HE HO'OMANA'O • IN MEMORIAM

Kalaupapa bids aloha to three pioneers

By Valerie Monson

The last few months have been especially sad and difficult at Kalaupapa following the deaths of three of the community's most outspoken advocates for justice and preservation of the settlement's history.

Richard Marks, who proposed the idea of bringing in the National Park Service to allow people to remain in their homes for the rest of their lives and to perpetuate the legacy of Kalaupapa, died Dec. 9. He was 79.

Elizabeth "Ku'ulei" Bell, who led the effort to establish a dialysis center at Kalaupapa and later became a strong proponent for the proposed Kalaupapa Monument, died Feb. 8. She was 76.

Bernard Ka'owakaokalani Punikai'a, who led the struggle to save Hale Mōhalu 30 years ago and went on to become an international advocate, died Feb. 25. He was 78.

All three leaders took different paths to improve the lives of those who the government ordered to be taken from their families and isolated, mostly at Kalaupapa, because they were diagnosed with leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease). Because all three had strong voices and opinions on how best to correct the injustices experienced by people with the disease, they sometimes disagreed. Each in their own way made life at Kalaupapa better. And while they are no longer physically with us, the words and actions they left behind will continue to influence Kalaupapa, the rest of Hawai'i and the world for years to come.

Richard Marks grew up in Pu'unēnē on Maui where his mother, Rose Silva Marks, might have suffered from the separation imposed upon families because of the disease more than any other individual in the history of Kalaupapa – even though she never was sick herself. When Rose was young, her mother contracted leprosy and was sent to Kalaupapa – soon after, Rose's brother and sister followed. After she married, her husband and eventually four of their children would be taken from her because of the disease (one daughter was allowed to return home).

Richard was the last of Rose's children to be diagnosed and confined. He arrived at Kalaupapa in 1956 and wasted little time shaking things up by publicly blasting the archaic rules that treated people affected by leprosy as though they were criminals.

His actions were the catalyst that led to the end of Hawai'i's isolation laws in 1969 for anyone diagnosed with the disease. Later, worried that Kalaupapa would be sold to developers as Hawai'i began catering to tourists, Marks proposed that the National Park Service come to the peninsula to ensure that the residents could live out their lives in their homes and that the important history be passed down to future generations. Despite those accomplishments, Marks might best be known for Damien Tours, the small company he and his wife, Gloria, operated for more than 40 years, enabling thousands of visitors to see Kalaupapa and hear the stories.

Ku'ulei Bell did not become a visible leader of the Kalaupapa community until middle age when she led the effort to establish a dialysis center for the residents, many of whom suffered from kidney disease partly because of the numerous medications they took much of their lives. After that success, Bell found herself being called upon to serve on various committees. She served as chair of the Kalaupapa Patients Advisory Council and was the first president of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit group established in 2003 to support the community, make sure the history was accurately preserved and reach out to family members.

The 'Ohana project closest to Bell's heart was the proposed Kalaupapa Monument that would eventually list the names of the estimated 8,000 people exiled to the peninsula. She especially loved hearing about new research that was uncovering the names and stories of early residents, most of whom have no tombstones and who have been left out of the history of Kalaupapa for many years. Bell wanted her descendants to proudly visit the monument and remember her and others in her family who were sent to Kalaupapa, but who rebuilt their lives with pride and dignity.

Bernard Punikai'a became one of Hawai'i's most recognized heroes in 1978 when he led the five-year struggle to save Hale Mōhalu, the residential treatment complex in Honolulu for people diagnosed with leprosy that also became a "home away from home" for Kalaupapa residents who needed to be on O'ahu.

Punikai'a was well-read with a brilliant mind and a gift for public speaking. He has been compared to Martin Luther King and Gandhi. His Hawaiian name – Ka'owakaokalani – means "bright light across the sky," which he was – and still remains. Punikai'a took the issue of the mistreatment of people with leprosy in Hawai'i and made it a global human rights issue. He gave a keynote address at the United Nations in 1997 and traveled the world to empower anyone facing injustice.

He also served as chairman of the Kalaupapa Patients Advisory Council and was the founder of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, serving as chairman of the board. Punikai'a felt the 'Ohana was needed to make sure, as the Kalaupapa community aged and got smaller, that local voices – family and friends – would continue to help guide the future.

Marks, Bell and Punikai'a were united in their admiration of Father Damien de Veuster. Marks and Punikai'a were faithful members of the Catholic Church while Bell was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All attended the beatification for Damien in Brussels in 1995 and played leading roles in ceremonies related to that event: Bell presented a lei to Pope John Paul II while Marks and Punikai'a were among the four Kalaupapa residents chosen to pound pegs into Damien's koa reliquary when the remains of his right hand were returned to his original grave at Kalawao. (Damien's body was exhumed and moved to his native Belgium in 1936, against the wishes of the Kalaupapa patients.)

All three had hoped to be in Rome for the canonization later this year. All three will long be remembered.

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Valerie Monson is a journalist who has interviewed and written about the people of Kalaupapa for 20 years. She is secretary and coordinator for Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa.