"Kapu" is the Hawaiian word that means "forbidden" in English.
During World War II, Niihau was the only island of Hawaii to be occupied by Japanese armed forces in what came to be known as the "Battle of Niihau". Actually, it was only one Japanese fighter pilot, Shigenori Nishikaichi, who abandoned his Zero aircraft after the air assault on Pearl Harbor when he and one other pilot who crashed his plane into the ocean were unable to return to their aircraft carrier.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Shigenori Nishikaichi's aircraft was hit by live fire (which puntured its fuel tank) by nine American Curtiss P-36A aircraft as his Zero attempted to return to his aircraft carrier Hiryu 200 miles away. For a photograph of the Hiryu click, here. To see a much more detailed widescreen wallpaper view of the Japanese Aircraft Carrier Hiryu, click here. During the morning briefing aboard Hiryu, the pilots had been told that crippled aircraft should attempt to make emergency landings on tiny Niihau, the westernmost of Hawaii's eight main islands. There, survivors were to wait along the coast for the arrival of a Japanese Imperial Navy I-class submarine assigned to rescue duty. The pilots were assured that there would be no problems with locals on the island, since Niihau was supposedly uninhabited. (Surprise, surprise!) The Japanese Aircraft Carrier Hiryu caught fire at dawn, burned and sank during the Battle of Midway on 5 June 1942. In those days there were no radios or telephones on Niihau, so Niihau's residents were unaware of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. After the attack, people on their way to church did see two Japanese aircraft, one which crashed into the ocean and the other crash landed on Niihau. The Hawaiians approached the downed aircraft in wonderment, but, were unable to commincate with the Japanese pilot, so they summoned a translator who was fluent in Japanese. The local man, Yoshio Harada, traded only a few words with the pilot before his face paled – as though he'd received a terrible shock – he refused to participate in the aid of a foreign attacker. And so Yoshio Harada, who had been born in Hawaii and thus was an American citizen - one of other 2 Japanese living on Niihau who spoke the language (his wife, Irene Harada, was also fluent in both English and Japanese) was called upon. The pilot was taken prisoner by the native Hawaiians, but managed to escape. After securing the machine guns from his aircraft, he terrorized the island and the Hawaiians fled to seek refuge in the nearby hills. To see photos of Japanese Pilot, Shigenori Nishikaichi, the Niihau native who spoke Japanese, Yoshio Harada (#3 in the photograph) and the downed "Jap Zero" aircraft, [Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero Fighter] click here.
Only one old woman, Barbara Fritchie, stayed and refused to leave even after his threats. She told him to go ahead and shoot her, but to please stop being rude and try to be nice and stop making a nuisance of himself. He demurred and left her alone.
Finally, after the Hawaiians were tired of hiding out, one of the big strapping Kanakas, Benehakaka Kanahele, age 51, decided to come down from the hills and approach the pilot with Aloha. He came to convince the Japanese pilot of his lack of Aloha and the error of his ways. Perhaps they could live in peaceful harmony.
The Japanese pilot declined the offer of Aloha and shot Ben. But, Ben didin't die and persisted in his entreaties. The pilot responded by shooting Ben again. Expressions of pain, disgust and disbelief at the stranger's poor manners spread across Ben's face.... He did not die but still tried pleading with the Japanese pilot who shot him for the third time.
Ben had had enough, and grabbed the astonished pilot and flung him headlong against the wall, cracking his skull and killing him instantly. The incident became well known in the islands and gave rise to wartime ditties: "Don't shoot a Hawaiian 3 times or you'll make him mad" and "You can't conquer Niihau! Nohow!" Ben Kanahele was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Benehakaka Kanahele lived to be an old man and died on Niihau over 20 years later.
And people listened when Ben sat down to talk story.
THE FOUNDERS OF PRESENT DAY NIIHAU
Those who research the history of the Island of Niihau can find 25,000+ websites and just as many print articles (and perhaps even books) which claim that the Robinson Family bought Niihau from King Kamehameha [Some claim Kamehameha IV - others Kamehameha V], but, the assertion is simply not true. The island was sold to Eliza McHutcheson Sinclair and the Robinson family who own the island to this day, married into the McHutcheson-Sinclair family in the 1800s.
