Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
have generators and TV. Alcohol and firearms are banned, and a code of ethics ad-
vocates monogamy.
Despite the isolation, residents are not unacquainted with the outside world. Niʻi-
hau residents are free to go to Kauaʻi or even Las Vegas to shop, drink a few beers
or just hang out. While they are free to visit other islands, however, there are re-
strictions on Niʻihauans bringing friends from other islands back home with them.
If Niʻihauans marry people from other islands, or if the Robinsons view particular
residents as undesirable, they are rarely allowed to return.
While the Robinsons consider themselves protectors of Niʻihau's isolation and its
people, and most Niʻihauans seem content with their lifestyle, outsiders have been
critical. Some Native Hawaiians living on other islands see the Robinsons as coloni-
alists and believe inhabitants should be granted their own land and self-determina-
tion.
Geography & Environment
Niʻihau is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands: 18 miles long and 6 miles
at the widest point, with a total land area of about 72 sq miles, including 45 miles of
coast. The island is slightly over 17 miles southwest of Kauaʻi. The climate is warm,
windy and semiarid, with a relatively extreme temperature range, from 42°F to
110°F in the shade. Niʻihau rainfall averages a scant 12in annually because the is-
land is in Kauaʻi's rain shadow. Its highest peak, Paniau, is only 1250ft tall and can-
not generate the trade wind-based precipitation that is prevalent throughout the
majority of the Hawaiian Island chain, notably on Kauaʻi.
Niʻihau's 865-acre Halaliʻi Lake is the largest in Hawaii, but even during the rainy
winter season it's only a few feet deep. In summer it sometimes dries up to a mud
pond.
Almost 50 endangered monk seals live on Niʻihau, and about half of all Hawaii's
endangeredʻalae keʻokeʻo(coots) breed here. Introduced creatures proliferate:
there are an estimated 6000 feral pigs, plus wild sheep, goats and turkeys. Niʻihau
waters have suffered depletion by outside sport and commercial fishers who sail in
to fish and pick ʻopihi(an edible limpet) from the island's shorebreaks.
Economy & Politics
The island economy has long depended on Niʻihau Ranch, the sheep and cattle
business owned by the Robinsons. But it was always a marginal operation on windy
Niʻihau, with droughts devastating herds. In 1999 Niʻihau Ranch closed, putting
most of the island's inhabitants on federal welfare.
Historically the Robinsons diverted funds from their (now defunct) sugar com-
pany on Kauaʻi to provide Niʻihauans with proper shelter, food staples, medical
care and higher education.
 
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