 | |
  Nīhoa | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument |
| Coordinates | 23°03′38″N161°55′19″W / 23.06056°N 161.92194°W /23.06056; -161.92194 |
| Archipelago | Northwestern Hawaiian Islands |
| Area | 0.69 km2 (0.27 sq mi) |
| Administration | |
United States | |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 0 |
Nīhoa,[1] also writtenNihoa and also known asBird Island orMoku Manu, is the tallest of ten islands and atolls in the uninhabitedNorthwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). The island is located at the southern end of the NWHI chain, 296 km (160 nmi) southeast ofNecker Island. Nīhoa is the closest NWHI in proximity to the eight main windwardHawaiian Islands at approximately 240 km (130 nmi) northwest of the island ofKauaʻi. The island has two peaks, 272 m (892 ft) Miller's Peak in the west, and 259 m (850 ft) Tanager Peak in the east. Nīhoa's area is about 171 acres (0.69 km2) and is surrounded by a 142,000-acre (57,000 ha)coral reef. Its jagged outline gives the island its name, fromHawaiiannīhoa "toothed, serrated".[2]
The island is home to 25 species of plants and several animals, making it the most diverse island in the entire NWHI. Endemic birds like theNīhoa finch andNīhoa millerbird, and endemic plants likePritchardia remota andSchiedea verticillata are found only on Nīhoa.Amaranthus brownii was considered the rarest plant on Nīhoa and has not been directly observed on the island since 1983, and is now considered to be extinct. The plant communities and rocky outcrops provide nesting and perching areas for 18 species of seabirds, such asred-footed boobies andbrown noddies, terns, shearwaters, and petrels. Prehistoric evidence indicates Native Hawaiians lived on or visited the island around AD 1000, but over time the location of Nīhoa was mostly forgotten, with only an oral legend preserving its name. CaptainJames Colnett rediscovered the island in 1788, andQueen Kaʻahumanu visited it in 1822. It was made part of theKingdom of Hawaii byKing Kamehameha IV.
In 1909, Nīhoa became part of the Hawaiian Islands Reservation, a federal wildlife refuge established by U.S. PresidentTheodore Roosevelt. TheTanager Expedition surveyed the island in 1923, taking a comprehensive biological inventory of its many species. In 1940, it became part of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Wildlife Refuge and in 1988, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its culturally significant archaeological sites. In 2006, it became part of thePapahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Efforts are underway to ensure that endangered plant species are propagated beyond their limited range and represented inex situ collections. Persons intending to visit Nīhoa for cultural and scientific research purposes require aUSFWS-issued special-use permit to land on the island so as to reduce the risk ofintroducing alien species to Nīhoa's already fragile ecosystem.
Nīhoa is part of theHawaiian – Emperor seamount chain of volcanic islands, atolls, and seamounts starting from the island ofHawaiʻi in the southeast to theAleutian Islands in the northwest. It is the youngest of ten islands in the uninhabited Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), having formed 7.2 million years ago; the oldest,Kure Atoll, formed 30 million years ago. Over the millennia, Nīhoa has experienced significanterosion; along with Necker, French Frigate Shoals, and Gardner Pinnacles, Nīhoa is one of only four islands in the NWHI that still has an exposed basalt rock substrate.[3] Six valleys slant down from north to south, meeting at the south side of the island: West Valley, West Palm Valley, Miller Valley, Middle Valley, East Palm Valley, and East Valley.
The valleys slant towards Adam's Bay (Hanakaʻieʻie) on the south side, which also has a sea cave.[4]
Among features on Nīhoa are Dog's Head Peak (358 ft or 109 m), named for its likeness, and Pinnacle Peak (626 ft or 191 m), avolcanic dike created when less resilient rock was eroded away and harder rock was open to the elements. The only flat area on the island is Albatross Plateau, just below Miller's Peak. The Devil's Slide is a narrow cleft descending 700 feet (210 m) irrespective of the surrounding elevation. Extending northward from Albatross Plateau, it ends at the vertical cliffs with a 190-foot (60 m) drop straight down to the ocean below. In this chasm, rareferns grow, along with severalendemic species, including agiant cricket.[5]
The island is about 1371 meters long going from east to west, and 274–914 meters wide.[4] The overall shape is that of a half saddle, with one side having sheer cliffs and the other sloping towards the ocean.[4][6]
Nīhoa's inaccessibility and lack of majorguano deposits made the island unattractive to humans, helping to preserve itsendemic species from extinction. Because of Nīhoa's small size, most of its endemic organisms areendangered, as one single disaster, such as an island-wide fire or an introduction ofinvasive species, could wipe out the whole population. One such invasive species is thegray bird grasshopper,Schistocerca nitens; from the period between 1999 and 2003, grasshoppers devastated much of the vegetation on the island and posed a real threat to the continued health of plants on Nīhoa.[7] The following year, the numbers decreased and the vegetation became lush again. The grasshoppers probably came to Nīhoa by way of wind fromKauai.
