:Niihau

{{See also|List of beaches in Ni{{okina}}ihau}}

Ni{{okina}}ihau is located about {{convert|18|mi|km}} west of Kaua{{okina}}i, and the tiny, uninhabited island of Lehua lies {{convert|0.7|mi|nmi km}} north of Ni{{okina}}ihau. Ni{{okina}}ihau's dimensions are 6.2 miles by 18.6 miles (10km × 30km). The maximum elevation (Paniau) is {{convert|1280|ft|m|0}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/economic/databook/db2004/section05.pdf |title=Table 5.11 – Elevations of Major Summits |work=2004 State of Hawaii Data Book |publisher=State of Hawaii |year=2004 |access-date=July 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070809031048/http://www.hawaii.gov/dbedt/info/economic/databook/db2004/section05.pdf |archive-date= Aug 9, 2007}} The island is about 6 million years old, making it geologically older than the 5.8-million-year-old neighboring island of Kaua{{okina}}i to the northeast.{{Cite web |title=Volcano Watch — A geologic tour of the Hawaiian Islands: Kaua'i and Ni'ihau |url=https://www.usgs.gov/news/volcano-watch-geologic-tour-hawaiian-islands-kauai-and-niihau |access-date=2023-06-26 |website=U.S. Geological Survey |date=January 7, 2016 |last1=Hawaiian Volcano Observatory }} Ni{{okina}}ihau is the remnant of the southwestern slope of what was once a much larger volcano. The entire summit and other slopes collapsed into the ocean in a giant prehistoric landslide.{{cite web |title=GG 103 Class 26: Regional Geology of Kau'i, Ni'ihau and NW Hawaiian chain |website=School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology |date=April 10, 2004 |url=https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/moore/gg103/class_26.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329015157/https://www.soest.hawaii.edu/moore/gg103/class_26.htm |archive-date=March 29, 2021 |url-status=dead }}

The island is relatively arid because it lies in the rain shadow of Kaua{{okina}}i and lacks the elevation needed to catch significant amounts of trade wind rainfall. Ni{{okina}}ihau, therefore, depends on winter Kona storms for its rain, when more southerly weather systems intrude into the region. As such, the island is subject to long periods of drought.{{sfn|Tabrah|1987|pp=10–11}} Historical droughts on Ni{{okina}}ihau have been recorded several times, one in 1792 by Captain James Cook's former junior officer, George Vancouver, who had been told that the people of Ni{{okina}}ihau had abandoned the island because of a severe drought and had moved to Kaua{{okina}}i to escape famine.{{sfn|Tabrah|1987|p=49}}

{{Weather box

|location = Pu{{okina}}uwai

|single line = Y

|Jan high F = 79

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|Jan low F = 65

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|rain colour = green

|Jan rain inch = 2.96

|Feb rain inch = 1.48

|Mar rain inch = 1.53

|Apr rain inch = 0.75

|May rain inch = 0.63

|Jun rain inch = 0.33

|Jul rain inch = 0.50

|Aug rain inch = 0.62

|Sep rain inch = 0.84

|Oct rain inch = 2.35

|Nov rain inch = 2.74

|Dec rain inch = 2.78

|year rain inch = 17.51

|source 1 =The Weather Channel {{cite web

| url = https://weather.com/weather/monthly/l/USHI0255:1:US

| title = Puuwai, HI Monthly Weather Forecast

| publisher = The Weather Channel

| access-date = May 7, 2018 }}

|date=May 2018

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File:Niihau cliffs aerial.jpg

As an arid island, Ni{{okina}}ihau was barren of trees for centuries – Captain James Cook reported it treeless in 1778. Aubrey Robinson, grandfather of current owners Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, planted 10,000 trees per year during much of his ownership of the island; Robinson's afforestation efforts increased rainfall in the dry climate. Island co-owner Keith Robinson, a noted conservationist, preserved and documented many of Ni{{okina}}ihau's natural plant resources. The island is designated as a critical habitat for the {{okina}}ōlulu, an endemic and endangered species of Hawaiian lobelioid. Pritchardia aylmer-robinsonii, a palm tree named for Keith Robinson's uncle Aylmer Robinson, is an endangered species native to Ni{{okina}}ihau.

