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History

Stories about Molokai’s rich cultural history.

Marking the Past

Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

Marking the Past

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor 

A project that is mapping unmarked graves in Kamalo is bringing names and histories to those buried there. 

The St. Damien Burial Council invited UH researchers to help document gravesites at St. Joseph’s and Our Lady of Seven Sorrows churches at the behest of former pastor Father Brian Guerrini back in 2020. 

Molokai resident Pat Tancayo has worked closely with the project since its inception.

“There’s a lot of history there,” said Tancayo. 

Tancayo was given access to church burial records and has continued to make new discoveries about the cemetery at St. Joseph’s. 

Longtime Kamalo community members told Tancayo stories about where certain people had been buried.…

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Grand Opening of the Molokai History Project

Wednesday, September 27th, 2023

MHP News Release 

Join the grand opening of the Molokai History Project at 145 Ala Malama Street, Unit 103, 9:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 6.  Blessings will be by Uncle Jimmy Duvauchelle and welcoming remarks by Donna Paoa. 

Following the passing of Dr. Aluli late last year, there was a groundswell of support to establish a place on Molokai to share our collective histories and cultural objects.

Over the past few months, a group of 15 plus individuals have met to brainstorm ways to make this possible.  Most recently, our group met with Pulama Lima, the executive director of Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center, a local non-profit already doing heritage preservation work on Molokai.…

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Aloha Kupunas

Wednesday, September 20th, 2023

Aloha Kupunas

Molokai History Project News Release

We’re making progress.  The Molokai History Project is opening on Friday, Oct. 6, to display and care for Molokai’s history.  It is the beginning of a museum for our island and our wonderful fascinating history.  Now, we need docents to help keep the doors open with a two-hour shift.  We will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday.  We would love to have your help.  If you have an extra two hours one day a week, please give us a call.  It will be fun to chat with those who stop in to see what it is all about, to share your memories of Molokai, and to answer visitors’ questions on what to do while on Molokai.…

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Molokai History Project Updates

Wednesday, September 6th, 2023

Molokai History Project Updates

Molokai History Project News Release 

Every day we are working in our space, next to the Credit Union in Kaunakakai, to have everything ready to open on Friday, Oct. 6.  We’ve had two garage sales to raise money to pay the rent, we are painting the entire space so it’s fresh and bright, and we are collecting memories of days gone by from folks in the community who would like to share.  We welcome any help offered to us.  We need board members to help make decisions as the project grows, we need docents to keep the doors open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m.…

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Molokai History Project

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

Following the passing of Dr. Aluli late last year, there was a groundswell of support to establish a place on Molokai to share our collective histories and cultural objects. Over the past few months, a group of 15 plus individuals have met to brainstorm ways to make this possible. Most recently, our group met with Pulama Lima, the executive director of Ka Ipu Makani Cultural Heritage Center, a local nonprofit already doing heritage preservation work on Molokai. As a curator, Lima emphasized the importance of keeping and preserving our history on island, and the need for these artifacts to be cared for as required by conservation standards.…

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Kawela-Kīpū Connection 500 Years Ago

Wednesday, July 19th, 2023

Community Contributed

By Marshall Weisler, Archaeologist

Stone adzes were vitally important to ancient Polynesians and every household had several sizes and shapes for a range of woodworking tasks. Not every rock is ideal for adze making so locations with fine-grained rock, known as quarries, were sought after from the earliest times. A small but important adze quarry is located three miles east of Kawela at Pu‘u Pāpa‘i. And rock from that quarry has an important story to tell.

First a little background. The Pu‘u Pāpa‘i quarry is unique in its “chemical signature” or its “rock DNA.” Rocks from different islands, and sometimes different volcanoes or even separate lava flows, can have a unique chemical composition.…

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Passing of a Generation: The Last of Molokai’s 442 Veterans

Wednesday, July 5th, 2023

Passing of a Generation: The Last of Molokai’s 442 Veterans

By Jack Kiyonaga, Reporter 

With the recent passing of Robert Goro Uemura, a chapter has eclipsed. It is believed that Uemura was the last living member of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team from Molokai. 

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed in 1943 and comprised of Nisei, or second generation Japanese Americans, during World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese Americans were subjected to Executive Order 9066, declaring people of Japanese ancestry as threats to the state. This resulted in the loss of civil rights and, in certain areas, internment. Despite this degradation of liberty, when the call went out to form an all Japanese American unit in 1943 — the military still being segregated at the time — thousands of Nisei, mostly from Hawaii, volunteered. …

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Molokai-Made Hip Hop Album Wins Na Hoku Hanohano

Wednesday, July 5th, 2023

Molokai-Made Hip Hop Album Wins Na Hoku Hanohano

By Catherine Cluett Pactol | Editor

Back in 2020, Molokai resident, educator and artist Maile Naehu got a message from a friend about a curriculum that teaches American history through hip hop. It struck a chord to do something similar, but with Hawaiian history. She “sat” with the idea for a while, as the pandemic brought lockdowns. 

Then one morning, inspiration hit. 

“As soon as I woke up, all the ideas came for this project and what it might look like and I remember I told Hano [her husband], ‘The ideas are coming!’” she said. “Because a lot of times when we have creative projects, it’s like a lightning bolt hits me and I have to sit down and start typing and writing all these ideas out.…

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Kawela Archeology Site Among Earliest in Hawaii

Wednesday, June 14th, 2023

Kawela Archeology Site Among Earliest in Hawaii

By Catherine Cluett Pactol | Editor

An archeological site in Kawela has recently been found to be one of the earliest known habitations in the Hawaiian Islands. Originally excavated in 1981, the Kawela Mound site has benefitted from advances in technology, radiocarbon dating and sample methods that have led archologist Marshall Weisler — who has been studying Molokai historic sites for nearly 50 years – to some groundbreaking conclusions. 

“At the time [1981], I thought the site was about 500 years old based on two radiocarbon dates processed soon after the excavations,” said Weisler. “However, dating techniques have greatly improved over the years and I redated the site using another 19 samples.…

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March for Kawakiu Access

Thursday, May 11th, 2023

March for Kawakiu Access

By Catherine Cluett Pactol and Jack Kiyonaga

At 7 a.m. last Saturday, more than 100 Molokai residents stood at the gated entrance to Kawakiu, an area of west Molokai owned by Molokai Properties Limited, also known as Molokai Ranch. For those gathered, Kawakiu represents not only a cultural and historic site, but also generational subsistence grounds.

“We’re walking for our young people so they can go hunting and fishing here… it’s a constant battle to keep your rights alive,” said activist Walter Ritte to the gathered crowd waiting to march the dirt road that is currently blocked to the beach. “Kawakiu is a historic site, there are burials over there, house sites over there, heiau over there.”…

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