Niihau island in Hawaii history. Jewelry charm of the magic island of niihau. Memorialization, museumification and controversy surrounding the incident

background

The Japanese command mistakenly considered the island of Niihau, located near Pearl Harbor, to be uninhabited and identified it as the place where the pilots of aircraft seriously damaged during the attack would have to fly. The pilots were told that a submarine would then take them off the island.

In reality, Niihau has been privately owned since 1864 and belonged to the Robinson family. One of them, who lived on a neighboring island but regularly visited his property, still ruled Niihau in 1941, making decisions about who was allowed on the island and who was not. It was permanently inhabited by Hawaiians, as well as a small number of non-Hawaiians, including three Japanese, all of whom would be implicated in the incident.

Incident

Emergency landing

Shigenori Nichekaichi

On December 7, 1941, Japanese pilot Shigenori Nichekaichi (c. 1919 - December 13, 1941), who had taken part in the second wave of the Pearl Harbor raid and whose Mitsubishi A6M Zero had been damaged, directed him to Niihau. During an emergency landing, the aircraft was damaged additionally. Near the landing site was a local resident - Hawaiian Kaleohano. He did not know about the attack on Pearl Harbor, but from the newspapers he was aware of the deterioration in relations between the United States and Japan. Caleojano took the gun and papers from the pilot. At the same time, he and other Hawaiians treated Nichekaichi with respect and showed him traditional Hawaiian hospitality by throwing a party in honor of the downed pilot.

However, they could not understand him, as Shigenori only spoke Japanese, with very limited knowledge of English. So they sent for Ishimatsu Shintani (he was issei, that is, a first-generation immigrant born in Japan), a man of Japanese descent, married to a Hawaiian, to become an interpreter between them. Shintani, however, was unenthusiastic about the task and, after exchanging only a few phrases with the pilot, left without explaining anything. Then the Hawaiians sent for two other inhabitants of the island of Japanese origin (in fact, there were three of them in total) - Yoshio and Iren Harada (both Nisei, that is, second-generation emigrants born outside of Japan, in the country of arrival).

Nichekaichi informed Harada about the attack on Pearl Harbor, knowledge they chose not to share with the non-Japanese-speaking Hawaiians. He also demanded the return of his papers, which, as the pilots had been instructed before the mission, were not to fall into the hands of the Americans. However, Kaleohano refused to hand over the documents. The Harada family decided to help Nichekaichi get them back and escape.

News of the attack on Pearl Harbor

There was no electricity or telephone on Niihau. However, the islanders learned about the Japanese attack on the American fleet by listening to the battery-powered radio. They turned to Nichekaichi, and this time the Haradas were forced to translate his words about the attack. It was decided that the Japanese pilot would leave Niihau when the owner of the island, Aylmer Robinson, visited him on his next weekly visit, but for now he would remain under guard and live in Harada's house.

However, Robinson, usually punctual and reliable, did not arrive on a normal day and the next - the American authorities banned the movement between the islands by boat immediately after the attack, which the inhabitants of Niihau, isolated from the outside world, could not know about. This caused concern among the islanders. Meanwhile, the island's inhabitants of Japanese origin colluded with Nichekaichi.

They sent Cintani to buy the pilot's papers from Kaleohano. However, despite the offer of a large sum by the standards of the islanders, he refused. At the same time, Irene Harada turned up the music and her husband and the pilot attacked the guard. Armed and taking a hostage, they went to the house of Caleohano. He, however, was able to hide and escape when the conspirators were distracted by Nishikaichi's plane, from which one of the machine guns was removed. Kaleohano was shot at, but he was able to alert the locals in the village so they could escape.

Night Escape Kaleohano

Under the cover of darkness, Caleohano returned to his house, took out the hidden papers and handed them over to a relative for safekeeping. Then he, along with other Hawaiians in a small boat, rowed for many hours towards Kawai Island to warn Robinson of the incident. He already knew that something had happened on Niihau, as the islanders were signaling with kerosene and fires. Robinson asked the authorities to let him go to the island, but they remained adamant.

At this time, on Niihau, the Japanese pilot, with the help of Harada and one of the Hawaiian hostages, removed one of the machine guns from the plane and made some manipulations with it. He also attempted to contact the Japanese forces using the aircraft's radio, but was unsuccessful. They then burned Caleohano's house in a final attempt to destroy documents that might have been hidden inside, including radio codes, maps, and the plan to attack Pearl Harbor.

denouement

During the night, the hostage Hawaiians, men and women, were able to attack Nichekaichi and Harada. The first was disarmed and killed, the second committed suicide by shooting himself. Killed by Nichekaichi Ben Kanahele and his wife. Ben received state awards after an incident in which he himself was injured

In the middle of the day on December 14, the Hawaiians, Robinson, and government officials who had sailed earlier for help landed on the island.

Consequences

Widowed Irene Harada and Ishimatsu Shintani were taken into custody. The first of them was sent to an internment camp, and then returned to the island and by 1960 received American citizenship.

Irene was imprisoned for 31 months and was released in June . She was not convicted of treason or other crimes committed on the island, and insisted on her innocence, but in a 1992 interview she confirmed her desire to help the pilot. She moved to the island of Kauai, where the woman was once visited by a Japanese officer who became an American evangelist after the war. .

The rusty wreckage of Zero in the museum

Impact on public opinion

Historian Gordon Prange noted that the help of Japanese residents to the Japanese pilot undermined the confidence of the Hawaiians in all the Japanese who lived on the islands.

Novelist William Hallstead believes that the incident contributed to the internment of Japanese living in the United States.

Memorialization, museumification and controversy surrounding the incident

The Japanese coastal city of Hashihama commemorated Nichekaichi, who hailed from there, with a 12-foot granite cenotaph. This happened at a time when the circumstances of his death were not known and he was believed to have died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The pilot's family found out the truth about his family and received the remains only in 1956.

The remains of Nichekaichi's plane and the tractor that he used to move around the island are in the museum. There is controversy as to whether the exposition should be about the role of the Harada family in the story.

Notes

Literature

• Beekman, Allan. The Niihau Incident. - Honolulu, HI: Heritage Press of Pacific, 1998. - ISBN 0-9609132-0-3.
• Clark, Blake. Remember Pearl Harbor! . - New York: Modern Age Books, 1942.
• Jones, Syd."Niihau Zero: The Unlikely Drama of Hawaii"s Forbidden Island Prior to, During, and After the Pearl Harbor Attack. - Merritt Island, Florida: JBJ Delta Charlie LC/Signum Ops, 2014.
• Prange, Gordon W. December 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor. - New York: McGraw Hill, 1962.
• Shinsato, Douglas T. and Tadanori Urabe, For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor," eXperience, inc., Kamuela, Hawaii, 2011.

The seventh largest island of the Hawaiian archipelago with the smallest number of people living on it (about 240 people) is Niihau. Niihau has a different name - "forbidden island", because of the established ban on the entry of people who are not indigenous people. More than 4.9 million years ago, this island appeared, with an area of ​​180 sq. km. In 1864, the island came into the possession of the Robinson family.

The climate on the island of Niihau, compared to the nearest island of Kauai, located 27 km away, is arid. Attraction Niihau are precious turtles. The inhabitants of the island have to provide for themselves in everything due to the lack of a power plant, running water, shops, and postal services. The communication of the islanders takes place in the Hawaiian language, thereby they are trying to preserve their culture.

Some of the inhabitants of Niihau breed livestock, but the main type of fishery is the gifts of the ocean - small shells called musheli. On the ocean coast, on warm winter days, entire Hawaiian families collect shells. Then, after drying, they arrange them according to size and quality. The islanders use the shells to make beautiful jewelry - garlands and beads.

The manufacture of such jewelry has been practiced since ancient times, as evidenced by sailors who visited the island at the end of the 18th century and saw these unusual products. Shell garlands were worn by wealthy Hawaiian women who belonged to a noble royal family.

Already by the 20th century, tourism began to emerge on the island, shops selling souvenirs opened. The military, who visited the island at the height of the Second World War, acquired jewelry, thanks to which the products began to appear in all parts of the world. Now these wonderful products are available not only to wealthy women of the island, but also to ordinary residents of different countries.

Shells used to make jewelry are called momi, laiki, and kagelelani in Hawaiian. Almost 20 different types of mushels are used to create beautiful beads. In appearance, mushels resemble pearls with an oval shape and a spectacular white or dark brown color. From momi, expensive beads are made, comparable to delicate jasmine flowers.

When Hawaiian girls get married, their outfit is decorated with garlands consisting of numerous rows of laiki. Laiki, resembling rice grains in shape, has a wide variety of shades. Beads made of kagellan are the most expensive, as the process of stringing them is very laborious. Gorgeous shades of kagelelani - maroon and hot pink, simply amaze with their beauty.

