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History

Stories about Molokai’s rich cultural history.

Marine Corps Consultations to Be Held on Molokai Airport Use

Friday, March 23rd, 2012

Marine Corps Base Hawaii News Release
Marine Corps Base (MCB) Hawaii is proposing renewed use of the Molokai Airport as a re-fueling location for MV-22 “Osprey” and H-1 “Huey” and “Cobra” helicopters, as well as increased use of Kalaupapa Airport by the H-1 helicopters. On Tuesday March 27, at Mitchell Pauole Center conference room from 5 to 7 p.m., the Marine Corps is holding National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 consultations to discuss issues and concerns related to potential effects on historic properties in the vicinity of these airports.

MCB Hawaii initiated Section 106 consultations in November 2010, and expanded consultations in December, 2011, to include discussions of other locations in Hawaii outside Oahu.…

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Old News, New Meaning

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

From 1834 to 1948, over 125,000 pages of Hawaiian language newspaper were printed. However, those pages are crumbling, and the knowledge they contain would otherwise be lost if not for the efforts of Awaiaulu, an organization dedicated to publishing Hawaiian texts whose staff has been working for the past 10 years to preserve and digitize the newspaper pages.

Now, an Awaiaulu initiative called `Ike Ku`oko`a – or Liberating Knowledge – is gathering volunteers statewide to type word for word thousands of Hawaiian articles into a searchable format.

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A Day in Molokai’s History

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

A Day in Molokai’s History

Community contributed by Arleone Dibben-Young

Forty-eight years ago, on Sept. 30, 1963, Papohaku Beach was stormed in “Operation Dull Knife,” a military exercise involving 7,000 Marines and 17 Navy ships. The first two waves of the ship-to-shore assault beached without incident aboard LVTP-5 landing crafts, known for their superior surfing capabilities. The following three waves consisting of 21 LCVP landing crafts were not as fortunate and all vessels broached in the large surf, spilling troops into the rough seas.

Fifteen boats were demolished, in some cases the engine blocks being the largest surviving pieces. Marine Helicopter Squadron 161, on hand to support inland maneuvers, rushed to the coast to lift much of the troops, supplies and equipment safely ashore. Remarkably, there were no fatalities.

Remnants of military maneuvers, such as fencing and rolls of barbed wire dating back to WWII, can still be found today beneath the shifting sand dunes of Papohaku. In 2002, the dog tags of a pastor involved in the 1963 exercises were discovered during a native plant dune restoration.

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Kalaupapa Courage Recognized

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Kalaupapa Courage Recognized

In the face of great injustice, they lived exemplary lives – and for that, the patient-residents of Kalaupapa were individually honored last week with certificates from Hawaii’s state legislature. Mounted on plaques, the certificates honored the patients’ lives and apologized for their mistreatment.

An estimated 8,000 Hansen’s disease patients were abruptly taken from their families to live on the peninsula in forced isolation from 1866 to 1969. They were nevertheless “remarkably resilient and have responded to their plight with kindness, generosity, and forgiveness rather than anger, bitterness, and despair,” the plaques read in part.

House Representatives John Mizuno and Faye Hanohano spearheaded the resolution to individually honor the patient-residents and conducted the ceremony at McVeigh Hall last Tuesday. A total of 17 former patients in the state received plaques, including those currently living outside Kalaupapa.

“Thank you very much,” patient-resident Gloria Marks told them when she received her plaque. She was one of five Kalaupapa patient-residents who accepted her plaque in person on Tuesday.

Clarence “Boogie” Kahilihiwa, also expressed his appreciation of the honoring.

“It’s nice to get recognized,” he said after the ceremony.

The certificates also recognized Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 208. The resolution was passed in 2008 as the government’s first official apology to the residents of Kalaupapa for their exile. They made note, too, of Saint Damien de Veuster, who spent his life in the settlement.

The patient-residents are “living remnants of the history of Kalaupapa,” Mizuno said after the ceremony. He and Hanohano began discussing ways to acknowledge their lives individually around March, he said.

“This may be the last opportunity to thank them and apologize,” Mizuno said. “It’s very important as we’re getting to the end of a chapter.”

