Niihau Island Robinson family. Jewelry charm of the magic island of niihau. Impact on public opinion

Population

As of 2009, about 130 people permanently live on the island. Almost all of them are ethnic Hawaiians and live in the largest settlement of the island - the village of Puuvai. (English)Russian. Part of the island's population receives income from fishing and agriculture, the other part depends on social benefits. Niihau has no telephone service, no cars, and no paved roads. Only horses and bicycles are used as transport. Solar batteries fully provide the population of the island with electricity. Also, there is no running water on Niihau; Water comes from rainwater harvesting. There are no hotels or shops on the island; goods and products are shipped by ship from Kauai.

The native language of the island's population is a dialect of Hawaiian that differs slightly from modern Standard Hawaiian. To date, Niihau is the only island in the archipelago whose main language of the population is Hawaiian.

Some residents of the island have radios and televisions, but the use of the latter is actually limited to watching video cassettes and DVDs due to poor coverage of the territory. Sometimes, during severe droughts, the population of Niihau is completely evacuated to Kauai before the first rains, which can fill the local water supply system. Niihau has a school providing a full 12-year education. Like other buildings on the island, the school is also fully powered by solar panels. The number of students varies from 25 to 50 as many families live part of the time on Kauai. In addition, some students from Niihau study permanently in 2 schools on the island of Kauai.

Island owners

Since 1864, the island has been the private property of the Robinson family. Robinson family).

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Notes

Links

• Niʻihau, the last Hawaiian island. - Press Pacifica, 1987. - ISBN 0-916630-59-5.

An excerpt characterizing Niihau

At that time in St. Petersburg, in the highest circles, with more fervor than ever before, there was a complex struggle between the parties of Rumyantsev, the French, Maria Feodorovna, the Tsarevich and others, drowned out, as always, by the trumpeting of court drones. But calm, luxurious, preoccupied only with ghosts, reflections of life, Petersburg life went on as before; and because of the course of this life, great efforts had to be made to realize the danger and the difficult situation in which the Russian people found themselves. There were the same exits, balls, the same French theater, the same interests of the courts, the same interests of service and intrigue. It was only in the highest circles that efforts were made to recall the difficulty of the present situation. It was told in a whisper about how opposite one another acted, in such difficult circumstances, both empresses. Empress Maria Feodorovna, concerned about the well-being of the charitable and educational institutions subordinate to her, made an order to send all the institutions to Kazan, and the things of these institutions had already been packed. The Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, when asked what orders she wanted to make, with her usual Russian patriotism deigned to answer that she could not make orders about state institutions, since this concerned the sovereign; about the same thing that personally depends on her, she deigned to say that she would be the last to leave Petersburg.

Niihau… Forbidden Hawaiian Island… Or Silent… second name… The smallest of the inhabited islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Niihau is one of the main eight Hawaiian islands belonging to the southeast.
This wonderful island is available for visiting only to native Hawaiians (relatives of those living on this island) or personal guests of the Robinson family.
On this island, you can only move by bicycle or on foot. Its area is almost 180 km2.
This forbidden island is home to Hawaii's only lake, Halulu.
Only 250 indigenous people who speak exclusively Hawaiian among themselves (moreover, their way of life has not changed significantly over the past century)
There are no shops, no restaurants, no paved roads, no electricity, no medical care on the island, the only thing is = a harbor, a small school and bamboo huts.
Niihau is the driest island in the Hawaiian Islands. This is the only island where the Lei flower does not grow (remember, in the films, Hawaiian beauties always meet tourists wearing necklaces of these flowers?)
And, if a guest arrives on the island (strictly at the invitation of the inhabitants of the island or members of the Robinson family), then he is met with a shell Ley (made from special shells that can only be found on the beaches of this island), and since these are very rare shells, then collectors willing to pay thousands of dollars for these shell flowers.
The only job available on the island is at the Robinson family's ranch (raising cattle).
The residents themselves are actively engaged in agriculture, fishing and hunting (moreover, they use only nets, spears, knives and ropes)

By the way, in principle, you can sail to the island by boat from the neighboring island of Kauai, but you won’t be able to moor, and even more so, go ashore.
You can only admire the bewitching views, you can also swim with a mask, but it is strictly forbidden to go ashore (((
Do you know how much a woman named Elizabeth Sinclair, who lives on the neighboring island of Kauai in 1863, bought this wonderful island at one time? For 10 000 dollars!!! It was for this amount that King Kamehameha IV sold him
Now, her heirs, the Robinson family, own this tiny island of paradise and are trying to preserve the primitive Hawaiian culture on it.
And, as I read in one of the magazines, an almost slave-owning system flourishes there:
Mr. Robinson was a peculiar kind. He bought all the land on the island in order to keep this tropical paradise for himself and his family. In addition to animal husbandry, he was not interested in anything. He wouldn't let Niihau have a telephone, and he didn't want to hear about the radio. In addition, he did not allow weapons to be brought to Niihau. As a result, he remained there the sole owner of a hunting rifle and two pistols.
There have never been strangers on Niihau. Tourists were not allowed on the island. Only once a week there was a boat from Kauai, the nearest large island in the Hawaiian archipelago. She delivered groceries and left mail and newspapers.
Today, three representatives of the Robinson family live on the island: the ruler and owner of all things Helen and her two sons - Bruce and Kate, obedient executors of the mother's will. In addition to them, 250 Hawaiians live here.
Of these, only two people enjoy relative freedom and independence. These are teachers from a tiny local school who teach children to read, write and count.
They cannot give great knowledge - there is no corresponding qualification. All other residents are in the position of the Robinsons ... no, not friendly helpers of Fridays, but disenfranchised servants - maybe even slaves. Someone takes care of the cattle; others take care of the fuel for the Robinson house; still others provide the family of rulers with fresh honey from wild bees all year round; the fourth collect the largest and most beautiful shells on the coast; the fifth make necklaces from them, which the owner's sons Bruce and Kate personally sell to tourists at the market in the capital of Hawaii, Honolulu; sixth, seventh...
In a word, Lady Robinson "took care" of all her subjects and found a useful - for her own family - occupation for everyone. Maybe the islanders are allowed to leave Niihau? No. This is "illegal". For every more or less important business, either the mistress herself or her children go to the neighboring islands. It only happens - but extremely rarely - that one of the subjects is sent to Honolulu on an errand. In this case, he is obliged to return and report on the execution. And God forbid, if in the capital he tells about the conditions of life and the order prevailing on Niihau: the violator of the ban will face severe punishment. Therefore, in Hawaii, Niihau is also known under a different name: "the island of the Silent."
By the way, when the governor of the Hawaiian Islands decided to visit the island, the Robinsons refused him a visa and he could not do it!!! Also, journalists repeatedly tried to penetrate the island. And, the maximum that they managed to do was to hold out there for one day, and then they were always opened and sent to Kauai ...
Yes! In addition to the Hawaiians, two Japanese lived on the island. One of them looked after the apiary of the Robinson family.
The Robinsons took care of the adoption of Christianity on the island
One day, a defective Japanese military plane landed on the island. And the inhabitants of the island took the pilot prisoner. (this was during the attack on Pearl Harbor) The pilot informed the inhabitants of the island that their land now belongs to the Japanese (((Of course, he was bluffing!
By the way, every evening we met the sunset, seeing off the sun. Moreover, one could always see people who turned their faces to the ocean and carefully watched the luminary entering the water. Usually, I got bored with this activity for the second week, and I tried to return to regular activities, to which they began to shush me and say that I should definitely try to see a green flush.
I still couldn’t understand what it is, what all the inhabitants are fascinated waiting for every evening. Only once I managed to contemplate this miracle. It lasted only a moment. As I later found out on the Internet, this phenomenon is called the "green beam". At some point, when the sun goes completely into the ocean, you can see a beam of green light, as if emerging from the waves. I will not go into details of the origin of this miracle, I will only say that this phenomenon occurs for the same reasons as the rainbow, due to the dispersion of light. At such times there should be no clouds in the sky. The flash itself occurs at lightning speed and can be seen only if you carefully observe the sun.
I did not succeed in photographing this miracle of nature, no matter how hard I tried (((
Well, how do you, dear Gossips?! Socialism, slavery or something else reigns on this paradise island?! Robins...Robinson...Robinsons are all about the same people. Various sources. Photos are not mine. My husband and I decided to definitely go to Hawaii in the summer and try to take pictures of this island, at least "outside". So, it is very possible that the end of this topic is not set ... Thank you for taking the time to read my post. Good luck to you all!!!

Population

As of 2009, about 130 people permanently live on the island. Almost all of them are ethnic Hawaiians and live in the largest settlement of the island - the village of Puuvai. (English)Russian. Part of the island's population receives income from fishing and agriculture, the other part depends on social benefits. Niihau has no telephone service, no cars, and no paved roads. Only horses and bicycles are used as transport. Solar batteries fully provide the population of the island with electricity. Also, there is no running water on Niihau; Water comes from rainwater harvesting. There are no hotels or shops on the island; goods and products are shipped by ship from Kauai.

The native language of the island's population is a dialect of Hawaiian that differs slightly from modern Standard Hawaiian. To date, Niihau is the only island in the archipelago whose main language of the population is Hawaiian.

Some residents of the island have radios and televisions, but the use of the latter is actually limited to watching video cassettes and DVDs due to poor coverage of the territory. Sometimes, during severe droughts, the population of Niihau is completely evacuated to Kauai before the first rains, which can fill the local water supply system. Niihau has a school providing a full 12-year education. Like other buildings on the island, the school is also fully powered by solar panels. The number of students varies from 25 to 50 as many families live part of the time on Kauai. In addition, some students from Niihau study permanently in 2 schools on the island of Kauai.

Island owners

Since 1864, the island has been the private property of the Robinson family. Robinson family).

Write a review on the article "Niehau"

Notes

Links

• Niʻihau, the last Hawaiian island. - Press Pacifica, 1987. - ISBN 0-916630-59-5.

An excerpt characterizing Niihau

On the opposite side of the last of the Hawaiian straits Kualakahi (Island of Kauai), another, the last, westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a small Niihau, seems to be floating on the sea, but the path there is closed.

On this island, as well as on the very tiny Kahoolave, "foreigners are strictly prohibited from entering."

The two islands are inaccessible to foreigners for various reasons

1. Kahoolawe

The smallest of the eight Hawaiian Islands. It has Lake Halulu, the only lake in Hawaii. The television series "Lost" was filmed here.
The island was killed by soldiers and goats. This small, rather dry piece of land was taken over by two white tenants in the 19th century and began to breed sheep and then goats on it. Insatiable animals in a short time completely destroyed all the vegetation of Kahoolawe, gradually turning it into a real desert with dry, reddish sand.

When the pastures of Kahoolave ​​were exhausted, the island was taken over by the American military aviation and navy. United States Air Force pilots and United States Navy gunners have been using Kahoolawe as a target for their bombing exercises for decades.
So the island, eaten by goats, was finally devastated. I don't know if there is any hope that Kahoolawe will ever rise from the "dead" and become like the rest of the Hawaiian Islands. In any case, it is quite clear why it is strictly forbidden to visit this unfortunate, now so inhospitable island, littered with hundreds and thousands of unexploded bombs, grenades and torpedoes.

And although it is currently still uninhabited and access to it is prohibited, Kahoolawe was returned to the state in 1994. On March 18, 1981, the island was added to the US National Register of Historic Places.
At that time, there were 544 sites of archaeological Kahoolave ​​on the island - the island of rains, which washed its rock down to relic saprolite plateaus, which provided Kahoolawe truly extraterrestrial landscapes that attract trekking lovers to its shores.

2. Niihau

The second of the inaccessible Hawaiian Islands is Niihau.

And, unlike Kahoolawe, this "forbidden island" is in private ownership. That is why visiting the island is strictly limited. The population of the island is 230 people.

I saw him across the Kualakahi Strait, and he did not give the impression of being dead at all. The tragic fate of Kahoolave ​​did not befall him either. Rather, it can be said that rock played a strange joke on the island.

Once upon a time, the entire Niihau became the property of one woman, and under rather unusual circumstances. The woman's name is Elizabeth Sinclair Robinson. She hails from Scotland. This energetic captain's widow successfully raised sheep. After the death of her husband, Elizabeth loaded everything she had on the Betsy sailboat: children, grandchildren, sheep and goats, as well as a piano - a memory of her parents! - and a chest of gold coins. Mrs. Sinclair took the helm of the sailboat and set off on her journey. Yes, even in what! From cold Scotland, she headed for the distant warm seas of Oceania. At first, the Betsy anchored off the coast of New Zealand, but Mrs. Sinclair decided to cross the entire Pacific Ocean on her ship. In 1863, the Betsy arrived in Honolulu.
The widow of the captain liked the Hawaiian Islands at first sight. In turn, she immediately endeared herself to the then ruler of the archipelago. Deep mutual sympathy formed the basis of the sale of Niihau. Widow Sinclair purchased the entire island for a mere ten thousand dollars!

Moreover, the king offered her the southern coast of Oahu, including the port areas of Honolulu and Waikiki, in addition. However, for this vast territory, the ruler, despite his sympathy for the Scottish woman, demanded fifty thousand dollars. But since, as countless anecdotes say, the Scots are known for their miserliness, the price seemed too high to Mrs. Sinclair, and the deal did not take place..

Only a hundred years have passed since then, and the price of this land has increased by at least a million times. And for fifty billion, hardly anyone could buy the famous Waikiki today, not to mention Honolulu with its port. However, for the economical Mrs. Sinclair, the amount of fifty thousand dollars was too much, so she was satisfied with the island of Niihau.

Niihau, view from Kauai

After the death of an enterprising woman, Niihau remained the private property of her family. The Robinsons (surprisingly fitting last name for a Pacific island owner!) are still the owners of this westernmost of the Hawaiian Islands. And, I must say, fortunately. The Robinsons banned visits to Niihau. First of all, in order to protect its inhabitants (only purebred Hawaiians live here) from the fruits of the so-called “civilization”, which are so generously reaped on other islands of this archipelago.

At the time when the enterprising Elizabeth acquired Niihau, the Hawaiians living on it were already converted to Christianity. They dressed "in a Christian way", but in everything else they continued to observe their customs. Nothing has changed since then. The strict ban is still in place, and thanks to it, only purebred Hawaiians live on Niihau today. Everywhere on the island only the Hawaiian language sounds, moreover, its old dialect.

Niihau, next door to Kauai, the wettest area on earth, is suffering - what an irony! - from lack of water. Therefore, the inhabitants of the island do not cultivate the land, but breed sheep (thirty thousand heads), cattle and, in addition, Arabian horses. Such an achievement of civilization as a car, fortunately, did not take root on Niihau: there is not a single car on the entire island! There are no cops here, no jail.

Niihau

The inhabitants of the island voluntarily gave up such "joys of life" as alcohol and tobacco (there is only one exception: a foreigner, the director of a local school, the inhabitants of Niihau Island are allowed to smoke cigars in his own office). Niihau has no televisions or a cinema. Until the end of the Second World War, there was not a single telephone and radio! Those receivers that the population uses today are battery operated. Communication with the outside world (that is, in this case with Kauai) until recently was maintained (and this is in the 20th century!) in an absolutely amazing way: signs were transmitted using fires lit on both sides of the strait separating the forbidden island from Kauai. Recent times are marked by some progress in Niihau's relations with the inhabitants of the neighboring island: messages to Kauai are now sent with carrier pigeons.

This "proud loneliness" of Niihau was broken - fortunately, only for a few short hours - during the war. Fighting in the Pacific broke out, as you know, after a surprise Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands - on the naval base at Pearl Harbor. At that time, the Polynesians living on Niihau did not have a single radio. It is not surprising that they had no idea about any bombing of the capital, especially about declaring war.

