Niihau Island - "Forbidden Island" of the Hawaiian archipelago (USA). Niihau and Kahoolawe Forbidden Islands Memorialization, museumification and controversy surrounding the incident
Population
As of 2009, about 130 people permanently live on the island. Almost all of them are ethnic Hawaiians and live in the largest locality islands - Puuvai village (English)Russian. Part of the island's population receives income from fishing and agriculture, the other part depends on social benefits. Niihau has no telephone service, no cars, and no paved roads. Only horses and bicycles are used as transport. Solar batteries fully provide the population of the island with electricity. Also, there is no running water on Niihau; Water comes from rainwater harvesting. There are no hotels or shops on the island; goods and products are shipped by ship from Kauai.
The native language of the island's population is a dialect of Hawaiian that differs slightly from modern Standard Hawaiian. To date, Niihau is the only island in the archipelago whose main language of the population is Hawaiian.
Some residents of the island have radios and televisions, but the use of the latter is actually limited to watching video cassettes and DVDs due to poor coverage of the territory. Sometimes, during severe droughts, the population of Niihau is completely evacuated to Kauai before the first rains, which can fill the local water supply system. Niihau has a school providing a full 12-year education. Like other buildings on the island, the school is also fully powered by solar panels. The number of students varies from 25 to 50 as many families live part of the time on Kauai. In addition, some students from Niihau study permanently in 2 schools on the island of Kauai.
Island owners
Since 1864, the island has been the private property of the Robinson family. Robinson Family).
Write a review on the article "Niehau"
Notes
Links
- Niʻihau, the last Hawaiian island. - Press Pacifica, 1987. - ISBN 0-916630-59-5.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||
An excerpt characterizing Niihau
– Laissez cette femme! [Leave this woman!] Pierre croaked in a frantic voice, grabbing a long, round-shouldered soldier by the shoulders and throwing him away. The soldier fell, got up and ran away. But his comrade, throwing down his boots, took out a cleaver and menacingly advanced on Pierre.Voyons, pas de betises! [Oh well! Don't be stupid!] he shouted.
Pierre was in that ecstasy of fury in which he did not remember anything and in which his strength increased tenfold. He lunged at the barefoot Frenchman, and before he could draw his cleaver, he had already knocked him down and pounded him with his fists. Approving shouts of approval were heard from the surrounding crowd, at the same time, a horse patrol of French lancers appeared around the corner. The lancers rode up to Pierre and the Frenchman at a trot and surrounded them. Pierre did not remember anything from what happened next. He remembered that he was beating someone, he was being beaten, and that in the end he felt that his hands were tied, that a crowd of French soldiers were standing around him and searching his dress.
- Il a un poignard, lieutenant, [Lieutenant, he has a dagger,] - were the first words that Pierre understood.
Ah, une arme! [Ah, weapons!] - said the officer and turned to the barefoot soldier who was taken with Pierre.
- C "est bon, vous direz tout cela au conseil de guerre, [Okay, okay, you'll tell everything in court,] - said the officer. And then he turned to Pierre: - Parlez vous francais vous? [Do you speak French? ]
Pierre looked around him with bloodshot eyes and did not answer. Probably, his face seemed very scary, because the officer said something in a whisper, and four more lancers separated from the team and stood on both sides of Pierre.
Parlez vous francais? the officer repeated the question to him, keeping away from him. - Faites venir l "interprete. [Call an interpreter.] - A little man in a civilian Russian dress rode out from behind the rows. Pierre immediately recognized him as a Frenchman from one of the Moscow shops by his attire and speech.
- Il n "a pas l" air d "un homme du peuple, [He does not look like a commoner,] - said the translator, looking at Pierre.
– Oh, oh! ca m "a bien l" air d "un des incendiaires," the officer smeared. "Demandez lui ce qu" il est? [Oh oh! he looks a lot like an arsonist. Ask him who he is?] he added.
- Who are you? the translator asked. “You should be answered by the authorities,” he said.