Mark Miller, the Department of Health administrator for the Kalaupapa settlement, said he found out about the representatives’ visit about two days before they arrived. He and the patients were unsure what was to be presented until the meeting actually happened, he said.

“It was getting time we recognized the circumstances surrounding the patients’ involvement with having to stay here,” he said of the plaques. “It’s a good thing.”

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Connecting the Names

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Connecting the Names

Last Wednesday evening found a group of Molokai residents poring through lists of names. They were looking for anything familiar, searching for clues that would connect them to the thousands exiled to Kalaupapa.

“We’re talking about names, but behind every name is a person and a family,” said Anwei Law, a historian who has been visiting Kalaupapa for about 40 years.

Many came to the workshop led by Ka `Ohana O Kalaupapa with one name they already knew – and left with dozens of possible relatives. The Kalaupapa Names Project is a statewide initiative to gather information about the estimated 8,000 individuals who were sent to the peninsula beginning in 1866. Fewer than 1,000 of those people have marked tombstones. The `Ohana – a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the memory of Hansen’s disease patients (also known as leprosy) – has found over 7,000 names, according to Law. The names will become part of the Kalaupapa Memorial, a project currently being planned to honor those who lived and died on the peninsula.

Over 700 remain unknown – and it’s now up to their families around the state to help identify them.

“It seems like everyone has a family connection and that’s what we’re looking for,” said `Ohana secretary Valerie Monson.

,” said Law.

Letters from patients give insight into the isolated lives they led. A letter from J.N. Loe, one of first 12 people sent to Kalaupapa, “didn’t ask for clothing, didn’t ask for food – it asked for a newspaper,” Law explained.

Photos offer another key to both history and identification.

“We always show photos and hope that someone will recognize them,” said Law. The `Ohana has asked families – and residents who may not know they have family history in Kalaupapa – from across the state to review names, correct spelling and add information to help complete the puzzle.

Sol Kaho`ohalahala, an `Ohana board member and Lanai resident, recalled the first time he found out he had family in Kalaupapa.

In 1996, he was invited to attend a conservation workshop on the peninsula, and by chance met a kupuna who turned out to be his uncle’s wife – “an uncle no one ever talked about,” he said. On a tour of the peninsula, Kaho`ohalahala then discovered a tombstone next to Siloama Church marked “Lillian Kaho`ohalahala.”

“My heart was heavy… I cried the whole weekend,” he recalled. “Our ohana are all part of that aina – their bones are there, their spirit is there… and we have a responsibility…. All who lived and died there should never be forgotten,” he told Molokai residents last week.

Set in Stone

The Kalaupapa Memorial, a vision begun by patients decades ago, was authorized by President Obama in 2009. Since then, patients have chosen its site – where the old Balwin Home used to stand in Kalawao – and an environmental assessment is currently in process. The group is waiting for the final go-ahead from the National Park Service (NPS), according to Kaho`ohalahala. They expect a “no impact” ruling.

The `Ohana are also in negotiations with the NPS to sign a general agreement for the memorial. The agreement spells out, among other issues, who will be responsible for the building, maintenance, funding, design and rights to the historical documents and archives that have contributed to the memorial. The `Ohana must raise all the financial support to build and maintain the monument – no federal funding has been provided. The `Ohana is also negotiating to maintain “intellectual rights” of the research documents, according to Kaho`ohalahala.

Next year, the `Ohana will “put out a call” for the memorial’s design, he added. Families, and even students, will have the chance to participate in the conceptual design of the monument. Criteria will include holding the 8,000 names and creating a design that will “fit” in the selected location.

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Reinstating the Hawaiian Nation

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Reinstating the Hawaiian Nation

On March 13, 1999, a group of Kanaka Maoli reinstated the former Hawaiian government of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Since the overthrow of the government in 1893 by a group of European and American landowners, the Kingdom and its citizens have been living under the laws of the United States. Now, the reinstated Hawaiian nation boasts nearly 400 “nationals” in Hawaii and nine on Molokai, according to Prime Minister Henry Noa.

Noa visited Molokai earlier this month to discuss the nation and the progress it has made. Since 1999,the reinstated Hawaiian nation has reconstructed its government, with executive, legislative and executive branches and offices of the House of Nobles and Representatives; conducted elections for the nation; passed laws, including amending its constitution in 2000; and developed government departments, such as the Dept. of Health and the Dept. of Transportation, and more.

