A few more details about Ni'ihau that were left out of the article.<p>- There was actually one other landowner, a native Hawaiian couple that the Robinsons had to buy out to own the entire island. The story goes that they didn't want to sell, but one of the Robinsons kept placing gold coins on a table until they gave in.<p>- The Hawaiian that is still spoken on Ni'ihau is probably very similar to the one spoken there from the time of Western contact (James Cook in 1778[*]). However, it is a slightly different dialect than that spoken on the other islands that has become "modern" Hawaiian language.<p>- The article briefly mentions the Japanese aviator who crashed on Ni'ihau after bombing Pearl Harbor. Some say this small side-story to WW2 had some sigificant impact on the decision to intern the Japanese on the US mainland during the war: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_Incident" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niihau_Incident</a><p>- There is no electricity on the island, but the department of education has installed a solar PV system to run computers and refrigerators at the school. I imagine that other houses may be replacing kerosene lighting with solar PV as well now that prices have come down.<p>- I do not think they have landlines or cell-phones, but I think there is a radio for emergencies.<p>- I think the Helicopter tour runs about $300-$350, someday I may try it.
After seeing the article about North Sentinel island, I wondered how long until a similar one about Ni'ihau. It is typically dubbed the "Forbidden Island" in the tourist literature, so it was bound to come up in someone's searches.<p>BTW, there are 2 significant "forbidden" islands in Hawai'i, and numerous small ones. The other large one is Kaho'olawe (due to unexploded ordinance and nominally belonging to native Hawaiians now). The small ones (around several islands) are bird sanctuaries. In fact another island near Ni'ihau is both a sanctuary and an active bombing range: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%CA%BBula" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ka%CA%BBula</a><p>Yes, I find islands fascinating.
I believe that a monk seal was killed on the island recently, which would be a fairly serious crime.<p>The whole setup is weird and slightly discomfiting in a pure colonial paternalistic sense, but hey, it's obviously working in some ways.<p>For anyone looking for a good overview history of Hawai'i, I would recommend Gavan Daws' <i>Shoal Of Time</i> [1]<p>[1] <a href="http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-195-9780824803247.aspx" rel="nofollow">http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu/p-195-9780824803247.aspx</a>
I'm curious about the legal status of this land that was acquired prior to Hawaii even being a state. Are the native inhabitants considered US citizens? Does the Sinclair family have to pay property taxes on this land? I would think not. It's kinda of cool to imagine truly owning land that no one else can lay claim to, even historically.<p>EDIT:
The native inhabitants may have originally claimed the land but does any government claim jurisdiction over it?
Wow, the nihau safaris look amazing -- a bit expensive, but I'd really like to go (with a camera or an 1886 Winchester) for boar, someday. Although I'd rather turn it into kalua pig rather than a trophy.
This article and the previous one on North Sentinel certainly makes <i>Uncle John's 24-Karat Bathroom Reader</i> seem like a pretty interesting book.
In this chain of forbidden places is also Gardiner's Island in New York at the end of Long Island. Apparently gifted to the Gardiner family by the Queen before the US existed. Signs surround it warning the public that they're not welcome. I guess it's not forbidden so much as privately owned.
With the traffic on and off the island, I'd imagine the modern native population has a much higher resistance to Asian and European pathogens than even a generation ago.
Really? King "Kamehameha"?<p>Am I supposed to believe that a Super Saiyan was once the King of Hawaii?<p>edit: This article is crazy interesting.