Several bird species thrive on Ni{{okina}}ihau. The largest lakes on the island are Hālali{{okina}}i Lake, Halulu Lake and Nonopapa Lake.{{Hawaiian Dictionaries|Nonopapa Lake|HASH93333704227c2989be6a6a|dic=hpn|access-date=September 24, 2010}} These intermittent playa lakes on the island provide wetland habitats for the {{okina}}alae ke{{okina}}oke{{okina}}o (Hawaiian coot), the āe{{okina}}o (Hawaiian subspecies of Black-necked Stilt), and the koloa maoli (Hawaiian duck). The critically endangered Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) is found in high numbers on Ni{{okina}}ihau's shores. Robinson states that Ni{{okina}}ihau's secluded shoreline offers them a safe haven from habitat encroachments. According to Robinson, conditions there are better than the government refuges of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. When the Robinsons originally purchased Ni{{okina}}ihau, no monk seals were present, because they lived in the northwestern part of the Hawaiian island chain, Necker and Midway islands. They have been relocated to the main Hawaiian island chain by NOAA fisheries over the past thirty years, and some have found homes on Ni{{okina}}ihau.{{cite book|last1=Tava|first1=Rerioterai|last2=Keale|first2=Moses K.|title=Niihau: The Traditions of a Hawaiian Island|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0GPxAAAAMAAJ|year=1990|publisher=Mutual Publishing Company|location=Honolulu|oclc=21275453|page=95|isbn=9780935180800}}{{cite magazine |last=Mooallem |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Mooallem |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/magazine/who-would-kill-a-monk-seal.html |title=Who Would Kill a Monk Seal? |magazine=The New York Times Magazine |date=May 8, 2013}}

Big game herds, imported from stock on Moloka{{okina}}i Ranch in recent years, roam Ni{{okina}}ihau's forests and flatlands. Eland and aoudad are abundant, along with oryxes, wild boars and feral sheep. These big game herds provide income from hunting safari tourism.

File:Map of Yam Bay and Niihau, Captain George Dixon's Journal, 1788.jpg's Journal, 1788.]]

Prior to the unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii under Kamehameha I, Ni{{okina}}ihau was ruled by the {{lang|haw|ali{{okina}}i}}. Kahelelani was the first of the Ni{{okina}}ihau ali{{okina}}i. His name is now used to refer to the Ni{{okina}}ihau kahelelani, the puka shell of the wart turbans (Leptothyra verruca), used to make exquisite Ni{{okina}}ihau shell jewelry.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|p=13}}{{cite news |last=Kam |first=Nadine |title=The real deal: Genuine Niihau shells have lasting quality |work=Features |publisher=Honolulu Star-Bulletin |date=May 17, 2004 |url=http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/17/features/story1.html |access-date=July 21, 2007 |archive-date=August 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819054938/http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/17/features/story1.html |url-status=dead }} Kā{{okina}}eokūlani was a ruler of northern Ni{{okina}}ihau who unified the island after defeating his rival, a chief named Kawaihoa. A stone wall ({{lang|haw|Pāpōhaku}}) across a quarter of the island's southern end marked the boundaries of the two chiefs: Kā{{okina}}eo's land was identified by black stones and Kawaihoa's by white stones. Eventually, a great battle took place, known as Pali Kamakaui. Kā{{okina}}eo's two brothers from the island of Maui, Ka{{okina}}iana and his half-brother Kahekili II, the King of Maui, fought for Kā{{okina}}eo, and Ni{{okina}}ihau was united under his rule. Kawaihoa was banished to the south end of the island and Kā{{okina}}eo moved to the middle of the island to govern. Kā{{okina}}eo married the Queen Kamakahelei, and a future king of Ni{{okina}}ihau and Kaua{{okina}}i named Kaumuali{{okina}}i was born in 1790. Kaua{{okina}}i and Ni{{okina}}ihau are said to have carried the "highest blood lines" in the Hawaiian Islands.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|pp=13–14}}

