The Forgotten Island….Niihau, Hawaii


 

There are (8) islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands. Some say Las Vegas is number (9). Hawaiians love to vacation in LV.

 

There is one island off the coast of Kauai, “Niihau”, private, lost in time.

 

Located a scant 17 miles off the coast of Kauai, Niihau may be geographically near, but it’s a world apart. Despite having a number of permanent residents, the island has no roads, no cars, no stores, no restaurants, no internet, no electricity, and no indoor plumbing. Even though people do live there year round, they have very little contact with the outside world.

Niihau is currently owned by the Robinson family, descendants of the Sinclairs who originally obtained ownership from King Kamehameha V in 1864 for $10,000 worth of gold (a huge sum of money for the time). The king requested that the family protect the island and its residents from outside influences — and that promise is still being upheld to this day.

Thanks to its lack of technological advancement, the island is like a real-life social experiment into what life would be like without all the advancements of modern times. The permanent residents live the same as they did hundreds of years ago, hunting and fishing using age-old methods that their ancestors passed down.

 

On Niihau, residents speak the Hawaiian language almost exclusively. Their lives are relaxed and slow-paced, and there is a huge emphasis on living a simple life without the rush of city life. This is, of course, all fulfilling the original wishes of King Kamehameha V, who was very concerned with the future of Niihau and its people when he sold it to the Sinclairs all that time ago.

According to a 2010 census, the island has 170 permanent residents, but this number is really just an estimate. The Robinson family does not have to report population numbers, and because a number of residents come and go from the island, the true population is a huge mystery. However, one source estimates that the real number of permanent Niihauans is closer to 70. I though you might want to know this....aloha

 


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