Of the 8,000 people who were sent to Kalaupapa leprosy settlement between 1866 and 1969, only 1,300 have marked graves. A bill to establish a Kalaupapa memorial, signed into law by President Obama as part of an omnibus bill, aims to list all 8,000 names to honor their lives and memory. - Photo: Blaine Fergerstrom

Kalaupapa monument 'will bring tears' to resident's eyes

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola

As the population of former patients at Kalaupapa ages and starts to dwindle to about 20, a longstanding dream of theirs and their supporters is about to come true.

A monument to memorialize 8,000 people who were sent into forced isolation on the Moloka'i leprosy settlement from 1866 to 1969 was approved as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 signed by President Obama on March 30.

Clarence "Boogie" Kahilihiwa, who has lived at Kalaupapa since 1959, said words failed him when he heard the news. "I was just so excited knowing that maybe our vision will come to light," said Kahilihiwa, the newly elected president of Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit group of former patients, their 'ohana and supporters, which had made the realization of a monument one of its priorities.

The day that he can see the monument for himself, he said, "will bring tears to my eyes."

"It will be just like all of the people of Kalawao and Kalaupapa will be right there before you when you see all the names."

Luella Kurkjian points to a handwritten entry bearing her ancestor's name, Robert Holt, in a hard-bound folio titled "Record of inmates at Kalaupapa: 1866 to 1899" at the State Archives. - Photo: Lisa Asato

About 90 percent of those sent to Kalaupapa and Kalawao, the original site of the settlement, were Hawaiian. The National Park Service, which manages the site as a national historic park, has identified about 1,300 marked tombstones on the peninsula, which means that about 6,700 people lie in unmarked graves, said Valerie Monson, secretary and coordinator for Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa, which is tasked with raising funds for the monument and helping to select a site and a design. The federal law does not provide funding.

Monson said the monument is especially timely with the upcoming canonization of Father Damien in October. "This will guarantee that everyone sent to Kalaupapa will be remembered along with Father Damien, which is how I believe Father Damien would want it too," Monson said. "Father Damien lived and worked alongside many of the people who will be listed on the monument and many of these people lifted him to greater heights."

She also said that Henry Nalaielua, a former patient who recently died, was a big supporter of the monument who wanted not only to see his name but the names of his two sisters who died at Kalaupapa before he arrived. "For many years, he searched for their graves, but could not find them," she said. "He wanted a monument to memorialize them and himself for all their sacrifices and accomplishments." (For an obituary on Nalaielua, see page 23.)

The Kalaupapa Memorial Act was introduced by U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono and Sen. Daniel Akaka introduced a companion bill in the Senate. Obama invited Hirono and Akaka to witness the signing. A monument bill was originally introduced in 2005 by then-Congressman Ed Case.

State Archives historical records branch chief Luella Kurkjian whose ancestor – "probably a great uncle," was sent to Kalaupapa, said the monument is important because "so many of these people just disappeared" out of their family history and "no one knew where they disappeared to."

Kurkjian's great uncle Robert Holt was sent to Kalaupapa from Honolulu in 1887 at age 25. He owned a coffee shop on the settlement and died in 1925. Kurkjian, who learned of her great uncle through a names project for the monument being researched by Ka 'Ohana O Kalaupapa founding member Anwei Law.

Law has recorded the first 5,000 names of people sent to Kalaupapa from 1866 and 1896. The names are handwritten in a black hard-bound folio in the State Archives. "They date back to the first 12 people who were sent there," said Law.

Her research also includes poring through documents like patients' petitions to the Hawai'i Legislature and letters sent from family or to the Board of Health. Six people are providing translation work on documents that are written in Hawaiian.

The monument is not just about names, but about pride and love and having their stories told, said Law. The monument will memorialize and honor Kalaupapa's history and patients and provide a place where family members can pay their respects if their loved ones don't have a marked grave.

"We're increasingly getting family members coming back and wanting to fill the gaps in their family histories," said Law, who is working on a book about the people of Kalawao and Kalaupapa who worked alongside Damien. "I think it's a way to really promote pride in these individuals and in family members. And to bring them back into the history of Hawai'i and also the history of the world."

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For information, visit kalaupapaohana.org.