Kamehameha managed to unify all of the islands by 1795, except for Kaua{{okina}}i and Ni{{okina}}ihau.{{cite journal |last1=Coulter |first1=John Wesley |year=1964 |title=Great Britain in Hawaii: The Captain Cook Monument |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=130 |issue=2 |pages=256–261 |doi=10.2307/1794586 |jstor=1794586 |bibcode=1964GeogJ.130..256C }} Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: bodies covered the beaches on Kaua{{okina}}i's eastern shores.{{cite book |title=Tales of the forbidden island of Ni{{okina}}ihau |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=SRZSAQAAIAAJ|page=17}} |last1=Gay |first1=Lawrence Kainoahou |publisher=Topgallant Publishing |year=1981 |isbn=0-914916-43-2 |page=17}} Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumuali{{okina}}i, the last independent {{lang|haw|ali{{okina}}i}}, surrendered rather than risk further bloodshed. Independence again became feasible after Kamehameha's death in 1819, but was put down when Kamehameha's widow Ka{{okina}}ahumanu kidnapped Kaumuali{{okina}}i and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Ni{{okina}}ihau remained part of the unified Hawaiian Kingdom.

File:Hawaiian Islands, Hale, Niihau, 1885, taken by Francis Sinclair.jpg

Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair (1800–1892) purchased Ni{{okina}}ihau and parts of Kaua{{okina}}i from Kamehameha V in 1864 for {{US$|10,000|1864|round=-4|about=yes}} in gold. Sinclair chose Ni{{okina}}ihau over other options, including Waikīkī and Pearl Harbor. By around 1875, Ni{{okina}}ihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000 sheep.{{cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Isabella L. |author-link=Isabella Bird |title=The Hawaiian Archipelago |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=2006 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=er-Y-eHjHpcC|page=212}} |isbn=1-4264-4990-9 |page=212}} This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat-weaving made famous by the people of Ni{{okina}}ihau. {{lang|haw|Makaloa}} (Cyperus laevigatus), a native sedge, used to grow on the edges of Ni{{okina}}ihau's three intermittent lakes.{{Cite book |last1=Joesting |first1=Edward |title=Kauai: The Separate Kingdom |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=GfWj0Pt3cwoC|page=188}}|publisher=University of Hawaii |year=1988 |isbn=0-8248-1162-3 |page=188}} The stems were harvested and used to weave {{lang|haw|moena makaloa}} (mats), considered the "finest sleeping mats in Polynesia". The mats were valued by {{lang|haw|ali{{okina}}i}} and foreign visitors alike, but by the end of the 19th century, Hawaiians had stopped weaving {{lang|haw|makaloa}} due to changes in population, culture, economics, and the environment.{{cite web |last1=Van Dyke |first1=Peter |title=Growing Makaloa (Cyperus laevigatus L. ) in Constructed Wetlands for Weaving and Treating Wastewater: Final report for U.S. Geological Survey Grant No. 99CRGR0003 |publisher=Bishop Museum |date=June 2001 |url=http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/images/makaloa.pdf |access-date=August 14, 2007 |archive-date=June 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622171136/http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/images/makaloa.pdf |url-status=dead }}

In 1915, Sinclair's grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most visitors. Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission. Upon Aubrey's death in 1939 the island passed to his son Aylmer, and in 1968 to Aylmer's youngest brother Lester. Upon Lester's wife Helen's death, the island passed to his sons Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, the current co-owners. (See Sinclair-Robinson family tree)

The Robinson family has attracted controversy over the strict rules they have imposed on the island’s inhabitants, largely enforced by Bruce Robinson’s wife, Leiana Robinson. The rules include a ban on alcohol and cigarettes, being prohibited from talking about Ni’ihau to the media, a permanent ban from the island if a resident leaves for an extended amount of time, and a ban on long hair and beards for men.{{Cite web |date=2021-09-03 |title=Hawaii’s Forbidden Island and the Real-Life Swiss Family Robinson who Controls it |url=https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/08/25/hawaiis-forbidden-island-and-the-real-life-swiss-family-robinson-who-controls-it/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Messy Nessy Chic |language=en-US}} The island lacks electricity and running water.{{Cite web |title=Dive Niihau the Forbidden Island {{!}} Scuba in Kauai |url=https://seasportdivers.com/niihau/#:~:text=The%20dry%20climate%20is%20ideal,own%20food,%20hunting%20and%20fishing. |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=seasportdivers.com}}