In 1819 King Kamehameha died on the Big Island of Hawaii and his body was hidden in a secret grave whose whereabouts remains a mystery to this day. Halfway around the world that same year in bonnie Scotland, a young lass named Eliza McHutcheson, age 19, was married to former Royal Navy Officer, Captain Francis Sinclair, though she probably never dreamed she would one day acquire one of the islands of Hawaii from descendants of King Kamehameha or that her descendants would still own the island in the 21st Century. For twenty years the couple operated a large farm in Scotland. After selling the profitable farm, the Sinclairs moved to nearby Stirling Castle. New Zealand fever was running high in those days as glowing reports of grand opportunities circulated throughout the British Isles.
And in October of 1839, the Sinclairs along with other English and Scottish families made the decision to emigrate from Scotland and England to New Zealand. In 1840 the British Government proclaimed New Zealand as a crown colony. Captain Sinclair acquired a land grant from the crown to be selected upon arrival. And in 1843 Eliza and Francis Sinclair along with their six children pulled up roots and set sail around the Cape of Good Hope for New Zealand. Finally, their land was selected on South Island and they settled on Banks Peninsula at Pigeon Bay. In 1846 while on a supply trip to Wellington a shipwreck claimed the lives of Francis Sinclair and his oldest son, George, leaving Eliza McHutcheson Sinclair a widow with five other children. She and her children continued to operate the farm in New Zealand until 1863 when they sold it for a handsome profit and sought after better farm land.
The Sinclairs sailed north and finally arrived in Honolulu. Looking for land to start another farm. Eliza McHutcheson had $10,000 to invest, a tidy sum in 1863. King Kamehameha IV offered to sell her a parcel of land stretching from present day Honolulu Hale in downtown Honolulu all the way through Waikiki to Diamond Head Crater, today one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the world.
They declined the offer, saying the land wasn't particularly suited to farming. And in 1864 the family arranged to buy the entire island of Niihau and its inhabitants from King Kamehameha V, last King of the Kamehameha Dynasty, for $10,000 in gold. They again resumed sheep and cattle ranching on Niihau and during the 1870s the family also bought plantation lands on the southwestern side of Kauai at Makaweli. The family eventually built residences on Kauai, feeling Niihau was too isolated. They also started a sugar cane plantation that operates to this day on part of 54,000 acres on Kauai. The sugar cane grows in the lower elevations and cattle graze in the upcountry.
Eliza Sinclair always cut a fine figure, was universally admired and was physically very strong and active into her later years. A visitor to Niihau recorded in 1875 that she was, "A lady of the old Scotch type, beautiful in her old age, very talented, bright, humorous, with a definite character... though upwards of seventy she rides on horseback... as light in figure and step as a young girl." Eliza McHutcheson Sinclair died on Niihau at the age of 93 in 1892.
The ownership of the island fell to her grandson, Aubrey Robinson. Upon his death in 1936, the island was inherited by his children and is still managed to this day by Aubrey's grandsons, Keith Robinson and Bruce Robinson. The farm never turned a profit in the 20th Century and the Robinson family fought off many aggressive attempts by developers and government agencies to take over the island and staved off many attempts by the State of Hawaii and the Federal Government to seize the entire island via eminent domain and convert it into such things as a tourist mecca with resorts or a large park with military installations. The Robinson family has always been very patriotic and there have been military facilities on the island since just prior to World War II. Ever since taking possession of the island, the Sinclair and Robinson families have been especially vigilant to keep the Hawaiian language and heritage alive and well on Niihau. Niihau is the only island where pure Hawaiians still live and the native Hawaiian tongue is still the language of choice among the residents.
To See the Geography of Niihau click here.
The Leeward Islands or Northwestern Islands of Hawaii, 130 islands, islets and shoals stretch 1,200 miles northwest of Kauai and Niihau ending with Kure Atoll about 55 miles west of Midway Atoll - site of the historic World War II naval battle between the American and Japanese navies: the Battle of Midway.
Niihau is part of Kauai County - to visit the Kauai webpage, click on the hyperlink
^above^
Search the Alohacyberian Website:
