Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
time
eateries
on Dole Park before a day exploring the
Garden of the Gods
, the
Luahiwa Petroglyphs
and the ancient village of
Kaunolu
.
History
Among its translations, Lanaʻi is thought to mean 'day of conquest,' and although there
is debate about this, it seems appropriate. This small island (at its widest point only 18
miles across) has been affected more than anything by waves of conquest, from the first
Hawaiians (who set up fishing villages around the coast) to 19th-century goats (who ate
all the trees), 20th-century tycoons (who covered the place in pineapples) and modern-
day visitors (looking for respite at luxury resorts).
Evil spirits were thought to be the only inhabitants of Lanaʻi prior to about 1400. Then
a chief's son from Maui is credited with chasing off the evil-doers and making things
safe for others from his home island. Little recorded history exists but there are traces of
a thriving fishing culture along the coasts, especially to the north and east. Raiding
parties from other islands were a frequent terror.
Colonialism largely bypassed Lanaʻi, although diseases brought by the odd missionary
decimated the population from several thousand to 200 by the 1850s. Sporadic efforts
were made at ranching and sugar growing by outsiders, but everything changed when
Charles 'George' Gay began buying up the place in 1902. Within a few years he owned
98% of the island (a holding that has remained almost unbroken through various owners
to this day). In 1922 Lanaʻi passed into the hands of Jim Dole, who fatefully started a
pineapple plantation that was soon the world's largest.
Under Dole (and later its corporate successor, Castle & Cooke), Lanaʻi was not just a
company town but a company island. Early managers were de facto dictators, who were
known for spying on residents from their hillside mansion and ordering guards to discip-
line any deemed to be slackers.
In the 1980s Castle & Cooke and its hard-driving main shareholder, David Murdock,
made plans to shift Lanaʻi's focus from pineapples to tourists. The final harvest of the
former occurred in 1992, the first resorts for the latter opened in 1990.
Over two decades the company struggled to find a profitable future for the island. In
2012, headlines were made when Castle & Cooke sold out to Larry Ellison, the billion-
aire CEO of Oracle. Once again the future of Lanaʻi became a hot topic.
