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History

Stories about Molokai’s rich cultural history.

Molokai Rocks

Friday, May 3rd, 2013

Molokai Rocks

A look at the island’s quarries

By Emily Sumners and Catherine Cluett

Rock mining isn’t one of Molokai’s more well-known industries, but it nonetheless plays an important role on the island. Molokai rock is used to pave all the island’s roads, form the cement for its buildings and sidewalks, provides gravel to repair its dirt roads and stones for its rock walls. Since mining poses certain risks and dangers, it is recommended that they offer msha new miner training to their workers.

In mining operations, the use of electric motors plays a crucial role in powering various equipment, from drills and crushers to conveyors and pumps.…

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Halau Reunites for Aunty Moana

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

Halau Reunites for Aunty Moana

Thousands of supporters from Molokai, Hawaii and around the world gathered on Molokai April 27 to celebrate the life and legacy of Aunty Moana Dudoit. Members of the late kumu hula’s halau over the past 40 years reunited, performing together in remembrance of Dudoit, who died March 16 at the age of 73.

The celebration, which followed a memorial service for friends and family, honored Dudoit with hula, food and togetherness. Dudoit’s grandniece Zhantell Dudoit emceed the event, adding humor and commentary as different generations of the halau took the stage. Dudoit’s sister Raquel Dudoit, who also led the halau, helped provide music for the dancers.…

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Revisiting Kalaupapa History

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

Revisiting Kalaupapa History

There’s a new history of Kalaupapa, revealed through stories told by those with Hansen’s disease exiled to the peninsula. Over the past 40 years, historian and author Anwei Skinsnes Law explored photos, letters and lost sources. She shared what she found in her book “Kalaupapa: A Collective Memory.”

“We have to let the people of Kalaupapa be the interpreters of their own history,” Law said during a book signing at Kalele Bookstore in Kaunakakai April 24.

The individual stories intertwine throughout the book, just as she discovered them intertwining during her research. From the first exiles sent to the peninsula in 1866 to the last generation of patients who came after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the book – and Law’s career – aims to debunk the myths surrounding the settlement.…

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Library Turns the Page on Hawaii History

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Library Turns the Page on Hawaii History

The Native Hawaiian Library quietly serves Molokai, offering programs and resources to children and adults while enduring as a place of learning and discovery.

Located in behind the Lanikeha Community Center and the Ho`olehua fire station, the library is the only one of its kind currently operating in Hawaii. It features an array of Hawaiian resources together in one place. Program Assistant Nani Kawa`a said this allows for new discoveries about the history of the islands and a place to share these discoveries with others.

“Our books are being rewritten because of people looking closer at history and looking for actual documents,” she said, noting a presentation in January offering discoveries on Hawaii becoming a state.…

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Kamakou: 30 Years of Preservation

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Kamakou: 30 Years of Preservation

High in the mountains of Molokai, nature and history grow together in a forest that echoes with the riches of ancient Hawaii. A narrow boardwalk trails through depths of vivid green. Drops of water rest upon leaves and moss, and stillness is interrupted only by the occasional bird or damsel fly.

Kamakou Preserve appears to be effortlessly pristine, an abundance of native life remained untouched since ancient times. But the prese
rve as it appears today is a result of 30 years of human determination. It represents an effort to reverse the effects of invasive species, restore native qualities and maintain a connection between culture and nature.…

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Tradition of Adaptive Management

Tuesday, April 9th, 2013

Community Contributed

By Aha Kiole O Molokai

When it comes to the land and ocean, we are aware that laws have been created and maintained by the State of Hawaii, with the intent to help regulate the usage and continuity of the resources. It has become evident that the management system long-used in Hawaii has not served to keep Hawaii’s resources healthy and abundant. One of the key differences between our current state practices and traditional Hawaiian resource practices — and why the system of the past worked — is that each island and moku division based their management decisions on the environmental conditions of their own areas.…

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Future Scientists Get a Sense of Our Past

Friday, March 29th, 2013

Future Scientists Get a Sense of Our Past

Community Contributed

By Bradford Duval

Every few years, science teacher Erron Yoshioka along with 15 eager science club members and two other teachers travel to Molokai from Moanalua High School on Oahu. During their spring break, they take in Molokai and gain a shared sense of history and perspective on some of the old ways and how it relates to their scientific lessons and explorations.

Sharing knowledge with those willing to learn is a specialty of 2013 Umu Kai Award winner Uncle Mac Poepoe’s, and on the students’ recent trip to Mo`omomi, learn they did.

Starting at the main pavilion, the students were able to learn about pono fishing techniques, and how traditional Hawaiian practices tie in to the science of fishery management.…

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Prince Kuhio Day

Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Prince Kuhio Day

Homesteaders and Molokai residents celebrated Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole’s birthday Saturday on the island where his Hawaiian Homes Commission Act was first put into practice.

“If it weren’t for the success of homesteads on Molokai, the [Hawaiian homestead] program wouldn’t still be around,” event organizer Kammy Purdy said. Prince Kuhio’s 132nd birthday was honored with food, music and a ho`okupu at the Lanikeha Community Center.

Prince Kuhio was next in line for the throne when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown in 1984. He later became a congressional delegate and championed for the rights of Native Hawaiians. His 1920 Hawaiian Homes Commission Act provided homelands for the people he represented.…

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Celebrating Coffees

Sunday, March 24th, 2013

Celebrating Coffees

Coffee, keiki and good causes brought the crowds up to Kualapu`u this weekend as Coffees of Hawaii celebrated 20 years of harvests in the area and 200 years of coffee in Hawai`i.

“She was pretty much abandoned when I came here ten years ago,” Coffees of Hawaii owner Mike Atherton said about the plantation, adding he was proud that he was able to keep the company harvesting coffee through the years.

March 16 was declared Coffees of Hawaii Day at the opening ceremonies Friday. The event led into an afternoon parade and evening festivities, including Project Runway: Plantation Style, where teams competed at the Kualapu`u Center to create the best fashion piece out of burlap and plastic paper without sewing.…

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Prince Kuhio Day 2013 – UPDATED

Wednesday, March 20th, 2013

Please note: Location of the Molokai Prince Kuhio celebration this Saturday is at Lanikeha in Ho`olehua, not at Kiowea Park as originally noted. 

Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole was next in line for the throne when the Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1894. Though this was when the Hawaiian monarchy came to an end, it was just the beginning of a lifetime of activism and accomplishments for Prince Kuhio.

Prince Kuhio went to prison for treason as he attempted to restore the monarchy. He left Hawaii after being released from prison, and when he returned, Hawaii was a territory of the U.S.…

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