Nickname: The Friendly Isle, ʻĀina Momona | |
|---|---|
 Satellite image of Molokaʻi | |
 Location in thestate of Hawaiʻi | |
| Geography | |
| Coordinates | 21°08′06″N157°00′36″W / 21.13500°N 157.01000°W /21.13500; -157.01000 |
| Area | 260 sq mi (670 km2) |
| Area rank | Fifth-largestHawaiian Island |
| Highest elevation | 4,961 ft (1512.1 m) |
| Highest point | Kamakou |
| Administration | |
| Symbols | |
| Flower | Kukui |
| Color | ʻŌmaʻomaʻo (green) |
| Largest settlement | Kaunakakai |
| Demographics | |
| Demonym | Molokaian |
| Population | 7,345[1] |
| Pop. density | 28/sq mi (10.8/km2) |
Molokaʻi orMolokai[a] is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up theHawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of thePacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a usable land area of 260 sq mi (673.40 km2), making it the fifth largest in size of the main Hawaiian Islands and the27th-largest island in the United States.[4] It lies southeast ofOʻahu across the 25-mile-wide (40 km)Kaʻiwi Channel and north ofLānaʻi, separated from it by theKalohi Channel.
The island's agrarian economy has been driven primarily by cattle ranching,pineapple production,sugarcane production and small-scale farming. Tourism comprises a small fraction of the island's economy, and much of the infrastructure related to tourism was closed and barricaded in the early 2000s when the primary landowner, Molokai Ranch, ceased operations due to substantial revenue losses. InKalawao County, on theKalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast, settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons withleprosy; these operated until 1969. TheKalaupapa National Historical Park now preserves this entire county and area. Several other islands are visible from the shores of Molokaʻi, including Oʻahu from the west shores; Lānaʻi from the south shores, andMaui from the south and east shores.
The island is known under several names by the local population: Molokaʻi ʻĀina Momona (land of abundance), Molokaʻi Pule Oʻo (powerful prayer), and Molokaʻi Nui A Hina (of the goddess Hina).
Both the formMolokai (without anʻokina) andMolokaʻi (with) have long been used by native speakers of Hawaiian, and there is debate as to which is the original form, with conflicting claims as to which the elders used.[5] TheUSGS and the Hawaiʻi Board on Geographic Names use the form with the ʻokina.[6]
Molokaʻi developed from two distinctshield volcanoes known asEast Molokaʻi and the much smallerWest Molokaʻi. The highest point isKamakou[7] on East Molokaʻi, at 4,970 ft (1,510 m). Today, East Molokaʻi volcano, like theKoʻolau Range onOʻahu, is what remains of the southern half of the original mountain. The northern half suffered a catastrophic collapse about 1.5 million years ago and now lies as a debris field scattered northward across the bottom of thePacific Ocean.[8] What remains of the volcano on the island include the highestsea cliffs in the world.[9] The south shore of Molokaʻi boasts the longestfringing reef in the U.S. and its holdings—nearly 25 mi (40 km) long.[10]
Molokaʻi is part of the state ofHawaii and located inMaui County, Hawaii, except for the Kalaupapa Peninsula, which is separately administered asKalawao County. Maui County encompasses Maui,Lanai, andKahoolawe in addition to Molokaʻi. The largest town on the island isKaunakakai, which is one of two small ports on the island.Molokai Airport is located on the central plains of Molokaʻi.
TheUnited States Census Bureau divides the island into threecensus tracts, Census Tract 317 and Census Tract 318 of Maui County and Census Tract 319 of Kalawao County. The total2010 census population of these was 7,345,[11] living on a land area of 260.02 sq mi (673.45 km2).[12] Molokaʻi is separated from Oahu to the northwest by theMolokai Channel, from Maui to the southeast by thePailolo Channel and from Lanai to the south by theKalohi Channel.
The Kauhako Crater Lake is asoda lake.[13]
Molokaʻi is split into two main geographical areas. The low western half is very dry and the soil is heavily denuded due to poor land management practices, which allowed over-grazing by deer and goats.[14] It lacks significant ground cover and virtually the entire section is covered in non-nativekiawe (Prosopis pallida) trees. One of the few natural areas remaining almost intact are the coastaldunes ofMoʻomomi, which are part of aNature Conservancy preserve.
The eastern half of the island is a highplateau rising up to an elevation of 4,900 ft (1,500 m) on Kamakou peak and includes the 2,774-acre (11.23 km2; 4.334 sq mi) Molokai Forest Reserve.[15] The eastern half is covered with lushwet forests that get more than 300 in (7,600 mm) of rain per year. The high-elevation forests are populated by nativeʻōhiʻa lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha) trees and an extremely diverse endemic flora and fauna in theunderstory. Much of the summit area is protected by the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou and Pelekunu valley preserves.
Below 4,000 ft (1,200 m), the vegetation is dominated by introduced and invasive flora, includingstrawberry guava (Psidium littorale), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus spp.), and cypress (Cupressus spp.). Introducedaxis deer (Axis axis) andferal pigs (Sus scrofa) roam native forests, destroying native plants, expanding spreading invasive plants through disturbance and distribution of their seeds, and threatening endemicinsects. Near the summit of Kamakou is the uniquePēpēʻōpaebog, where dwarfʻōhiʻa and other plants cover the soggy ground.