Ni{{okina}}ihau was the site of an event not long after the attack on Pearl Harbor that has come to be known as the Ni{{okina}}ihau Incident (or the Battle of Ni{{okina}}ihau). On December 7, 1941, a Japanese pilot whose Zero had been hit crash-landed{{cite web|url=https://m.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/pacific-plane-wrecks-amazing-pictures-of-abandoned-wwii-planes.html/attachment/4789904038_81ca14b47a_b|title=War History Online|first=Joris|last=Nieuwint|access-date=November 11, 2016|archive-date=November 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161111195649/https://m.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/pacific-plane-wrecks-amazing-pictures-of-abandoned-wwii-planes.html/attachment/4789904038_81ca14b47a_b|url-status=dead}} on the island hoping to rendezvous with a rescue submarine. The pilot was apprehended and later escaped with the assistance of local Japanese residents, but he was killed shortly afterwards.The Ni{{okina}}ihau Incident serves as the backdrop for Caroline Paul's 2006 novel East Wind, Rain ({{ISBN|0-06-078075-4}}) and the opening chapter of Michelle Malkin's In Defense of Internment.

Despite its self-imposed isolation, Ni{{okina}}ihau has a long-standing relationship with the U.S. military dating from 1924. There is a small Navy installation on the island. No military personnel are permanently stationed there, but the U.S. military has used the island for training special operations units, which included hiring Hawaiians who live on Ni{{okina}}ihau as "enemy" trackers.Sommer, Anthony. [http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/05/14/news/story1.html "Niihau: Opening Up."] Honolulu Star-Bulletin. May 14, 1999.

{{See also|Politics of Hawaii}}

The island of Ni{{okina}}ihau was considered as a possible location for the United Nations headquarters in 1944 by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had visited Hawaii in 1934.{{sfn|Tabrah|1987|p=1}} Under Cordell Hull, Roosevelt's Secretary of State, the State Department seriously studied the proposal.{{cite journal |last=Bemis |first=Samuel Flagg |author-link=Samuel Flagg Bemis |title=The Memoirs of Cordell Hull |journal=The Journal of Modern History |volume=21 |issue=4 |pages=317–320 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=December 1949 |doi=10.1086/237294|s2cid=144530543 }}

{{PresHead|place=Niihau|whig=no|source1={{Cite web|title=Results|url=https://elections.hawaii.gov/election-results/|access-date=2024-12-28|website=elections.hawaii.gov|language=en}}}}

{{PresRow|2024|Republican|22|1|0|Hawaii}}

{{PresRow|2020|Republican|43|0|0|Hawaii}}

{{PresRow|2016|Republican|20|10|4|Hawaii}}

{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|27|29|5|Hawaii}}

{{PresRow|2008|Republican|35|4|1|Hawaii}}

{{PresFoot|2004|Republican|39|0|1|Hawaii}}

In 2004, President George W. Bush received all but one of the 40 votes cast on the island. The remaining vote was cast for Green Party nominee David Cobb. Fifty-one registered voters did not cast ballots.[http://www.hawaii.gov/elections/results/2004/general/precinct/16-09.pdf Hawaii 2004 election results for precinct 16-09]. Hawaii.gov. Retrieved April 21, 2006. In 2006, Dan Akaka received 60% of votes in the 2006 Senate election to Cynthia Thielen's 36%.{{Cite web|url=http://elections.hawaii.gov/election-results/|title=General Election 2006 – State of Hawaii – Statewide Final Summary Report|date=November 7, 2006|access-date=June 1, 2018}} In 2008, Ni{{okina}}ihau's precinct was one of only three of Hawai{{okina}}i's 538 precincts to support John McCain over Barack Obama.{{cite web|url=http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2008/general/files/histatewidedetail.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2008/general/files/histatewidedetail.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Office of Elections}}

File:Niihau helicopter.jpg arrive at Paniau Ridge on Ni{{okina}}ihau in an Agusta A109 helicopter. The seabird sanctuary island of Lehua can be seen in the background.]]