- Je ne vous dirai pas qui je suis. Je suis votre prisoner. Emmenez moi, [I won't tell you who I am. I am your prisoner. Take me away,] Pierre suddenly said in French.
- Ah, Ah! said the officer, frowning. — Marchons!
A crowd had gathered around the lancers. Closest to Pierre was a pockmarked woman with a girl; when the detour started, she moved forward.
"Where are they taking you, my dear?" - she said. - The girl, then where will I put the girl, if she is not theirs! - said the grandmother.
- Qu "est ce qu" elle veut cette femme? [What does she want?] the officer asked.
Pierre was like a drunk. His rapturous state was further intensified at the sight of the girl whom he had saved.
“Ce qu" elle dit? - he said. - Elle m "apporte ma fille que je viens de sauver des flammes," he said. – Adieu! [What does she want? She is carrying my daughter, whom I rescued from the fire. Farewell!] - and he, not knowing himself how this aimless lie escaped from him, with a decisive, solemn step, went between the French.
The French patrol was one of those that were sent by order of Duronel through various streets of Moscow to suppress looting and especially to catch arsonists, who, according to the general opinion that emerged that day among the French of higher ranks, were the cause of fires. Having traveled around several streets, the patrol took another five suspicious Russians, one shopkeeper, two seminarians, a peasant and a courtyard man, and several marauders. But of all the suspicious people, Pierre seemed the most suspicious of all. When they were all brought to spend the night in a large house on Zubovsky Val, in which a guardhouse was established, Pierre was placed separately under strict guard.
At that time in St. Petersburg, in the highest circles, with more fervor than ever before, there was a complex struggle between the parties of Rumyantsev, the French, Maria Feodorovna, the Tsarevich and others, drowned out, as always, by the trumpeting of court drones. But calm, luxurious, preoccupied only with ghosts, reflections of life, Petersburg life went on as before; and because of the course of this life, great efforts had to be made to realize the danger and the difficult situation in which the Russian people found themselves. There were the same exits, balls, the same French theater, the same interests of the courts, the same interests of service and intrigue. It was only in the highest circles that efforts were made to recall the difficulty of the present situation. It was told in a whisper about how opposite one another acted, in such difficult circumstances, both empresses. Empress Maria Feodorovna, concerned about the well-being of the charitable and educational institutions subordinate to her, made an order to send all the institutions to Kazan, and the things of these institutions had already been packed. Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, on the question of what orders she would like to make, with her usual Russian patriotism deigned to answer that about public institutions she cannot make orders, as this concerns the sovereign; about the same thing that personally depends on her, she deigned to say that she would be the last to leave Petersburg.
background
The Japanese command mistakenly considered the island of Niihau, located near Pearl Harbor, to be uninhabited and identified it as the place where the pilots of aircraft seriously damaged during the attack would have to fly. The pilots were told that a submarine would then take them off the island.
In reality, Niihau has been privately owned since 1864 and belonged to the Robinson family. One of them, who lived on a neighboring island but regularly visited his property, still ruled Niihau in 1941, making decisions about who was allowed on the island and who was not. It was permanently inhabited by Hawaiians, as well as a small number of non-Hawaiians, including three Japanese, all of whom would be implicated in the incident.
Incident
Emergency landing
Shigenori Nichekaichi
On December 7, 1941, Japanese pilot Shigenori Nichekaichi (c. 1919 – December 13, 1941), who had taken part in the second wave of the Pearl Harbor raid and whose Mitsubishi A6M Zero had been damaged, directed him to Niihau. During an emergency landing, the aircraft was damaged additionally. Near the landing site was a local resident - Hawaiian Kaleohano. He did not know about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but from the newspapers he was aware of the deterioration in relations between the United States and Japan. Caleojano took the gun and papers from the pilot. At the same time, he and other Hawaiians treated Nichekaichi with respect and showed him traditional Hawaiian hospitality by throwing a party in honor of the downed pilot.