Molokaʻi is home to a great number ofendemic plant and animal species. However, many of its species, including theolomaʻo (Myadestes lanaiensis),kākāwahie (Paroreomyza flammea), and theBishop's ‘ō‘ō (Moho bishopi) have becomeextinct. Molokaʻi is home to a wingless fly among many other endemic insects.
It used to be thought that Molokaʻi was first settled around AD 650 byindigenous peoples most likely from theMarquesas Islands. However, a 2010 study using revised, high-precision radiocarbon dating based on more reliable samples has established that the period of eastern Polynesian colonization of the Marquesas Islands took place much later, in a shorter time frame of two waves: the "earliest in the Society Islandsc. 1025–1120, four centuries later than previously assumed; then after 70 to 265 years, dispersal continued in one major pulse to all remaining islandsc. 1190–1290."[16] Later migrants likely came fromTahiti and other south Pacific islands.
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Although CaptainJames Cook recorded sighting Molokaʻi in 1778, the first European sailor to visit the island wasCaptain George Dixon of the British Royal Navy in 1786.[18] The first significant European influence came in 1832 when a Protestant mission was established at Kaluaʻaha on the East End of the island by theReverend Harvey Hitchcock. The first farmer on Molokaʻi to grow, produce and mill sugar and coffee commercially wasRudolph Wilhelm Meyer, an immigrant from Germany who arrived in 1850. He built the first and onlysugar mill on the island in 1878, which is now a museum.
Ranching began on Molokaʻi in the first half of the 19th century whenKing Kamehameha V set up a country estate on the island, which was managed by Meyer and became what is now the Molokai Ranch.[19] In the late 1800s, Kamehameha V built a vacation home inKaunakakai and ordered the planting of over 1,000 coconut trees in Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove.[20]
Leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) was introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by traders, sailors, workers and others who lived in societies where it wasendemic. Sugar planters were worried about the effects on their labor force and pressured the government to take action to control the spread of leprosy.
The legislature passed a control act requiring quarantine of people with leprosy. The government establishedKalawao located on the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula on the northern side of Molokaʻi, followed byKalaupapa as the sites of a leper colony that operated from 1866 to 1969. Because Kalaupapa had a better climate and sea access, it developed as the main community. A research hospital was developed at Kalawao. The population of these settlements reached a peak of 1,100 shortly after the beginning of the 20th century.
In total over the decades, more than 8,500 men, women and children living throughout the Hawaiian islands and diagnosed with leprosy were exiled to the colony by the Hawaiian government and declaredlegally dead. This public health measure was continued after the Kingdom became a U.S. territory. Patients were not allowed to leave the settlement nor have visitors and had to live out their days here.[21]
Arthur Albert St. Mouritz served as a physician to the leper settlement from 1884 to 1887.[22][23][24] He explained how leprosy was spread.[25]
Pater Damiaan de Veuster (Father Damien), aBelgianpriest of theCongregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as a missionary for 16 years in the communities of sufferers of leprosy.Joseph Dutton, who served in the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment during theAmerican Civil War and converted toRoman Catholicism in 1883, came to Molokaʻi in 1886 to help Father Damien and the rest of the population who suffered from leprosy. Father Damien died at Kalaupapa in 1889 while Joseph Dutton died in Honolulu in 1931 at the age of 87.Mother Marianne Cope of theSisters of Saint Francis of Syracuse, New York, brought six of her Sisters to work in Hawaiʻi with leprosy sufferers in the late 19th century, also serving on Molokaʻi.
