This "Forbidden Island" of Hawaii is Off-Limits to Tourists and Modernity

Feb 1, 2019 Louise Flatley

Just 17 miles off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii, lies a small island. This is Niihau, Hawaii’s “forbidden island”, and it has been insulated from the outside world for more than 150 years.

According to the Huffington Post, Niihau’s relative isolation is the consequence of a family-led project to ensure that the island retains its distinctive, traditional culture in the face of colonialism, globalization, and economic expansion.

As a result of the owners’ efforts to preserve the Niihauan culture, access to this island has been restricted for more than a century.

In 1864, a wealthy Scottish widow named Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair purchased the island from the Hawaiian king Kamehameha V, for $10,000 in gold. This formidable matriarch had brought her children and their growing families to Hawaii from New Zealand, where they had been farmers. According to the New York Times, she intended to establish a ranch on Niihau and saw it as an ideal home for her growing dynasty.

However, at the point of the transaction, the Hawaiian king Kamehameha made a sincere request of the family. Hoping that the traditional culture and way of life on the island would be maintained, he said to the family, “Niihau is yours. But the day may come when the Hawaiians are not as strong in Hawaii as they are now. When that day comes, please do what you can to help them.”'>>>

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2019/02/01/niihau/?