In turn, the residents of Kauai were so shocked by the news that the radio brought that they forgot to inform their neighbors about what had happened (this could only be done with the help of fire). The news of the war was not long in coming on Niihau. Saving his life and the plane, one of the Japanese pilots who took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor landed on the island. More than once in Hawaii I heard stories about the adventures of this Uninvited Guest Niihau, the first foreigner to enter the forbidden island. In fact, the story that happened to the Japanese on Niihau has already become a legend known throughout the archipelago. I know so many variants of it that I would not even dare to defend the one that seems to me the most truthful and tells about a kind of “battle for Niihau” in full accordance with historical reality.
However, let's return to the beginning of this amazing story and to its hero - a Japanese pilot, a participant in the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor. When the fuel ran out, the pilot made a last-minute emergency landing on Niihau. During the landing, he lost consciousness. The Hawaiians looked at the intruder with interest and seized his tablet with maps and other documents.
Having come to his senses, the pilot was surprised to find himself on an unknown island belonging to the Americans. He realized that a small area was inhabited only by Polynesians, who at first glance seemed to him very primitive, but decisive creatures: they took away his tablet with documents. The Japanese immediately realized that on the whole island, perhaps, not a single gun, not a single pistol could be found! He, a warrior of the imperial army, had a machine gun in his hands - in this situation, the weapon is very formidable. He demanded:
- Give back the cards, otherwise I will shoot!

However, neither his words nor the gun made any impression on the Hawaiians. Then the pilot put the muzzle of the machine gun to the chest of the old woman, but she calmly began to read a prayer. The Japanese chose a person in the crowd who, as it seemed to him, was probably involved in the theft. The suspect's name was Kanaele. The pilot attacked him with abuse, but Kanaele, like the rest of the Hawaiians, did not understand a word of Japanese. Then the imperial warrior became furious and shot at the disobedient islander. The bullet hit the thigh, but the Polynesian did not move an eyebrow. The pilot fired again and wounded Canaele in the groin. The third shot hit him in the stomach. Only then did the pilot force Kanaele to draw attention to himself. The Hawaiian, grabbing the pilot by the throat, threw him with all his might against the stone wall. The pilot died immediately. What happened to Canaele? Before losing consciousness from the pain, he managed to say:
“Never shoot a Hawaiian more than twice, he might get angry on the third!”

So the inhabitants of the island of Niihau, professing the peaceful philosophy of aloha, won their first victory over the Japanese. After Kanaele smashed the pilot's head against a stone wall, peace reigned on the island again. From that moment to this day, when I write these lines, four decades have passed, and during this time, uninvited guests on Niihau no longer appeared. True, in 1960, another pilot disappeared in this area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe archipelago along with his plane. On this occasion, a carrier pigeon was sent from Kauai to ask if the missing pilot had happened to be on Niihau. The inhabitants of the island sent with the same pigeon a lapidary telegraph-style reply. It contains the whole philosophy on which their existence is based: “There is not a single stranger on the island. We are not waiting for anyone."

Even in our time, when people have already visited the moon, it is impossible to set foot on the land of Niihau. I must say that I took this strict ban especially hard. The fact is that this is not my first book about Hawaii. Many years ago I wrote the story of a young Hawaiian and it was set on this island. As far as I know, this is the only book that takes place on Niihau. Nevertheless, even its author does not have access to it.

There is nothing surprising in the fact that the ban on visiting Niihau gives rise to all sorts of legends and rumors about the mysteries of this island. There were always people who, at all costs, sought to unravel the secret of the island, to penetrate it in any, often completely incredible way: they sailed here on private submarines or tried to land on the shore in small inflatable boats, but all attempts were unsuccessful. Niihau Island still stubbornly keeps its secret.

However, its solution is not so complicated: the desire to faithfully preserve one's traditions, one's customs, one's language, one's way of life is quite understandable. This "secret" could be adopted from the inhabitants of Niihau by the peoples of some other, much more developed and progressive countries, for there is no loyalty more true than loyalty to oneself.

Niihau

Today, Niihau is still the same ecologically clean island with bicycles and solar panels, inhabited by representatives of the indigenous population. The village of Puuavi is a great place to learn about the ancient culture of the Hawaiians, and the shores of the picturesque Lake Halulu will decorate your stay on Niihau with their beauties.
However, you can only visit the island if you have an invitation from a member of the Robinson family or a native Hawaiian living on Niihau.

/the article uses excerpts from

books by M. Stingl "Enchanted Hawaii"