Both Father Damien and Mother Marianne have beencanonized as Saints by the Roman Catholic Church for their charitable work and devotion to sufferers of leprosy. In December 2015, the cause of Joseph Dutton was formally opened, obtaining him the titleServant of God.[26]
In the 1920s, people confined in the leper colony were treated with a new method devised byAlice Ball and involvingchaulmoogra oil.[27][28] In the 1940s,sulfonamide drugs were developed and provided a more effective treatment. AntibioticDapsone has been used for leprosy since 1945.[29] Modern Multidrug therapy (MDT) remains highly effective, and people are no longer infectious after the first monthly dose.[30]
In 1969, the century-old laws of forced quarantine were abolished. Former patients living in Kalaupapa today have chosen to remain here, most for the rest of their lives.[31] In the 21st century, there are no persons on the island with active cases of leprosy, which has been controlled through medication, but some former patients chose to continue to live in the settlement after its official closure.[32]
Over the yearsMolokai Ranch has also acted as a developer, establishing hotels and related amenities for resort tourists on their property.[33] The local indigenous community fought for many decades to inhibit the development by Molokai Ranch in order to preserve their community and unique way of life. In some cases, protests have become violent, such as fence cutting, poisoning of the Ranch's exotic African Safari animals in 1994, an arson attack in Kaupoa in 1995, and the destruction of 5 mi (8 km) of Ranch water pipes in 1996.[34][35]
In 2007, community residents organized the "Save Laʻau Point" movement to oppose Molokai Ranch's attempt to expand its resort operation.[36] As a result, on March 24, 2008, Molokai Ranch, then the island's largest employer, decided to shut down all resort operations, including hotels, movie theater, restaurants, and golf course, and dismiss 120 workers.[37] In September 2017 the company that owns Molokai Ranch,Singapore-based Guoco Leisure Ltd, put this 55,575-acre (22,490 ha) property, encompassing 35% of the island of Molokaʻi, on the market for $260 million.[38] After years of neglect, residents haveorganized and formed the Molokai Heritage Trust to determine how to eventually buy back the land, return it to the stewardship of the local community, and protect it from exploitation.[39]
Due to the fight against development and tourism, Molokaʻi has Hawaii's highest unemployment rate. The residents have fought hard to maintain a lifestyle based on indigenous subsistence practices. This lifestyle is not without challenges, however, and many live below the federal poverty line. One third of its residents usefood stamps.[40] As of 2014[update], the largest industry on the island is seed production forMonsanto andMycogen Seeds, includingGMO seeds.[40]
The tourism industry on Molokaʻi is relatively small, compared to the other islands in Hawaiʻi. Only 64,767 tourists visited Molokaʻi in 2015.[41] For decades, residents of Molokaʻi have resisted private developers' attempts to increase tourism because of the irreparable changes to community and culture that are associated with a tourism industry. Accommodations are limited; as of 2014, only one hotel was open on the island. Most tourists find lodgings at rental condos and houses.
National Geographic Traveler magazine and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations conduct annual Destination Scorecard surveys, aided byGeorge Washington University. In 2007, a panel of 522 experts insustainable tourism and destination stewardship reviewed 111 selected human-inhabitedislands andarchipelagos around the world. Molokaʻi ranked 10th among the 111 destination locales. The survey cited Molokaʻi's undeveloped tropical landscape, environmental stewardship, and rich, deep Hawaiian traditions (the island'smana). The neighbor islands ofHawaiʻi,Kauaʻi,Maui andOʻahu, ranked 50, 61, 81 and 104, respectively.[42]
Molokaʻi is believed to be the birthplace of thehula. The annualMolokaʻi Ka Hula Piko festival is held on this island.[43]
Molokaʻi can be reached by plane. Planes fly into Molokaʻi daily from other Hawaiian islands including Oʻahu (Honolulu and Kalaeloa), Maui (Kahului) and Hawaii (Kona), operated byMokulele Airlines, Paragon Air andHawaiian Airlines.[44][45][46]
A ferry that formerly sailed between Molokaʻi andLāhainā Harbor, Maui closed operations on October 27, 2016. Sea Link President and Senior Capt. Dave Jung attributed the closure to competition from federally subsidized commuter air travel and declining ridership.[47][48]
The island of Molokaʻi is served by Molokaʻi General Hospital, which operates all day, every day. It is also serviced by Molokai Community Health Center.
All areas of the state of Hawaii are in one school district:Hawaii State Department of Education.
The island public school system includes four elementary schools, one charter school, one middle school, and one high school,Molokaʻi High School. There is also a community college.[49] The island has one private middle/high school.[50]
TheHawaii State Public Library System operates the Molokai Public Library in Kaunakakai.[51]
The island contains many parks and other protected areas, but most parks do not have service staff, potable water, or restroom facilities. Parks within the Maui County parks jurisdiction include Palaʻau State Park, Kiowea Beach Park, Kakahaiʻa National Wildlife Refuge, Molokaʻi Forest Reserve, Pelekunu Preserve, George Murphy Beach Park, Hālawa Beach Park, and Papohaku Beach Park (with a 2 mi [3.2 km] beach) in the portion within Maui County. Today Kalawao County is preserved by theKalaupapa National Historical Park (accessible by guidedmule or hiking tour).[52][53]
The island can be traversed by a two-lane highway running east to west: Highway 460 (Maunaloa Highway) from the west side town of Maunaloa to Kaunakakai, and Highway 450 (King Kamehameha V Highway) from Kaunakakai to the Hālawa Beach Park. Highway 470 is a spur up to the barrier mountains of Kalawao County and the Kalaupapa peninsula. By land this area (Kalaupapa) can only be reached by a hiking trail. Mule rides on the trail were suspended in 2018 when the trail temporarily closed due to a landslide and bridge damage. Most access to the Kalaupapa peninsula is by sea.
Maui Economic Opportunity operates public transportation on Molokaʻi.[54]
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)Editor's note: SFGATE recognizes the importance of diacritical marks in the Hawaiian language. We are unable to use them due to the limitations of our publishing platform.
15 Ala Malama Ave, Kaunakakai, HI 96748, United States
Molokaʻi travel guide from WikivoyageState ofHawaii | |
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| Society | |
| Main islands | |
| Northwestern Islands | |
| Notable communities | |
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| Pre-statehood history | |
Islands, municipalities, and communities ofKalawao County, Hawaii,United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities |  | |
| Ghost Towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Islands, municipalities, and communities ofMaui County, Hawaii,United States | ||
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| Other communities | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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