The 2010 census states that there were 170 people living on the island.{{cite web|title=Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data |url=http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/census/Census_2010/demographic/demo_profile_ct_NI/2010dp_ct412.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026061033/http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/census/Census_2010/demographic/demo_profile_ct_NI/2010dp_ct412.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-26 |url-status=live |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=April 24, 2017}} However, witness accounts estimate that the population actually ranges between 35 and 50 people.{{cite web |title=That's Just How I Rule |date=March 3, 2017 |publisher=This American Life, 2017 |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/611/vague-and-confused?act=1}}{{cite web|url=http://www.niihauheritage.org/niihau_today.htm|title=Ni'ihau Island Today – Learn about the Forbidden Island of Ni'ihau|date=November 17, 2020}} Some support themselves largely by subsistence fishing and farming, while others depend on welfare.Langlas, Charles and Kehaulani Shintani. [http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/09_rwebsite_sub.cfm?issue=Volume%203%20Number%201%20Winter%202006&seq=8 "Mälama ka ‘Äina: To Care For The Land"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223075113/http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/09_rwebsite_sub.cfm?issue=Volume%203%20Number%201%20Winter%202006&seq=8 |date=February 23, 2012 }} [review]. CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship. Vol. 3 No. 1 (Winter 2006). All residents live rent-free, and meat is free. Ni{{okina}}ihau has no telephone services and no paved roads. Horses are the main form of transportation; bicycles are also used. There are no power lines; solar power provides all electricity. There is no plumbing or running water on the island. Water comes from rainwater catchment. The Robinson family established most of these conditions. There is no hotel, and barges deliver groceries from Kaua{{okina}}i, often purchased by relatives, with free shipping.

Residents generally speak the Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect of Hawaiian as their first language, in part encouraged by terms in the original purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. The Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect differs from modern standard Hawaiian in that, for example, {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[ɾ]}} are the most common realizations of the phonemes {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}, respectively. Ni{{okina}}ihau is the only island where Hawaiian is spoken as a primary language.{{cite journal |last1=Olsen |first1=Eric P. |title=Paradise Preserved |journal=World & I |volume=16 |issue=10 |pages=108 |date=October 2001}} Oral tradition maintains that the Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect is closer to the Hawaiian register spoken during the time of contact with Europeans; there is linguistic evidence to support this claim, such as the pronunciation of k as {{IPA|/t/}}.{{cite web |last1=Hitt |first1=Catherine |title=Keepers of the Flame: How cultural practitioners are preserving Niihau's unique traditions |url=https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/keepers-of-the-flame-how-cultural-practitioners-are-preserving-niihaus-unique-traditions/ |website=Hawaii Magazine |access-date=November 8, 2021 |language=en |date=May 13, 2016}} English is the second language.

Some residents have radio and television sets, although limited reception effectively limits the latter to watching pre-recorded media.{{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/97/07/14/features/story3.html |title=Niihau: Island at a Crossroad |first=Catherine Kekoa |last=Enomoto |year=1997 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}} Ni{{okina}}ihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kaua{{okina}}i temporarily, until rainfall replenishes their water supply. Residents commonly also commute to Kaua{{okina}}i for work, medical care, or school, and many of them call both islands home. To avoid a long boat ride, the island's owners maintain an Agusta A109 helicopter for emergencies and for transporting Navy contractors and residents to and from Kaua{{okina}}i. Helicopter tours and safaris help offset the costs of this service.{{cite web |title=Niihau – Hawaii's "Forbidden Island" |publisher=Kauai Visitor Magazine |url=http://www.visitormagazines.com/kauai/edit/ed-niihau-KV.html |access-date=June 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230130945/http://www.visitormagazines.com/kauai/edit/ed-niihau-KV.html |archive-date=December 30, 2006}}