The process of making a garland is that its future appearance is initially determined. Then the mushels are cleaned of sand and pierced by the craftswoman with an awl. Shell splitting occurs very often. In this case, there should always be spare mushels. This is a very painstaking work - sometimes one garland has to be done for a whole year. The nylon thread for stringing the mussels is treated with special glue, then puk and cowrie shells are attached to the ends of the garland in the form of fasteners. Sometimes patterns that have geometric shapes are applied to the garlands.

It takes a lot of time to make products. In addition, the craftswoman must have good eyesight. Beads and garlands are a real work of art. With their unique products, the inhabitants of the island of Niihau delight people all over the world.

Basic moments

Niihau is called the "Forbidden Island". Since 1864, it has been privately owned by the Robinson family, and for a long time it was possible to get here only by invitation. It is curious that these restrictions even extended to relatives of the native islanders.

Since 1987 the situation has changed. Now, expensive safari tours and helicopter trips are carried out on Niihau. Helicopter tours are designed for half a day. During them, tourists are transported over the island, told about its history and landed on one of the beaches. Here travelers relax and swim in the clear waters of the Pacific Ocean. On the coast, you can watch flocks of colorful tropical fish and disappearing monk seals.

Safari tours are carried out for those who are not indifferent to hunting. Tourists are offered to hunt maned boars, wild sheep, antelopes - oryx and eland living on the island of Niihau. The islanders sell beautiful necklaces and shell crafts to all guests.

Geographic features, climate and nature

Niihau Island is the seventh largest island in Hawaii. It was formed about 4.9 million years ago. The landmass is 30 km long and 10 km wide. Its highest point is the top of an extinct volcano, rising 381 meters above sea level. Near Niihau, 1.1 km to the north, is the small uninhabited island of Lehua.

Niihau is home to Lake Halulu, the only freshwater body of water in the Hawaiian archipelago. Its water supply is replenished by rain.

There are no high mountains on the island that can stop the movement of rainy trade wind clouds, so droughts often occur here. When this happens, the few inhabitants of Niihau leave their homes. They move to other islands in the archipelago and live there until the weather changes.

Hawaiian ducks and stilts live near the freshwater lake. In addition, many other birds live on Niihau, some of which are endangered and rare species. In this regard, the United States has endowed the island with the status of a seabird sanctuary.

Population

By nationality, the islanders are Hawaiians. They communicate in a language that is slightly different from literary Hawaiian, so it can be said that the inhabitants of the island of Niihau speak their own dialect. Some of them speak English quite well as a second language.

All the islanders live in a single village - Puuvai. Some residents receive benefits, while others earn by catching mullet, raising cattle, farming and serving tourists. The main means of transportation is horses. Many use solar panels and have televisions. But their operation is difficult, because the island of Niihau is in the zone of poor coverage of the television signal.

For drinking, washing and irrigating the fields, the islanders use rainwater. All necessary goods are delivered here by ships from the island of Kauai. The island has a permanent school with a 12-year cycle of study, the number of students in which ranges from 25 to 50 people.

military incident

The life of the people living on Niihau is very far from the events taking place in the world. The only case when they took part in hostilities remained in the history of World War II as the "Ni'ihau Incident".

Although the island was permanently inhabited by Hawaiians and non-Hawaiians, Japanese generals considered it uninhabited. When developing plans for the bombing of the American base at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese command decided that Niihau could be useful as an alternate airfield. The pilots were ordered to land heavily damaged aircraft on the island, and the pilots were to be taken from Niihau by a submarine.

On December 7, 1941, a Japanese military plane landed here. The islanders received the pilot of the plane with respect, since he, not knowing the Hawaiian language, could not explain to them who he was and where he came from. When everything turned out, the Japanese pilot was killed. At the same time, a resident of Niihau, who took part in the shootout, was wounded and later received an award.

How to get there

Niihau Island is located 28 km southwest of the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Tourists fly to Kauai by plane, and from there to Nihau they sail across the sea by ship.

December 7, 1941 is the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing nearly 2,500 US troops. And, despite the fact that the Japanese attack is often said to have been planned as a one-sided attack by suicide pilots whose return no one expected, this is not true. Representatives of the Japanese Navy understood that many of their aircraft would be so damaged that they would not be able to safely return to their aircraft carriers. Niihau Island (indicated in red in the photo above) was chosen as the meeting point for all involved in the operation after its completion. The stop at Niihau was a reasonable one: the island is only a 30-minute flight from Pearl Harbor, and it's tiny (180 sq. km), making it a safe hiding place for those who would expect rescuers here. In addition, it was uninhabited, which reduced the risk of attack or capture by local residents. The pilots were told to fly to Niihau and wait there until a submarine surfaced and picked them up.

