provide a beat for hula dancing. There are two types of ipu, the ipu heke (), which is a double gourd made by taking two gourds of different sizes, cutting them and joining t ...
art is known to have developed solely on the island of Niihau. In this method, after a design is carved in the skin of a fresh
gourd Gourds include the fruits of some flowering plant species in the family Cucurbitaceae, particularly ''Cucurbita'' and ''Lagenaria''. The term refers to a number of species and subspecies, many with hard shells, and some without. One of the earli ...
, it is filled with
dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
which, after several weeks, changes the color of the uncarved portions of the surface where the skin is intact.
Hawaiian music The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part ...
plays a central role on the island, with
a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
singers making use of only two or three tones and changing rhythms.
Ukulele The ukulele ( ; from haw, ukulele , approximately ), also called Uke, is a member of the lute family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It generally employs four nylon strings. The tone and volume of the instrumen ...
and guitar playing is nearly ubiquitous among the islanders, and there are three separate styles of
slack-key Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Portuguese cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiian ...
music, with an older style originating from Kohala.


Education

The
Hawaii Department of Education The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) is a statewide public education system in the United States. The school district can be thought of as analogous to the school districts of other cities and communities in the United States, but i ...
operates the Niihau School, a K-12 school. Academic subjects and computer literacy are combined with teaching students to "thrive from the land". The school is powered entirely by
solar power Solar power is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Photovoltaic cells convert light into an electric current using the photovoltaic e ...
. The number of students varies from 25 to 50 since families often travel between Niihau and Kauai. Schoolchildren may stay with relatives in west Kauai, where they attend one of two Niihau-focused public
charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...
s. At the Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha school, students speak primarily the Niihau dialect through the early elementary grades, and then Hawaiian and English through grade 12. The school has a digital recording and video system, which helps to preserve and teach traditional Niihau and Hawaiian culture. At the other west Kauai school, Kula Aupuni Niihau a Kahelelani Aloha (KANAKA), English is used in all grades, while still supporting the Niihau dialect. Both schools foster the culture, values, and spirituality of Niihau. Efforts to establish KANAKA began in 1993 and its current version was established in 1999.


Economy

Approximately 80% of Niihau's income comes from a small
Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...
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 The Pacific Missile Range Facility, Barking Sands is a U.S. naval facility and airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the central business district of Kekaha, in Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. PMRF is the world's larg ...
. 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 base without the complexity of tourism or industrial development. The sale of shells and shell jewelry is an additional source of income. Its beaches are known for their ''pūpū'', tiny shells that wash onto shore during winter months. Species used for shell leis includes ''momi'' ('' Euplica varians''), ''laiki'' or rice shells ('' Mitrella margarita'') and ''kahelelani'' ('' Leptothyra verruca''). The shells and jewelry are so popular that Governor
Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (''née'' Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician, who was the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. She was the first Republican governor of Hawaii since 1962. Lingle was also the state's first female and first Je ...
signed a bill in 2004 to protect ''lei pūpū o Niihau'' (Niihau shell leis) from counterfeiting. A single, intricate Niihau shell lei can sell for thousands of dollars. Many residents of Niihau were once employees of Niihau Ranch, farming cattle and sheep until the Robinsons shut down the operation in 1999. It had not been profitable for most of the 20th century.
Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...
cultivation was also no longer viable by 1999.
Kiawe ''Prosopis pallida'' is a species of mesquite tree. It has the common names kiawe () (in Hawaii), huarango (in its native South America) and American carob, as well as "bayahonda" (a generic term for ''Prosopis''), "algarrobo pálido" (in some pa ...
charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
was once a large-scale export, but aggressive
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
price competition ended that as well. Mullet farming has been popular on Niihau, with ponds and lakes stocked with baby mullet, which reach apiece before being harvested and sold on
Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
and
Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
. Bruce Robinson, Niihau's co-owner, is seeking and considering new forms of non-invasive income generation. Depending on feasibility, impact, and
ecological footprint The ecological footprint is a method promoted by the Global Footprint Network to measure human demand on natural capital, i.e. the quantity of nature it takes to support people or an economy. It tracks this demand through an ecological accounti ...
on the ecosystem and culture, possibilities include:
JP-8 JP-8, or JP8 (for "Jet Propellant 8") is a jet fuel, specified and used widely by the US military. It is specified by MIL-DTL-83133 and British Defence Standard 91-87, and similar to commercial aviation's Jet A-1, but with the addition of corrosio ...
generation by the
lignocellulose Lignocellulose refers to plant dry matter (biomass), so called lignocellulosic biomass. It is the most abundantly available raw material on the Earth for the production of biofuels. It is composed of two kinds of carbohydrate polymers, cellulose a ...
process; military, including a possible runway; and
windmill A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called windmill sail, sails or blades, specifically to mill (grinding), mill grain (gristmills), but the term is also extended to windpumps, wind turbines, and ...
energy production. Robinson has declined offers to purchase
sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class of s ...
from Niihau's beaches, because of adverse environmental effects.


Tourism

Niihau's owners have offered half-day helicopter and beach tours of the island since 1987, although contact with residents is avoided and no accommodation exists. Since 1992,
hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...
s provide income via tourists who pay to visit the island to hunt eland,
aoudad The Barbary sheep (''Ammotragus lervia''), also known as aoudad (pronounced ɑʊdæd is a species of caprine native to rocky mountains in North Africa. While this is the only species in genus ''Ammotragus'', six subspecies have been describ ...
, and
oryx ''Oryx'' is a genus consisting of four large antelope species called oryxes. Their pelage is pale with contrasting dark markings in the face and on the legs, and their long horns are almost straight. The exception is the scimitar oryx, which l ...
, as well as wild
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...
and
boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is no ...
s. Any meat the hunters do not take with them is given to the village.


In popular culture

* The final missions of the campaigns in the 2007
real-time strategy Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
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''.


References

* * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Niihau Islands of Hawaii Volcanoes of Hawaii Geography of Kauai County, Hawaii Extinct volcanoes Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain Private islands of the United States Pliocene volcanoes Neogene Oceania Cenozoic Hawaii Private islands of Oceania