A form of ipu art is known to have developed solely on the island of Ni{{okina}}ihau.{{cite journal |url=http://www.hanahou.com/pages/Magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=611&MagazineID=39 |title=The Ipu Guy |first=Jennifer |last=Crites |journal=Hana Hou! |volume=10 |issue=5 |date=October–November 2007 |access-date=October 18, 2007 |quote=This method developed [circa AD 1600] only on Ni{{okina}}ihau – nowhere else in the world – and then vanished at the end of the 19th century," explains Harburg. "It was lost until Dr. Bruce Ka{{okina}}imiloa Chrisman figured out how it was done.}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol04/?pg=30&liid=659d5683f1 |title=The Lost Ipu Art of Ni{{okina}}ihau |first=Kris |last=Bordessa |journal=Craft: |volume=4 |year=2007 |access-date=October 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204030000/http://www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol04/?pg=30&liid=659d5683f1 |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }} In this method, after a design is carved in the skin of a fresh gourd, it is filled with dye which, after several weeks, changes the color of the uncarved portions of the surface where the skin is intact. Hawaiian music plays a central role on the island, with a cappella singers making use of only two or three tones and changing rhythms. Ukulele and guitar playing is nearly ubiquitous among the islanders, and there are three separate styles of slack-key music, with an older style originating from Kohala.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|p=105}}

The Hawaii Department of Education operates the Ni{{okina}}ihau School, a K–12 school. Academic subjects and computer literacy are combined with teaching students to "thrive from the land".{{cite web |last=Mangieri |first=Gina |title=Niihau: Past, Present and Future |publisher=KHON-TV (report with video) |medium=Television production |date=June 22, 2009 |url=http://www.khon2.com/content/news/niihauexclusive/story/Niihau-Past-Present-and-Future/B7JzKk34G0uf4my5mmCBRQ.cspx |quote=Partial transcript/monograph online in 12 parts |access-date=July 6, 2010 |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616212053/http://www.khon2.com/content/news/niihauexclusive/story/Niihau-Past-Present-and-Future/B7JzKk34G0uf4my5mmCBRQ.cspx |url-status=dead }} The school is powered entirely by solar power.{{cite news |last=Gehrlein |first=Rachel |date=December 15, 2007 |title=Ni{{okina}}ihau school first in state on solar power |newspaper=The Garden Island |url=http://thegardenisland.com/news/article_ea0d5db0-43b9-530f-8785-3230bd446f30.html |access-date=February 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301074228/http://thegardenisland.com/news/article_ea0d5db0-43b9-530f-8785-3230bd446f30.html |archive-date=March 1, 2017 |url-status=dead }} The number of students varies from 25 to 50 since families often travel between Ni{{okina}}ihau and Kaua{{okina}}i.{{cite web |author=Hawaii State Department of Education |url=http://power2.k12.hi.us/index.cfm?siteID=277 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120726212822/http://power2.k12.hi.us/index.cfm?siteID=277 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 26, 2012 |title=Ni{{okina}}ihau School }} Schoolchildren may stay with relatives in west Kaua{{okina}}i, where they attend one of two Ni{{okina}}ihau-focused public charter schools. At the Ke Kula Ni{{okina}}ihau o Kekaha school, students speak primarily the Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect through the early elementary grades, and then Hawaiian and English through grade 12. The school has a digital recording and video system, which helps to preserve and teach traditional Ni{{okina}}ihau and Hawaiian culture. At the other west Kaua{{okina}}i school, Kula Aupuni Ni{{okina}}ihau a Kahelelani Aloha (KANAKA), English is used in all grades, while still supporting the Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect. Both schools foster the culture, values, and spirituality of Ni{{okina}}ihau. Efforts to establish KANAKA began in 1993 and its current version was established in 1999.{{cite web|url=https://content.schoolinsites.com/api/documents/030f931902af4ce5ab5876f03f6dc046.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://content.schoolinsites.com/api/documents/030f931902af4ce5ab5876f03f6dc046.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Bilingual Education At KANAKA|access-date=June 13, 2021}}

Approximately 80% of Ni{{okina}}ihau's income comes from a small Navy installation atop 1,300-foot-high cliffs. Remote-controlled tracking devices are used for testing and training with Kaua'i's Pacific Missile Range Facility. Modern missile defense tests are conducted at the site for the U.S. and its allies. The installation brings in millions of dollars a year, and provides the island with a stable economic base without the complexity of tourism or industrial development.

