The FORBIDDEN Island…NI’IHAU.

Perhaps so few talk about it because so few know about it. Well…those who live here know plenty, but it’s not often talked about as The Forbidden Island is an Island where time forgot…a place where time stopped in the 1800’s. For Tourists they hear of a Forbidden Island in passing as they over hear Locals from time to time, but as for tourists and tourism you won’t hear much about NI’IHAU at all. It’s not that we have avoided this subject it’s just that it’s a place Tourism or kama’aina who live here don’t talk much about and if you want to visit this highly forbidden place you’ll be going on a Hunting expedition and the Cost is very high so even fewer people ever see it.

There is a long past to NI’IHAU Island so lets just start off by saying NI’IHAU is UNTOUCHED…250 or so Kanaka Maoli, Native Hawaiians who still all speak Hawaiian live there. They live the same way they lived Hundreds of years ago…no power, no electricity (except solar), no roads and no true running water source as there is very little rain there because of the low mountain range and Kauai. There are however Natural Lakes which is something not often seen in Hawaii. There is very little Vegetation and flowers so the Hawaiians of NI’IHAU use the Sea Shells of NI’IHAU that only show up on the beaches of this island…they use them for Lei making as well as Trade. They are very valuable to those outside of NI’IHAU because they are not only found there on the island they Leis are made by the Hawaiians themselves using old cultural traditions. Some NI’IHAU SHELL LEI’s sell for $30,000.00!

Back in the 1860’s King Kamehameha the IV put the island up for sale. At the time a Kauai resident, Elizabeth Sinclair bought the island for $10,000.00. The crazy thing about this purchase is the King gave her 3 choices of property to buy…The Island of NI’IHAU…Waikiki on Oahu or Pearl Harbor. If she only took Waikiki…lol…it may be laughable today, BUT this is the interesting story with Elizabeth Sinclair…She truly believed in PRESERVING Hawaiian Land and the Hawaiian Culture and once she passed away the island deed went to her descendants of today…THE ROBINSON FAMILY. Her Family continues her commitment of maintaining the current status of NI’IHAU to a time long gone. So why I brought up…what if she bought WAIKIKI?…Well…if she SO VALUED the ways of the past, the Aina and the Kanaka Maoli Culture could you image what Waikiki could have looked like today if her family the Robinsons owned it today? Perhaps Oahu would be a completely different place still lost in a bit of a time lapse…what a dream…unfortunately it’s truly just a dream. But you can also look at it this way…What would have come of NI’IHAU? Perhaps it would be the same as all the other islands and there would be a Culture on the brink…At least we can see and say the Hawaiian Culture is alive and well on NI’IHAU and it represents the Largest Fully functional Hawaiian culture in one place.

Now that we have given you an INTRO to the Forbidden Island…Lets talk about some things you probably didn’t know about NI’IHAU:

1.) The Island of NI’IHAU and the Island of KAHO’OLAWE are OFF LIMITS unless under certain strict circumstances.

2.) There are over 35 Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals that call NI’IHAU home…one of the largest populations on the main Hawaiian islands.

3.