The north side of the island's cliffs are mostly bare, but the sloping valleys are covered with a variety of grasses and shrubs.[4] The two most common grasses on these slopes areEragrosis Varabilis andPanicum torridum.[4]
There is also a variety of scrubs and bushes on the island slopes, such asChenopodium sandwicheum and ilima bushes (Sida fallax).[4]
Unique species include:
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The island forms part of the Northwest Hawaiian IslandsImportant Bird Area (IBA), designated as such byBirdLife International because of its seabirds and endemic landbirds.[8]
Nīhoa Island Archeological District | |
 View of Nīhoa Island | |
 | |
| Nearest city | Kauai,Hawaii |
|---|---|
| NRHP reference No. | 88000640[9] |
| Added to NRHP | June 13, 1988 |
Nīhoa was well known to theearly Hawaiians. Archaeological expeditions found extensive prehistoricagricultural terraces and house sites.[10] At least one site has been dated to around the 1st millennium AD, sometime between 867 and 1037.[11] There is some doubt as to the number of people that lived on Nīhoa, because while the large terraces suggest a considerable number, there is scantfresh water to be found. ArchaeologistsKenneth Emory[12] and Paul Cleghorn[13] estimate that water could support as many as 100 people, although if the island were previously forested, this would have increased fresh water supplies relative to its current state. Because of the island's importance, the island was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1988, and subsequently became part ofPapahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in June 2006.
Nīhoa, along withNecker Island to the northwest, is among the most northern, isolated, smallest and driest of the high volcanic Hawaiian islands, and receives the lowest dust andtephra input. All of these features were found to strongly predictdeforestation among thePacific Islands. The abandonment of Nīhoa may be tied to deforestation although this has not been proven and small groves of trees were noted in the major drainage valleys during survey work conducted in 1928.[12]
Artifacts recorded on the island represent a unique material culture demonstrating restraint in the utilization of wood. A number of artifact types such as bowls and human figures calledki'i that elsewhere in the Hawaiian chain would have been made out of wood were instead carved from stone, a lengthy and labor-intensive process.[14] Archaeological sites on the island are similar to other site types within the Hawaiian islands and include both packed dirt and stone terraces likely for habitation and agricultural uses on the steep slopes of the island, cave shelters, andheiau.[14]
Theheiau on Nīhoa andNecker Islands are unique in the Hawaiian chain representing a raised pavement of basalt stones with upright stones placed across this pavement often near the edges[12] as opposed to the form common to other islands in the chain represented by a high stacked stone wall enclosing a central space. This difference in form represents an earlier iteration of Hawaiian monumental architecture that offers a unique perspective on cultural norms prior to the abandonment of Nīhoa.[15] Thanks to this difference in form, scholars often use the term 'marae' as opposed to 'heiau' in reference to these structures and some scholars argue that the shift in form represents a shift in ritual practice in Hawaii.[16]
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The first Westerner to discover Nīhoa was CaptainJames Colnett of thePrince of Wales, on March 21, 1788. Due to Colnett's lengthy absence from England, including his imprisonment by the Spanish for his part in theNootka Sound Incident, the discovery was once widely accredited to CaptainWilliam Douglas of theIphigenia, who sighted Nīhoa almost a year later.[17]
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The abandoned settlements seen by the early explorers caused Nīhoa and Necker islands, to be called the 'mystery islands'.[14] However, this term is used more generally to refer to any island in the Pacific that was similarly abandoned prior to European contact.
By the end of the 18th century, Nīhoa had been forgotten by most Hawaiians. In 1822,Queen Kaʻahumanu and her husbandKing Kaumualiʻi traveled with Captain William Sumner to find Nīhoa, as her generation had only known the island through songs andmyths.[10] Later, KingKamehameha IV sailed there to officially annex the island as part of theKingdom of Hawaiʻi. Finally, in 1885,Princess Liliuokalani made a pilgrimage to Nihoa with her escorts, but their luncheon was cut short when one of the party ignited awildfire by accident. The group tried to flee the island, but the risingtides made it difficult and several boats were flooded, destroying some of the photographs taken.[18] On this visit a carved basalt bowl was found and taken back to the main islands by the Queen.[14]
In 1859 the position of Nīhoa island was determined by the survey schooner,USSFenimore Cooper.[4]
During 1923-24 the Tanager expedition was a noted scientific exploration of Nīhoa island.[19] This resulted in various biological and archeological discoveries.[20][21]
The Tanager expedition conducted the first archeological survey of the island.[4] Evidence of an ancient settlement on Nīhoa was discovered, along with platforms, terraces, and human remains.[20]
Noted events include finding a specimen ofAmaranthus brownii and the discovery of theNīhoa millerbird which was formally namedAcrocephalus familiaris kingi,[21]
On this expedition, several hundred Loulu fan palms were counted on the island.[4] Twenty other flowering plants were also noted at this time.[4]
Examples of exploration work:[4]
On the Tanager expedition they also found the remnants of a modern fishing camp in a cave near the landing, with some leftover coats and bags of rice.[4]
Pas[sive]/imp[erative]. of niho; toothed, serrated, notched, jagged, sharp...
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23°03′38″N161°55′19″W / 23.06056°N 161.92194°W /23.06056; -161.92194