The sale of shells and shell jewelry is an additional source of income.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|pp=36–37}} Its beaches are known for their pūpū, tiny shells that wash onto shore during winter months. Species used for shell leis includes momi (Euplica varians), laiki or rice shells (Mitrella margarita) and kahelelani (Leptothyra verruca).{{cite book |last=Moriarty |first=Linda Paik |title=Ni{{okina}}ihau Shell Leis |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=LY8dldokp9EC}}|publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-8248-0998-X}} The shells and jewelry are so popular that Governor Linda Lingle signed a bill in 2004 to protect lei pūpū o Ni{{okina}}ihau (Ni{{okina}}ihau shell leis) from counterfeiting.

[http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2004/bills/HB2569_sd1_.htm H.B. No. 2569]. See also: {{cite news | url=https://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2004/05/24/daily76.html | title=Governor signs Niihau shell bill | work=American City Business Journals | date=May 24, 2004}} A single, intricate Ni{{okina}}ihau shell lei can sell for thousands of dollars.

File:Niihau-Trash-Beach.jpgMany residents of Ni{{okina}}ihau were once employees of Ni{{okina}}ihau Ranch, farming cattle and sheep until the Robinsons shut down the operation in 1999. It had not been profitable for most of the 20th century.{{Citation needed |date=July 2009}} Honey cultivation{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|p=xv}} was also no longer viable by 1999. Kiawe charcoal was once a large-scale export, but aggressive Mexican price competition ended that as well. Mullet farming has been popular on Ni{{okina}}ihau, with ponds and lakes stocked with baby mullet, which reach {{convert|9|-|10|lb|kg}} apiece before being harvested and sold on Kaua{{okina}}i and O{{okina}}ahu.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|pp=66–67}}

Bruce Robinson, Ni{{okina}}ihau's co-owner, is seeking and considering new forms of non-invasive income generation. Depending on feasibility, impact, and ecological footprint on the ecosystem and culture, possibilities include JP-8 (jet fuel) generation by the lignocellulose process; military, including a possible runway; and windmill energy production. Robinson has declined offers to purchase sand from Ni{{okina}}ihau's beaches, because of adverse environmental effects.

Ni{{okina}}ihau's owners have offered half-day helicopter and beach tours of the island since 1987,{{cite news |title=Flying visitors can catch glimpse of "The Forbidden Isle" |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=August 15, 1987}} although contact with residents is avoided and no accommodation exists.{{Cite web |url=http://65.61.16.97/Niihau/Index.asp |title=Niihau Island |access-date=July 24, 2009 |archive-date=December 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201180628/http://65.61.16.97/Niihau/Index.asp |url-status=dead }} Since 1992,{{cite news | url=https://www.boston.com/travel/travel/2012/11/17/niihau-hawaiis-forbidden-island-is-closed-to-outsiders | title=Niihau, Hawaii's 'Forbidden Island,' is closed to outsiders | work=The Boston Globe | date=November 17, 2012}} hunting safaris provide income from tourists who pay to visit the island to hunt eland, aoudad, and oryx, as well as wild sheep and boars. Any meat the hunters do not take with them is given to the village.

• The Ni{{okina}}ihau Incident is portrayed in the 2019 film Enemy Within.{{cite web |title=Controversial film about Native Hawaiian war hero set for release |website=hawaiinewsnow.com |date=2019-04-02 |url=https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/04/02/controversial-film-about-native-hawaiian-war-hero-set-release/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402235636/https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2019/04/02/controversial-film-about-native-hawaiian-war-hero-set-release/ |archive-date=2019-04-02 |url-status=live |access-date=2023-08-25}}

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{{Hawaii}}

{{Kauai County, Hawaii}}

{{Hawaiian volcanism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niihau}}

Category:Islands of Hawaii

Category:Volcanoes of Hawaii

Category:Geography of Kauai County, Hawaii

Category:Extinct volcanoes of the United States

Category:Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain

Category:Private islands of the United States

Category:Pliocene volcanoes

Category:Neogene Oceania

Category:Cenozoic Hawaii

Category:Private islands of Oceania