Kalawao, encompassing the Kalaupapa Peninsula (also known as the
Makanalua Peninsula,) is midway along the North Shore of Moloka‘i.
Archaeological evidence suggests the earliest settlers in the peninsula
probably lived in the Waikolu Valley in the A.D. 1100-1550 timeframe. At that time, people had been living in the
windward Hālawa Valley for hundreds of years.
The Kalaupapa Peninsula, however, was probably not occupied until
slightly later, perhaps around 1300-1400 A.D.
On the peninsula where it is dry and there are no permanent streams,
people built field walls to protect crops like sweet potato (‘uala) from the
northeast tradewinds. The remnant field
walls can be seen from the air as one arrives at Kalaupapa Airport.
In wetter areas near the base of the cliffs, people built garden
terraces. True pond field agriculture
may have only been practiced in the Waikolu Valley or at the mouth of the
Waihanau Valley.
The first peoples of Kalaupapa also collected marine resources along
the shore, the reef, and offshore except when strong winter storms prevented
it. People visited other parts of the
island both by canoe and by trail over the cliffs.
In 1905, the Territorial Legislature passed a law that formed the basis
of modern government in Hawaii, the County Act, forming local County
governance.
While we easily recognize the four main Counties in Hawai‘i: Kaua‘i,
O‘ahu, Maui and Hawai‘i; we often overlook the County of Kalawao, Hawai‘i’s 5th
County (encompassing the Kalaupapa Peninsula and surrounding land.)
The four main Counties are governed by elected County Councils. Kalawao is under the jurisdiction of the
state's Health Department; the director of Health serves as the Kalawao County
‘Mayor.’
State law, (HRS §326-34) states that the county of Kalawao consists of
that portion of the island of Moloka‘i known as Kalaupapa, Kalawao and Waikolu,
and commonly known or designated as the Kalaupapa Settlement, and is not a
portion of the County of Maui, but is constituted a county by itself.
This area was set aside very early on as a colony for sufferers of
Hansen's disease (leprosy.) The
isolation law was enacted by King Kamehameha V; at its peak, about 1,200 men,
women and children were in exile at Kalaupapa.
The first group of Hansen's disease patients was sent to Kalawao on the
eastern, or windward, side of the Kalaupapa peninsula on January 6, 1866.
The forced isolation of people from Hawaiʻi afflicted with Hansen's
disease to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula lasted from 1866 until 1969.
This is where Saint Damien and Blessed Marianne Cope (to be canonized
October 12, 2012) spent many years caring for the lepers.
On January 7, 1976, the “Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement” was designated a
National Historic Landmark to include 15,645 acres of land and waters.
On April 1, 2004, the NPS renewed its cooperative agreement with the
State of Hawai‘i, Department of Health for an additional twenty years, entitled
“Preservation of Historic Structures, Kalaupapa.” The NPS is maintaining utilities, roads and
non-medical patient functions and maintenance of historic structures within the
park.
Access to Kalaupapa is severely limited. There are no roads to the peninsula from
“topside” Molokaʻi. Land access is via a steep trail on the pali (sea cliff)
that is approximately three miles long with 26 switchbacks.
Air taxi service by commuter class aircraft provides the main access to
Kalaupapa, arriving and departing two to four times a day, weather permitting.
Mail, freight, and perishable food, arrive by cargo plane on a daily
basis. The barge brings cargo from
Honolulu to Kalaupapa once a year, during the summer months when the sea is
relatively calm.
While at DLNR, I had the opportunity to visit Kalaupapa on two
occasions: once on a visit to the peninsula to review some of its historic
buildings, the other as part of a planning retreat/discussion with the National
Park Service.
The image is art done by Edward Clifford of the Kalaupapa Settlement in
the 1880s. In addition, I have added
additional images of Kalawao - Kalaupapa in a folder of like name in the Photos
section of my Facebook page.
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