However, they could not understand him, as Shigenori only spoke Japanese, with very limited knowledge of English. So they sent for Ishimatsu Shintani (he was issei, that is, a first-generation immigrant born in Japan), a man of Japanese descent, married to a Hawaiian, to become an interpreter between them. Shintani, however, was unenthusiastic about the task and, after exchanging only a few phrases with the pilot, left without explaining anything. Then the Hawaiians sent for two other inhabitants of the island of Japanese origin (in fact, there were three of them in total) - Yoshio and Iren Harada (both Nisei, that is, second-generation emigrants born outside of Japan, in the country of arrival).
Nichekaichi informed Harada about the attack on Pearl Harbor, knowledge they chose not to share with the non-Japanese-speaking Hawaiians. He also demanded the return of his papers, which, as the pilots had been instructed before the mission, were not to fall into the hands of the Americans. However, Kaleohano refused to hand over the documents. The Harada family decided to help Nichekaichi get them back and escape.
News of the attack on Pearl Harbor
There was no electricity or telephone on Niihau. However, the islanders learned about the Japanese attack on the American fleet by listening to the battery-powered radio. They turned to Nichekaichi, and this time the Haradas were forced to translate his words about the attack. It was decided that the Japanese pilot would leave Niihau when the owner of the island, Aylmer Robinson, visited him on his next weekly visit, but for now he would remain under guard and live in Harada's house.
However, Robinson, usually punctual and reliable, did not arrive on a normal day and the next - the American authorities banned the movement between the islands by boat immediately after the attack, which the inhabitants of Niihau, isolated from the outside world, could not know about. This caused concern among the islanders. Meanwhile, the island's inhabitants of Japanese origin colluded with Nichekaichi.
They sent Cintani to buy the pilot's papers from Kaleohano. However, despite the offer of a large sum by the standards of the islanders, he refused. At the same time, Irene Harada turned up the music and her husband and the pilot attacked the guard. Armed and taking a hostage, they went to the house of Caleohano. He, however, was able to hide and escape when the conspirators were distracted by Nishikaichi's plane, from which one of the machine guns was removed. Kaleohano was shot at, but he was able to warn local residents in the village so they can hide.
Night Escape Kaleohano
Under the cover of darkness, Caleohano returned to his house, took out the hidden papers and handed them over to a relative for safekeeping. Then he, along with other Hawaiians in a small boat, rowed for many hours towards Kawai Island to warn Robinson of the incident. He already knew that something had happened on Niihau, as the islanders were signaling with kerosene and fires. Robinson asked the authorities to let him go to the island, but they remained adamant.
At this time, on Niihau, the Japanese pilot, with the help of Harada and one of the Hawaiian hostages, removed one of the machine guns from the plane and made some manipulations with it. He also attempted to contact the Japanese forces using the aircraft's radio, but was unsuccessful. They then burned Caleohano's house in a final attempt to destroy documents that might have been hidden inside, including radio codes, maps, and the plan to attack Pearl Harbor.
denouement
During the night, the hostage Hawaiians, men and women, were able to attack Nichekaichi and Harada. The first was disarmed and killed, the second committed suicide by shooting himself. Killed by Nichekaichi Ben Kanahele and his wife. Ben received state awards after an incident in which he himself was injured
In the middle of the day on December 14, the Hawaiians, Robinson, and government officials who had sailed earlier for help landed on the island.
Effects
Widowed Irene Harada and Ishimatsu Shintani were taken into custody. The first of them was sent to an internment camp, and then returned to the island and by 1960 received American citizenship.
Irene was imprisoned for 31 months and was released in June . She was not convicted of treason or other crimes committed on the island, and insisted on her innocence, but in a 1992 interview she confirmed her desire to help the pilot. She moved to the island of Kauai, where the woman was once visited by a Japanese officer who became an American evangelist after the war. .
The rusty wreckage of Zero in the museum
Impact on public opinion
Historian Gordon Prange noted that the help of Japanese-born residents to the Japanese pilot undermined the confidence of the Hawaiians in all the Japanese who lived on the islands.