It was certainly a good plan, but it went terribly wrong. In the end, it turned out that from Pearl Harbor to Niihau was not as easy to get as expected, and only one Japanese pilot was able to land safely off its coast. And more importantly, Niihau was not uninhabited.

At the time, Niihau was owned (yes, someone could own an entire island) by a man named Aylmer Robinson. (His ancestors purchased it from King Kamehameha V and the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1864). Although Robinson did not live there, he managed it from Kauai, the largest island east of Niihau. Robinson rarely allowed outsiders to visit his territory. It so happened that, apart from a handful of Hawaiians on Niihau, few of the visitors knew anything more than that this island was "uninhabited".

As planned, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Japanese pilot named Shigenori Nishikaichi crash-landed on Niihau. Nishikaichi's plane landed just a few meters from one of Niihau's residents, whose name was Hawila Kaleohano. Kaleohano, like the other inhabitants of the island, was unaware of the events that took place that day, but knew that the threat of war had been looming between Japan and the United States for several months. Kaleohano, based on this information, took the weapons and documents from the pilot until Nishikaichi regained his senses. But then they both got into a quandary because they couldn't communicate with each other. Nishikaichi spoke only Japanese. But Caleohano and, for that matter, most of the islanders are not. They only spoke Hawaiian.

However, a caveat must be made here. In particular, Yoshio and Irene Harada, a Japanese husband and wife, both of whom spoke Japanese, were on the island. Nishikaichi told the Harada family about the attack on Pearl Harbor, and they decided not to share this information with non-Japanese residents of the islands. But within days of the islanders deciding to throw a party for Nishikaichi, many of them heard the radio and learned the real reason why the Japanese had come to Niihau. Robinson was due to visit Niihau the very next day (as he or his representative did every week), and the islanders decided that Nishikaichi should be handed over to Robinson's guards, who were returning from Kauai with their owner. But Robinson never showed up. Unbeknownst to the people of Niihau, the US military cut off all naval traffic in the area and Robinson was stranded on Kauai. When he didn't arrive, Harada offered to keep Nishikaichi in his hut, to which the rest of the population agreed (but only on the condition that five people stay in the hut, taking turns from time to time and thus fulfilling the role of temporary guards).

But they probably shouldn't have introduced a shift. Harada and Nishikaichi beat up the guards and took two pistols from a nearby warehouse. On the evening of December 12, as the villagers set out for the bushes and beaches, combing the entire island for fugitives, the three Japanese decided to retrieve Nishikaichi's papers and therefore find Kaleohano. But they couldn't find anything or anyone. Kaleojano handed over the documents to one of his relatives and then left the island on a boat leaving at ten o'clock to find Robinson. Nishikaichi burned his house to the ground and, with Harada's help, captured a woman named Ella Kanahele. Using her as his bargaining chip, Nishikaichi ordered her husband, Ben, to seek out Kaleohano and bring him to them. Ben Canahele knew that Kaleojano had left the island, but did not return to the Japanese for as long as he could. When he returned empty-handed, Harada told him that Nishikaichi planned to kill everyone before Kaleohano returned.

Therefore, Ben Kanahele attacked Nishikaichi first and knocked him to the ground. Nishikaichi fired his pistol at Ben, hitting him three times, but Ella jumped in between them to save her husband. Harada then dragged Ella away from Nishikaichi, but by then Ben managed to pick up the pilot and slam him against the wall and eventually slit his throat with a knife, after which Ella hit Nishikaichi in the head with a rock. Harada pointed his gun at himself and killed himself. Robinson arrived the next day and Irene Harada was taken into custody as the only person of Japanese descent on the island.

The incident at Niihau, as it is now called, made headlines across the country. Ben Canahela was commended for his bravery and, despite being a private citizen, was awarded the Purple Heart. Irene Harada was imprisoned for two and a half years.

Additional fact: the Robinson family still owns Niihau. According to Wikipedia, the two brothers, who now lead the family, were offered $1 billion to sell the island to the US government, but the offer was repeatedly turned down.

Copyright website © - Natalia Zakalyk

So love sea battle or something from the war series, and love to play these games on your Windows Phone

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"