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Molokaʻi or Molokai is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is at its greatest length and width with a usable land area of , making it the fifth largest in size of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th-largest island in the United States. It lies southeast of Oahu across the Kaʻiwi Channel and north of Lanai, separated from it by the Kalohi Channel.
The island's agrarian economy has been driven primarily by cattle ranching, pineapple production, sugarcane production and small-scale farming. Tourism comprises a small fraction of the island's economy, and much of the infrastructure related to tourism was closed and barricaded in the early 2000s when the primary landowner, Molokai Ranch, ceased operations due to substantial revenue losses. In Kalawao County, on the Kalaupapa Peninsula on the north coast, settlements were established in 1866 for quarantined treatment of persons with leprosy; these operated until 1969. The Kalaupapa National Historical Park now preserves this entire county and area. Several other islands are visible from the shores of Molokaʻi, including Oʻahu from the west shores; Lānaʻi from the south shores, and Maui from the south and east shores.
Both the form Molokai (without an ʻokina) and Moloka i (with) have long been used by native speakers of Hawaiian, and there is debate as to which is the original form, with conflicting claims as to which the elders used. This island name is often mispronounced without an ʻokina, but we know from listening to many kūpuna (or elders) recorded from the 1950s to 1970s, who were native speakers from Molokaʻi, that the name did indeed have an ʻokina in it. For counter opinions see and The USGS and the Hawaiʻi Board on Geographic Names use the form with the ʻokina.
Molokaʻi is part of the state of Hawaii and located in Maui County, Hawaii, except for the Kalaupapa Peninsula, which is separately administered as Kalawao County. Maui County encompasses Maui, Lanai, and Kahoolawe in addition to Molokaʻi. The largest town on the island is Kaunakakai, which is one of two small ports on the island. Molokai Airport is located on the central plains of Molokaʻi.
The United States Census Bureau divides the island into three , Census Tract 317 and Census Tract 318 of Maui County and Census Tract 319 of Kalawao County. The total 2010 census population of these was 7,345, living on a land area of . Census Tracts 317 and 318, Maui County; and Census Tract 319, Kalawao County United States Census Bureau Molokaʻi is separated from Oahu to the northwest by the Molokai Channel, from Maui to the southeast by the Pailolo Channel and from Lanai to the south by the Kalohi Channel.
The Kauhako Crater Lake is a soda lake.
The eastern half of the island is a high plateau rising up to an elevation of on Kamakou peak and includes the Molokai Forest Reserve. The eastern half is covered with lush wet forests that get more than of rain per year. The high-elevation forests are populated by native ʻōhiʻa lehua ( Metrosideros polymorpha) trees and an extremely diverse endemic flora and fauna in the understory. Much of the summit area is protected by the Nature Conservancy's Kamakou and Pelekunu valley preserves.
Below , the vegetation is dominated by introduced and invasive flora, including strawberry guava ( Psidium littorale), eucalyptus ( Eucalyptus spp.), and cypress ( Cupressus spp.). Introduced Chital ( Axis axis) and feral pigs ( Sus scrofa) roam native forests, destroying native plants, expanding spreading invasive plants through disturbance and distribution of their seeds, and threatening endemic . Near the summit of Kamakou is the unique Pepeopae bog, where dwarf ʻōhiʻa and other plants cover the soggy ground.
Molokaʻi is home to a great number of Endemism plant and animal species. However, many of its species, including the olomaʻo ( Myadestes lanaiensis), Molokai creeper ( Paroreomyza flammea), and the Moho bishopi ( Moho bishopi) have become Extinction. Molokaʻi is home to a wingless fly among many other endemic insects.
Ranching began on Molokaʻi in the first half of the 19th century when Kamehameha V set up a country estate on the island, which was managed by Meyer and became what is now the Molokai Ranch. Meyer Sugar Hookuleana LLC 2013. Retrieved 10 July 2017. In the late 1800s, Kamehameha V built a vacation home in Kaunakakai and ordered the planting of over 1,000 coconut trees in Kapuaiwa Coconut Grove.
The Malaysian businessman, Quek Leng Chan, possesses one-third of Molokai Island, previously known for its leprosy settlement, via his conglomerate, Hong Leong Group. Quek managed a large ranch on the island, which included a golf course and a hotel, until 2008 when he ceased operations after the state denied his development requests; the residents of the island are now attempting to repurchase the property.
The legislature passed a control act requiring quarantine of people with leprosy. The government established Kalawao located on the isolated Kalaupapa peninsula on the northern side of Molokaʻi, followed by Kalaupapa as the sites of a leper colony that operated from 1866 to 1969. Because Kalaupapa had a better climate and sea access, it developed as the main community. A research hospital was developed at Kalawao. The population of these settlements reached a peak of 1,100 shortly after the beginning of the 20th century.
In total over the decades, more than 8,500 men, women and children living throughout the Hawaiian islands and diagnosed with leprosy were exiled to the colony by the Hawaiian government and declared Legal death. This public health measure was continued after the Kingdom became a U.S. territory. Patients were not allowed to leave the settlement nor have visitors and had to live out their days here.
Arthur Albert St. Mouritz served as a physician to the leper settlement from 1884 to 1887.Wade, H. W. (1951). Human Inoculation Experiments in Hawaii Including Notes On Those of Arning and Of Fitch . International Journal of Leprosy. Volume 19 Number 2. Retrieved April 5, 2020Amundson, Ron (2010). A Wholesome Horror: The Stigmas of Leprosy in 19th Century Hawaii . Disability Studies Quarterly. Volume 30 Number 3/4. Retrieved April 5, 2020. He explained how leprosy was spread.Mouritz, Arthur Albert St. M. (1916). The Path of the Destroyer Retrieved April 5, 2020.
Pater Damiaan (Father Damien), a Belgium priest of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary served as a missionary for 16 years in the communities of sufferers of leprosy. Joseph Dutton, who served in the 13th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War and converted to Roman Catholicism in 1883, came to Molokaʻi in 1886 to help Father Damien and the rest of the population who suffered from leprosy. Father Damien died at Kalaupapa in 1889 while Joseph Dutton died in Honolulu in 1931 at the age of 87. Mother Marianne Cope of the Sisters of Saint Francis of Syracuse, New York, brought six of her Sisters to work in Hawaiʻi with leprosy sufferers in the late 19th century, also serving on Molokaʻi.
Both Father Damien and Mother Marianne have been canonization for their charitable work and devotion to sufferers of leprosy. In December 2015, the cause of Joseph Dutton was formally opened, obtaining him the title Servant of God.
In the 1920s, people confined in the leper colony were treated with a new method devised by Alice Ball and involving chaulmoogra oil. In the 1940s, sulfonamide drugs were developed and provided a more effective treatment. Antibiotic Dapsone has been used for leprosy since 1945. Modern Multidrug therapy (MDT) remains highly effective, and people are no longer infectious after the first monthly dose.
In 1969, the century-old laws of forced quarantine were abolished. Former patients living in Kalaupapa today have chosen to remain here, most for the rest of their lives." Kalaupapa National Historical Park – A Brief History of Kalaupapa (U.S. National Park Service)." U.S. National Park Service – Experience Your America. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. In the 21st century, there are no persons on the island with active cases of leprosy, which has been controlled through medication, but some former patients chose to continue to live in the settlement after its official closure." Kalaupapa National Historical Park – Hansen's Disease Patients at Kalawao and Kalaupapa (U.S. National Park Service)." U.S. National Park Service – Experience Your America. Web. 19 Nov. 2009.
In 2007, community residents organized the "Save Laʻau Point" movement to oppose Molokai Ranch's attempt to expand its resort operation. As a result, on March 24, 2008, Molokai Ranch, then the island's largest employer, decided to shut down all resort operations, including hotels, movie theater, restaurants, and golf course, and dismiss 120 workers. "Molokai Ranch: A year after closure, times are hard but spirit is alive" , Maui News In September 2017 the company that owns Molokai Ranch, Singapore-based Guoco Leisure Ltd, put this property, encompassing 35% of the island of Molokaʻi, on the market for $260 million. Hawaii's Molokai Ranch on the market for $260M Pacific Business News, 7 September 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2017. After years of neglect, residents have organized and formed the Molokai Heritage Trust to determine how to eventually buy back the land, return it to the stewardship of the local community, and protect it from exploitation.
Due to the fight against development and tourism, Molokaʻi has Hawaii's highest unemployment rate. The residents have fought hard to maintain a lifestyle based on indigenous subsistence practices. This lifestyle is not without challenges, however, and many live below the federal poverty line. One third of its residents use food stamps. , the largest industry on the island is seed production for Monsanto and Mycogen Seeds, including GMO seeds.
National Geographic Traveler magazine and the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations conduct annual Destination Scorecard surveys, aided by George Washington University. In 2007, a panel of 522 experts in sustainable tourism and destination stewardship reviewed 111 selected human-inhabited and around the world. Molokaʻi ranked 10th among the 111 destination locales. The survey cited Molokaʻi's undeveloped tropical landscape, environmental stewardship, and rich, deep Hawaiian traditions (the island's mana). The neighbor islands of Hawaiʻi, Kauaʻi, Maui and Oʻahu, ranked 50, 61, 81 and 104, respectively.
Molokaʻi is believed to be the birthplace of the hula. The annual Molokaʻi Ka Hula Piko festival is held on this island. Molokaʻi Ka Hula Piko , Aloha-Hawaii website
Molokaʻi can be reached by plane. Planes fly into Molokaʻi daily from other Hawaiian islands including Oʻahu (Honolulu and Kalaeloa), Maui (Kahului) and Hawaii (Kona), operated by Mokulele Airlines, Paragon Air and Hawaiian Airlines.
A ferry that formerly sailed between Molokaʻi and Lāhainā Harbor, Maui closed operations on October 27, 2016. Sea Link President and Senior Capt. Dave Jung attributed the closure to competition from federally subsidized commuter air travel and declining ridership. Ferry service ended Honolulu Star Advertiser. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
The island public school system includes four elementary schools, one charter school, one middle school, and one high school, Molokaʻi High School. There is also a community college. The island has one private middle/high school.
The Hawaii State Public Library System operates the Molokai Public Library in Kaunakakai.
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