Novelist William Hallstead believes that the incident contributed to the internment of Japanese living in the United States.
Memorialization, museumification and controversy surrounding the incident
The Japanese coastal city of Hashihama commemorated Nichekaichi, who hailed from there, with a 12-foot granite cenotaph. This happened at a time when the circumstances of his death were not known and he was believed to have died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The pilot's family found out the truth about his family and received the remains only in 1956.
The remains of Nichekaichi's plane and the tractor that he used to move around the island are in the museum. There is controversy as to whether the exposition should be about the role of the Harada family in the story.
Notes
Literature
- Beekman, Allan. The Niihau Incident. - Honolulu, HI: Heritage Press of Pacific, 1998. - ISBN 0-9609132-0-3.
- Clark, Blake. Remember Pearl Harbor! . - New York: Modern Age Books, 1942.
- Jones, Syd."Niihau Zero: The Unlikely Drama of Hawaii"s Forbidden Island Prior to, During, and After the Pearl Harbor Attack. - Merritt Island, Florida: JBJ Delta Charlie LC/Signum Ops, 2014.
- Prange, Gordon W. December 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor. - New York: McGraw Hill, 1962.
- Shinsato, Douglas T. and Tadanori Urabe, For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor," eXperience, inc., Kamuela, Hawaii, 2011.
On the opposite side of the last of the Hawaiian straits, Kualakahi (Kauai Island), another, the last, westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a small Niihau, seems to be floating on the sea, but the path there is closed.
On this island, as well as on the very tiny Kahoolave, "foreigners are strictly prohibited from entering."
The two islands are inaccessible to foreigners for various reasons
1. Kahoolawe
The smallest of the eight Hawaiian Islands. It has Lake Halulu, the only lake in Hawaii. The television series "Lost" was filmed here.
The island was killed by soldiers and goats. This small, rather dry piece of land was taken over by two white tenants in the 19th century and began to breed sheep and then goats on it. Insatiable animals in a short time completely destroyed all the vegetation of Kahoolawe, gradually turning it into a real desert with dry, reddish sand.
When the pastures of Kahoolave were exhausted, the island was taken over by the American military aviation and navy. United States Air Force pilots and United States Navy gunners have been using Kahoolawe as a target for their bombing exercises for decades.
So the island, eaten by goats, was finally devastated. I don't know if there is any hope that Kahoolawe will ever rise from the "dead" and become like the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. In any case, it is quite clear why it is strictly forbidden to visit this unfortunate, now so inhospitable island, littered with hundreds and thousands of unexploded bombs, grenades and torpedoes.
And although it is currently still uninhabited and access to it is prohibited, Kahoolawe was returned to the state in 1994. On March 18, 1981, the island was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.
At that time, there were 544 sites of archaeological Kahoolave on the island - the island of rains, which washed its rock down to relic saprolite plateaus, which provided Kahoolawe truly extraterrestrial landscapes that attract trekking lovers to its shores.
2. Niihau
The second of the inaccessible Hawaiian Islands is Niihau.
And, unlike Kahoolawe, this "forbidden island" is in private ownership. That is why visiting the island is strictly limited. The population of the island is 230 people.
I saw him across the Kualakahi Strait, and he did not give the impression of being dead at all. The tragic fate of Kahoolave did not befall him either. Rather, it can be said that rock played a strange joke on the island.
Once upon a time, the entire Niihau became the property of one woman, and under rather unusual circumstances. The woman's name is Elizabeth Sinclair Robinson. She hails from Scotland. This energetic captain's widow successfully raised sheep. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth loaded everything she had on the Betsy sailboat: children, grandchildren, sheep and goats, as well as a piano - a memory of her parents! - and a chest of gold coins. Mrs. Sinclair took the helm of the sailboat and set off on her journey. Yes, even in what! From cold Scotland, she headed for the distant warm seas of Oceania. First, the Betsy anchored off the coast of New Zealand, but Mrs. Sinclair decided to overcome the entire Pacific Ocean. In 1863, the Betsy arrived in Honolulu.