“It’s you that can make the difference now to make this sovereignty stand up – all you have to do is participate,” said Noa.

“[The U.S. government is] taking everything from us – culture, identity, lands, everything,” said Duke Kalipi, representative for the Molokai district – one of 24 districts in the reinstated nation. “We all can make this work if we unify – we can get the recognition we deserve.”

Following the Law
The goal, Noa said, is to “reclaim the inherent sovereign right of absolute political authority and jurisdiction in Hawaii.” These rights, he explained, are possible under international law. The international law of perfect right, according to Noa, states that every sovereign nation does not have to ask another sovereign nation what it can or cannot do.” The former Hawaiian nation was recognized as a sovereign nation, and the perfect right was never relinquished.

“As long as there was no Hawaiian government, there was no one to give the land back to,” said Noa.

On the day of the overthrow, Queen Lili`uokalani sent a letter of protest of the U.S. president, invoking international law by stating her objection to the overthrow. One hundred years later, in 1993, President Bill Clinton signed a resolution acknowledging the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and apologizing to Native Hawaiians for the United States’ participation in the overthrow.

Noa marked a distinct difference between his goals and the Akaka Bill. Under the Akaka Bill, Noa said, Hawaiians will still be subject to U.S. laws, whereas the sovereign nation is only subject to their own laws. Noa also placed the Akaka Bill as an example of “imperfect” international law, as opposed to perfect right. The bill, he said, asks permission of the occupying government to return to sovereignty, rather than “reinstating their inherent right to sovereignty on their own.”

The group’s ultimate goal, said French, is to become a sovereign nation, rather than a state under the U.S.

Citizenship

In order to become a citizen, Kanaka Maoli and others who wish to support the cause must take classes to understand the government, process and rights. They must pass a citizenship test, give up their U.S. citizenship and swear an oath of allegiance. As citizens, they will be given a Hawaiian Kingdom ID, certificate of citizenship, birth/marriage certificates, driver’s license, vehicle registration and license plates and other documents.

– most people don’t even realize what is theirs,” said Noa.

Teams on every island will be organized to work peacefully on the effort. Molokai’s nationals have already erected one ahu on the island in Ulalpue on east end, according to French, and plan to continue.

Noa and French stressed it is not the intention to place ahu on private kuleana lands, and they ask for understanding if land identification errors are made.

“Building a nation is not an easy task – I have nine children and I thought that was hard – but this is way harder.”

“We gotta work together,” said Kalipi. “In 50 years there won’t be kanaka left – we’ll just be in legends and memory.”

For more information, visit hawaii-gov.net, or call Duke Kalipi on Molokai at 213-5416.


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Open House for Kalaupapa Planning

Monday, June 13th, 2011

Open House for Kalaupapa Planning

Preserving, protecting and sharing Kalaupapa is a delicate process – a balance between government agencies, the settlement’s history of both Native Hawaiians and Hansen’s disease patients, and family members and tourists who want to learn all they can about Kalaupapa. The National Park Service (NPS) has been collecting mana`o and ideas from all spectrums for the Kalaupapa General Management Plan and draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The General Management Plan (GMP) process officially began in 2009 with several public scoping sessions. NPS staff planners then came up with four alternatives, incorporating four different ways the park could be managed for the next 15-20 years.

Last week, NPS held another public session, open house style at the Mitchell Pauole Center.  They presented four potential plans as they stand now, and asking for more opinion to ensure all opinions are heard.

“[We want] to really connect with the community, to make sure we’re not missing things along the way,” said Steve Prokop, NPS superintendent for Kalaupapa.

Everyone’s experience with Kalaupapa should be “hands on,” said Boogie Kahilihiwa, a patient living in Kalaupapa who attended the topside open house. Kahilihiwa said any plan should ensure the entire history of the peninsula is included. “[We’re] not the only ones telling the story, but [the visitor] is there [feeling it].”

,” he said.

Other comments included residents’ requests for more local access to the area, and more agricultural and cultural perpetuation. Karen Holt, executive director of the Molokai Community Service Council, suggested involving resource management from topside organizations.

“Kalaupapa will forever serve as a place of knowledge,” Waros added.

