Kalaupapa, Hawaii

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Kalaupapa, Hawaii

Kalaupapa is a small village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or Residential community, larger than a hamlet , but smaller than a town or city. Though generally located in rural areas, the term urban village may be applied to certain urban area neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New York City and the Saifi Village in Beirut, Lebanon....
on the island

Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll....
of Moloka‘i

Molokai

Molokai or Molokai ) is an island in the Hawaiian Islands. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of 260.0 square miles , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the List of islands of the United States by area....
in the state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
of Hawai‘i

Hawaii

File:Pahoehoe and Aa flows at Hawaii.jpgThe State of Hawaii is a U.S. state in the United States, located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia....
, and part of Kalawao County.

The village is located on the Kalaupapa peninsula at the base of the highest sea cliffs in the world, dropping about into the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. Its name is derived from the Latin name Mare Pacificum, "peaceful sea", bestowed upon it by the Portugal explorer Ferdinand Magellan....
.

upapa peninsula was created when lava erupted from the ocean floor near Kauhako Crater and spread outward, forming a low, shield volcano

Shield volcano

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Encyclopedia

Kalaupapa is a small village

Village

Hawaiian Islands

Molokai

U.S. state

Hawaii

Pacific Ocean

Volcanic origin

Kalaupapa peninsula was created when lava erupted from the ocean floor near Kauhako Crater and spread outward, forming a low, shield volcano

Shield volcano

A shield volcano is a large volcano with shallow-sloping sides. The name derives from a translation of "Skjaldbrei?ur", an Icelandic shield volcano whose name means "broad shield", from its resemblance to a warrior's shield....
. This was the most recent volcanic episode on the island, occurring after the formation of the cliffs by erosion. Today the dormant crater contains a small lake more than 800 feet (240 m) deep.

Leprosy settlement

The village is the site of a former leprosy

Leprosy

Leprosy , or Hansen's disease , is a Chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the Peripheral nervous system and Mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions are the primary external symptom....
settlement. Settlement was first established in Kalawao in the east, opposite to the village corner of the peninsula. It was there where Father Damien

Father Damien

Damien de Veuster, Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary , born Jozef de Veuster and also known as Blessed Damien of Molokai , was a Roman Catholic Church priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a missionary religious order....
settled in 1873. Later it was moved to the location of the current village, which was originally a Hawaiian fishing village. Settlement was also attended by Mother Marianne Cope

Mother Marianne Cope

Mother Marianne Cope , was a Franciscan nun of the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis, a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. Born in Heppenheim and entered religious life in Syracuse, New York, New York, she worked, lived and died for the leprosy on the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai in Hawaii....
, among others. At its peak, about 1,200 men, women, and children were in exile in this island prison. The isolation law was enacted by King Kamehameha V and remained in effect until 1969, when it was finally repealed. Today, 4 former sufferers of leprosy—now known as Hansen's Disease—continue to live there. The colony is now part of Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Kalaupapa National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park located in Kalaupapa, Hawaii on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. It was established by the United States National Park Service in 1980 to expand upon the earlier National Historic Landmark site of the Kalaupapa Leper Settlement....
.

Shortly before the end of mandatory isolation in 1969, the State Legislature considered closing the facility in its entirety. Intervention by interested persons such as entertainer Don Ho

Don Ho

Don Ho, born Donald Tai Loy Ho , was a Hawaiian and traditional pop music musician and singer and entertainer....
and TV newsman Don Picken resulted in allowing the residents to remain there for life. The opponents to closure pointed out that, although there were no active cases of leprosy in existence, many of the residents were physically scarred by the disease to an extent which would make their integration into mainstream society difficult if not impossible.

Books About Kalaupapa

"Moloka'i" by Alan Brennert is the historical fiction account of a woman (Rachel Kalama) who spends most of her life in the settlement. Although it is fiction, her story is a conglomeration of the experiences by many of the residents.

External links

Tayman, John (2006) The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai" Scribner [ISBN 0-7432-3300-X]
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