The widow of the captain liked the Hawaiian Islands at first sight. In turn, she immediately endeared herself to the then ruler of the archipelago. Deep mutual sympathy formed the basis of the sale of Niihau. Widow Sinclair purchased the entire island for a mere ten thousand dollars!Moreover, the king offered her the southern coast of Oahu, including the port areas of Honolulu and Waikiki, in addition. However, for this vast territory, the ruler, despite his sympathy for the Scottish woman, demanded fifty thousand dollars. But since, as countless anecdotes say, the Scots are known for being miserly, the price seemed too high to Mrs. Sinclair, and the deal did not take place..
Only a hundred years have passed since then, and the price of this land has increased by at least a million times. And for fifty billion, hardly anyone could buy the famous Waikiki today, not to mention Honolulu with its port. However, for the economical Mrs. Sinclair, the amount of fifty thousand dollars was too much, so she was satisfied with the island of Niihau.
 |
| Niihau, view from Kauai |
After the death of an enterprising woman, Niihau remained the private property of her family. The Robinsons (surprisingly fitting last name for a Pacific island owner!) are still the owners of this westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands. And, I must say, fortunately. The Robinsons banned visits to Niihau. First of all, in order to protect its inhabitants (only purebred Hawaiians live here) from the fruits of the so-called “civilization”, which are so generously reaped on other islands of this archipelago.
At the time when the enterprising Elizabeth acquired Niihau, the Hawaiians living on it were already converted to Christianity. They dressed "in a Christian way", but in everything else they continued to observe their customs. Nothing has changed since then. The strict ban is still in place, and thanks to it, only purebred Hawaiians live on Niihau today. Everywhere on the island only the Hawaiian language sounds, moreover, its old dialect.
Niihau, next door to Kauai, the wettest area on earth, is suffering - what an irony! - from lack of water. Therefore, the inhabitants of the island do not cultivate the land, but breed sheep (thirty thousand heads), cattle and, in addition, Arabian horses. Such an achievement of civilization as a car, fortunately, did not take root on Niihau: there is not a single car on the entire island! There are no cops here, no jail.
 |
| Niihau |
The inhabitants of the island completely voluntarily gave up such "joys of life" as alcohol and tobacco (there is only one exception: a foreigner, the director of a local school, the inhabitants of Niihau Island are allowed to smoke cigars in his own office). Niihau has no televisions or a cinema. Until the end of the Second World War, there was not a single telephone and radio! Those receivers that the population uses today are battery operated. Communication with the outside world (that is, in this case with Kauai) until recently was maintained (and this is in the 20th century!) in an absolutely amazing way: signs were transmitted using fires lit on both sides of the strait separating the forbidden island from Kauai. Recent times are marked by some progress in Niihau's relations with the inhabitants of the neighboring island: messages to Kauai are now sent with carrier pigeons.
This "proud loneliness" of Niihau was broken - fortunately, only for a few short hours - during the war. Fighting in the Pacific broke out, as you know, after a surprise attack by Japan on the Hawaiian Islands - on naval base at Pearl Harbor. At that time, the Polynesians living on Niihau did not have a single radio. It is not surprising that they had no idea about any bombing of the capital, especially about declaring war.
In turn, the inhabitants of Kauai were so shocked by the news that the radio brought that they forgot to inform their neighbors about what had happened (this could only be done with the help of fire). The news of the war was not long in coming on Niihau. Saving his life and the plane, one of the Japanese pilots who took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor landed on the island. More than once in Hawaii I heard stories about the adventures of this Uninvited Guest Niihau, the first foreigner to enter the forbidden island. In fact, the story that happened to the Japanese on Niihau has already become a legend known throughout the archipelago. I know so many variants of it that I would not even dare to defend the one that seems to me the most truthful and tells about a kind of “battle for Niihau” in full accordance with historical reality.