Moving Forward
Comments will continue to be taken until July 16, and NPS offers a variety of ways to get involved. The public can complete the electronic comment card at parkplanning.nps.gov/kala (the preferred method); email to KALA_GMP@nps.gov; send a letter to Superintendent Prokop (Kalaupapa National Historical Park, P.O. Box 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742); or call 567-6802 ex. 1103.

The GMP and draft EIS are due for public review eight months to a year from now, according to Prokop, and the final review will be done in 2013. NPS expects implantation of the approved plan and subsequent statements (EIS, Cultural Impact Statement, etc.) to begin in 2013.

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How Cola Gave Molokai Clean Water

Thursday, June 9th, 2011

Community Contributed by Chik Hirayama

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Hawaiian Language Lives On

Monday, May 16th, 2011

Hawaiian Language Lives On

`Olelo Hawaii filled the Molokai High School Hawaiian Immersion graduation ceremony, and dozens of lei rose to the noses of the graduates last Friday evening.

The ceremony was the culmination of five students’ knowledge of Hawaiian language and culture: Kekukuimawaenaokamokumaikekuahiwiakalaniikekai  Kaiama-Lenwai, Kealakai Alcon, Keakaokalani Kaiama, Ka`imiola Sagario and Kailana Eheu`ula Ritte-Camara.

Each graduate spoke in Hawaiian for about 10 minutes in front of an audience of 100 people at their garden at Molokai High School. The students also recited their “Oli Mo Okuahuhau,” or genealogical recitation.

language and culture thriving on Molokai,” he said.

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Blessed Marianne Cope Returns

Monday, April 25th, 2011

Blessed Marianne Cope Returns

While St. Damien is a household name on Molokai, Blessed Mother Marianne Cope isn’t far behind in the process of being declared a saint. A relic of the venerated nun, who served in Kalaupapa with Damien, will be on display on Molokai on May 6 and 7.

Not only did Mother Marianne leave her home in New York to care for Hansen’s disease patients in Kalaupapa and Honolulu for 35 years, but she also founded the first hospital on Maui, as well as Hilo General Hospital and orphanages for children around the state.

“I am hungry for the work, I am not afraid of the disease, hence it would be my greatest delight even to minister to the abandoned lepers,” said Mother Marianne in response to a request to serve in Hawaii, in 1883, according to blessedmothermarianne.org.

,” Lau said. “She assured none of our sisters will contract Hansen’s disease. And nobody has. That in itself is a miracle, I think.”

Mother Marianne spent the last thirty years of her life in Kalaupapa taking care of those exiled there, never having a chance to return to her home in New York before dying of natural causes.

During her time there, she helped start the construction of the Bishop Home in Kalaupapa for homeless women and girls affected with Hansen’s disease. She also opened the Kapiolani Home on Oahu for daughters of Hansen’s disease patients.

Possible Sainthood
In order to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church, two miracles must be attributed to the subject and verified by the Vatican in Rome; Mother Marianne has one miracle to her name. In 1992, a cancer patient, Kate Mahoney, touched a relic of Mother Marianne and was healed shortly after. Doctors were dumbfounded by her recovery, and she is still alive today.

There is currently one more alleged miracle attributed to Mother Marianne, but the details of it have not been released.

Marianne’s first phenomenon was verified in the late 1990s.  Another possible miracle is being reviewed by the Vatican in Rome, but the details of it have not been released.

The relic comes just in time for her six-year anniversary of being declared Blessed.  She gained beatification in 2005, which is the third step of four in the canonization process.

Mother Marianne’s efforts on Oahu earned her the Royal Medal of Kapiolani. Upon arrival in 1883, the Sister’s first task was to take care of newly diagnosed Hansen’s disease patients at Branch Hospital. A year later, she founded Malulani Hospital, the first hospital on Maui.


Mother Marianne met St. Damien two years before he was diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, in 1884. He was so satisfied with her and her Sisters’ work, he requested that they take over for him in Kalaupapa after he died.

Blessed Mother Marianne Cope’s relic will be on display at Kalaniana`ole Hall on May 6 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and at St. Damien Center until midnight for prayers. From there, it will be transported to St. Francis Church at 10:30 a.m. on May 7.

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