I believe it was my mother who retrieved this evidence of a sad chapter in her family history.
These notes were copied from the register used to record admissions to the leprosy colony in Kalaupapa. Apparently it is now held in the Hawaii State Archives.
This brief excerpt lists my great-great-grandfather, Kahooililmoku, and two of his young sons (Kaaea and Alapai) among those who were taken to Kalaupapa in 1888. All are listed as being from Niolopa, a land section in Nuuanu. It was a one-way trip. All three died in Kalaupapa.
My late sister, who had inherited the role of family genealogist, believed our great-great-grandmother, Heleualani, also contracted leprosy but died at home in Hana in 1886 before she was sent to Kalaupapa.
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Kalaupapa has a special place in my heart. I’ve been there many times and still have a few friends living there. But it is a place where you can feel the suffering of the people who were ripped from their families and sent there to die. One dear friend, Bernard Punikaia was sent there in the 1930s at the age of six. We became close friends during the anti-eviction struggle of Hale Mohalu at Pearl City in the 1970s and 80s. Bernard named our peace farm here on the Big Island “Malu Aina.” Blessings to all families who had loved ones die at Kalaupapa.