However, let's return to the beginning of this amazing story and its hero - a Japanese pilot, a participant in the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor. When the fuel ran out, the pilot made a last-minute emergency landing on Niihau. During the landing, he lost consciousness. The Hawaiians looked at the intruder with interest and seized his tablet with maps and other documents.
Having come to his senses, the pilot was surprised to find himself on an unknown island belonging to the Americans. He realized that a small area was inhabited only by Polynesians, who at first glance seemed to him very primitive, but decisive creatures: they took away his tablet with documents. The Japanese immediately realized that on the whole island, perhaps, not a single gun, not a single pistol could be found! He, a warrior of the imperial army, had a machine gun in his hands - in this situation, the weapon is very formidable. He demanded:
- Give back the cards, otherwise I will shoot!
However, neither his words nor the gun made any impression on the Hawaiians. Then the pilot put the muzzle of the machine gun to the chest of the old woman, but she calmly began to read a prayer. The Japanese chose a person in the crowd who, as it seemed to him, was probably involved in the theft. The suspect's name was Kanaele. The pilot attacked him with abuse, but Kanaele, like the rest of the Hawaiians, did not understand a word of Japanese. Then the imperial warrior became furious and shot at the disobedient islander. The bullet hit the thigh, but the Polynesian did not move an eyebrow. The pilot fired again and wounded Canaele in the groin. The third shot hit him in the stomach. Only then did the pilot force Kanaele to draw attention to himself. The Hawaiian, grabbing the pilot by the throat, threw him with all his might against the stone wall. The pilot died immediately. What happened to Canaele? Before losing consciousness from the pain, he managed to say:
“Never shoot a Hawaiian more than twice, he might get angry on the third!”
So the inhabitants of the island of Niihau, professing the peaceful philosophy of aloha, won their first victory over the Japanese. After Kanaele smashed the pilot's head against a stone wall, peace reigned on the island again. From that minute to this day, when I write these lines, four decades have passed, and during this time uninvited guests never appeared on Niihau again. True, in 1960, another pilot disappeared in this area of \u200b\u200bthe archipelago along with his plane. On this occasion, a carrier pigeon was sent from Kauai to ask if the missing pilot had happened to be on Niihau. The inhabitants of the island sent with the same pigeon a lapidary telegraph-style reply. It contains the whole philosophy on which their existence is based: “There is not a single stranger on the island. We are not waiting for anyone."
Even in our time, when people have already visited the moon, it is impossible to set foot on the land of Niihau. I must say that I took this strict ban especially hard. The fact is that this is not my first book about Hawaii. Many years ago I wrote the story of a young Hawaiian and it was set on this island. As far as I know, this is the only book that takes place on Niihau. Nevertheless, even its author does not have access to it.
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the ban on visiting Niihau gives rise to all sorts of legends and rumors about the mysteries of this island. There were always people who, by all means, sought to unravel the secret of the island, to penetrate it in any, often completely incredible way: they sailed here on private submarines or tried to land on the shore in small inflatable boats, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Niihau Island still stubbornly keeps its secret.
However, its solution is not so complicated: the desire to faithfully preserve one's traditions, one's customs, one's language, one's way of life is quite understandable. This "secret" could be adopted from the inhabitants of Niihau by the peoples of some other, much more developed and progressive countries, for there is no loyalty more true than loyalty to oneself.
 |
| Niihau |
Today, Niihau is still the same ecologically clean island with bicycles and solar panels, inhabited by representatives of the indigenous population. The village of Puuavi is a great place to learn about the ancient culture of the Hawaiians, and the shores of the picturesque Lake Halulu will decorate your stay on Niihau with their beauties.
However, you can only visit the island if you have an invitation from a member of the Robinson family or a native Hawaiian living on Niihau.
/the article uses excerpts from
books by M. Stingl "Enchanted Hawaii"
I know no more about the Hawaiian Islands than you do - Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, volcanoes: Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, Kilauea, and something else on the little things. It turned out that there is one very interesting island in the Hawaiian archipelago - Niihau. I found out about him quite by accident, after reading the material about the Japanese military pilots during the attack on the United States.
It turns out that the island has been a private property for many decades. Owned by the Robinson family. The area of the island is 179.9 sq. km. The island is about 30 km long and about 10 km wide; its maximum height above sea level is 381 m. It is the seventh largest island in the archipelago.
In 1863, King Kamehameha IV sold the island for $10,000 to Elizabeth Sinclair Robinson. She hails from Scotland. This energetic captain's widow successfully raised sheep. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth loaded everything she had on the sailboat "Betsy": children, grandchildren, sheep and goats, as well as a piano - a memory of her parents! - and a chest with gold coins. Mrs. Sinclair took the helm of the sailboat and set off on her journey. From cold Scotland she headed for the distant warm seas Oceania. First, "Betsy" anchored off the coast of New Zealand, but Mrs. Sinclair decided to overcome the entire Pacific Ocean on her ship. In 1863, the Betsy arrived in Honolulu. The widow of the captain liked the Hawaiian Islands at first sight. In turn, she immediately endeared herself to the then ruler of the archipelago. Deep mutual sympathy formed the basis of the sale of Niihau. Moreover, the king offered her the southern coast of Oahu, including the port areas of Honolulu and Waikiki, in addition. However, for this vast territory, the ruler, despite his sympathy for the Scottish woman, demanded fifty thousand dollars. But, the price seemed too high to Mrs. Sinclair, and the deal did not take place.
The island is a closed territory and only representatives of the US administration, the Department of Defense and Health can visit it. Even the governor of the Hawaiian Islands cannot visit the island without the permission of the owners!
Only those born on it can live on the island. Population in this moment is 250 people who cannot leave the island without the permission of the owners, again. Movement is allowed either on foot or by bicycle. fresh water is obtained by harvesting rainwater, and electricity - from solar panels.
Recently, safari tours have been organized on the island. True, the latter are not cheap - $ 1,750 per hunter, $ 500-1,300 for everyone else.
The US government offered to buy the island for 1 billion (!) dollars, but the current owners refused this offer.
The Hawaiian archipelago consists of several islands. One of the most mysterious and interesting is the island of Niihau. This island is the seventh largest among all the islands of this archipelago, its area is almost one hundred and eighty square kilometers. At the same time, the island is one of the most sparsely populated. On Niihau, according to official figures, only about two hundred and fifty people live. This number of inhabitants is due to the fact that only native Hawaiians can live on the island.
The history of Niihau Island is interesting, so in 1863 Queen Kamehameha IV decided to sell the island and it was acquired by Elizabeth Sinclair, who lived on a neighboring island, for only ten thousand dollars. Subsequently, the heirs, the Robinson family, began to own the island. It is the owners of the island who are trying to preserve the traditions and cultures of the Hawaiian people. At the same time, it is here that the Hawaiian language is not only the first language, but also today the only one.
The main mystery of Niihau Island is that the island is closed, that is, only native Hawaiians or people invited by the inhabitants of the island or members of the Robinson family can visit it. Niihau Island in Hawaii is called the "Forbidden Island", which is how it became known throughout the world. If you do not have an invitation from its inhabitants, you can only see this island from a distance, that is, during a helicopter ride or while snorkeling. You can also take a boat ride near the island, but you cannot approach it up to a certain distance. If you are a snorkeller, you can enjoy the beauty underwater world around the island without the ability to go ashore.
The vegetation of Niihau Island is not as diverse as on the other islands of Hawaii, as the island is rather dry. On the beach of the island you can find shell Leia. This shell has a high value among shell flower collectors. One sink can be valued up to several thousand dollars. The inhabitants of the island mostly work on the ranch of the island's owner, Robinson. Livestock is raised here, fruits and vegetables are grown. The inhabitants of the island are also engaged in fishing and hunting. For hunting, they use ropes and nets that they weave with their own hands, spears and knives. At the same time, there are absolutely no shops, cars and hotels on the island. Residents of the island of Niihau travel exclusively on bicycles or on foot.
