Editing Niihau (section)

==History==
[[File:Map of Yam Bay and Niihau, Captain George Dixon's Journal, 1788.jpg|thumb|Map of Yam Bay and Ni{{okina}}ihau, Captain [[George Dixon (Royal Navy officer)|George Dixon]]'s Journal, 1788.]]
Prior to the [[Hawaiian Kingdom|unification of the Kingdom of Hawaii]] under [[Kamehameha I]], Ni{{okina}}ihau was ruled by the {{lang|haw|[[ali{{okina}}i]]}}. [[Kahelelani]] was the first of the Ni{{okina}}ihau ali{{okina}}i. His name is now used to refer to the ''Ni{{okina}}ihau kahelelani'', the puka shell of the [[Leptothyra verruca|wart turbans]] (''Leptothyra verruca''), used to make exquisite Ni{{okina}}ihau shell jewelry.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|p=13}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Kam |first=Nadine |title=The real deal: Genuine Niihau shells have lasting quality |work=Features |publisher=[[Honolulu Star-Bulletin]] |date=May 17, 2004 |url=http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/17/features/story1.html |access-date=July 21, 2007 |archive-date=August 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070819054938/http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/17/features/story1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Kā{{okina}}eokūlani]] was a ruler of northern Ni{{okina}}ihau who unified the island after defeating his rival, a chief named [[Kawaihoa]]. A stone wall ({{lang|haw|[[Papohaku|Pāpōhaku]]}}) across a quarter of the island's southern end marked the boundaries of the two chiefs: [[Kaeo|Kā{{okina}}eo]]'s land was identified by black stones and Kawaihoa's by white stones. Eventually, a great battle took place, known as [[Pali Kamakaui]]. Kā{{okina}}eo's two brothers from the island of [[Maui]], [[Ka{{okina}}iana]] and his half-brother [[Kahekili II]], the King of Maui, fought for Kā{{okina}}eo, and Ni{{okina}}ihau was united under his rule. Kawaihoa was banished to the south end of the island and Kā{{okina}}eo moved to the middle of the island to govern. Kā{{okina}}eo married the Queen [[Kamakahelei]], and a future king of Ni{{okina}}ihau and Kaua{{okina}}i named [[Kaumualii|Kaumuali{{okina}}i]] was born in 1790. [[Kauai|Kaua{{okina}}i]] and Ni{{okina}}ihau are said to have carried the "highest blood lines" in the Hawaiian Islands.{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|pp=13–14}}

Kamehameha managed to unify all of the islands by 1795, except for Kaua{{okina}}i and Ni{{okina}}ihau.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Coulter |first1=John Wesley |year=1964 |title=Great Britain in Hawaii: The Captain Cook Monument |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=130 |issue=2 |pages=256–261 |doi=10.2307/1794586 |jstor=1794586 |bibcode=1964GeogJ.130..256C }}</ref> Two attempts to conquer those islands had failed, and Kamehameha lost many men: bodies covered the beaches on Kaua{{okina}}i's eastern shores.<ref name="Gay-1981">{{cite book |title=Tales of the forbidden island of Ni{{okina}}ihau |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=SRZSAQAAIAAJ|page=17}} |last1=Gay |first1=Lawrence Kainoahou |publisher=Topgallant Publishing |year=1981 |isbn=0-914916-43-2 |page=17}}</ref> Finally, in 1810, Kamehameha amassed a great fleet, and Kaumuali{{okina}}i, the last independent {{lang|haw|ali{{okina}}i}}, surrendered rather than risk further bloodshed. Independence again became feasible after Kamehameha's death in 1819, but was put down when Kamehameha's widow [[Ka{{okina}}ahumanu]] kidnapped Kaumuali{{okina}}i and forced him to marry her. Thereafter Ni{{okina}}ihau remained part of the unified [[Hawaiian Kingdom]].

[[File:Hawaiian Islands, Hale, Niihau, 1885, taken by Francis Sinclair.jpg|300px|thumb|A group of villagers at Pu{{okina}}uwai Beach settlement, Ni{{okina}}ihau in 1885. Photograph taken by Francis Sinclair, son of Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair.]]
[[Elizabeth Sinclair|Elizabeth McHutchison Sinclair]] (1800–1892) purchased Ni{{okina}}ihau and parts of Kaua{{okina}}i from [[Kamehameha V]] in 1864 for {{US$|10,000|1864|round=-4|about=yes}} in gold. Sinclair chose Ni{{okina}}ihau over other options, including [[Waikiki|Waikīkī]] and [[Pearl Harbor]]. By around 1875, Ni{{okina}}ihau's population consisted of about 350 Native Hawaiians, with 20,000 [[sheep]].<ref name="Bird-1875">{{cite book |last1=Bird |first1=Isabella L. |author-link=Isabella Bird |title=The Hawaiian Archipelago |publisher=BiblioBazaar |year=2006 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=er-Y-eHjHpcC|page=212}} |isbn=1-4264-4990-9 |page=212}}</ref> This era marked the end of the art of Hawaiian mat-weaving made famous by the people of Ni{{okina}}ihau. {{lang|haw|Makaloa}} (''[[Cyperus laevigatus]]''), a native [[Cyperaceae|sedge]], used to grow on the edges of Ni{{okina}}ihau's three [[intermittent lake]]s.<ref name="Joesting-1988">{{Cite book |last1=Joesting |first1=Edward |title=Kauai: The Separate Kingdom |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=GfWj0Pt3cwoC|page=188}}|publisher=University of Hawaii |year=1988 |isbn=0-8248-1162-3 |page=188}}</ref> The stems were harvested and used to weave {{lang|haw|moena makaloa}} (mats), considered the "finest sleeping mats in [[Polynesia]]". The mats were valued by {{lang|haw|ali{{okina}}i}} and foreign visitors alike, but by the end of the 19th century, Hawaiians had stopped weaving {{lang|haw|makaloa}} due to changes in population, culture, economics, and the environment.<ref name="VanDyke-2001">{{cite web |last1=Van Dyke |first1=Peter |title=Growing Makaloa (''Cyperus laevigatus'' L. ) in Constructed Wetlands for Weaving and Treating Wastewater: Final report for U.S. Geological Survey Grant No. 99CRGR0003 |publisher=[[Bishop Museum]] |date=June 2001 |url=http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/images/makaloa.pdf |access-date=August 14, 2007 |archive-date=June 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070622171136/http://www.bishopmuseum.org/exhibits/greenwell/images/makaloa.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1915, Sinclair's grandson Aubrey Robinson closed the island to most visitors. Even relatives of the inhabitants could visit only by special permission. Upon Aubrey's death in 1939 the island passed to his son Aylmer, and in 1968 to Aylmer's youngest brother Lester. Upon Lester's wife Helen's death, the island passed to his sons Bruce Robinson and Keith Robinson, the current co-owners.<ref name="khon2009" /> (See [[Elizabeth Sinclair#Descendants|Sinclair-Robinson family tree]])

The Robinson family has attracted controversy over the strict rules they have imposed on the island’s inhabitants, largely enforced by Bruce Robinson’s wife, Leiana Robinson. The rules include a ban on alcohol and cigarettes, being prohibited from talking about Ni’ihau to the media, a permanent ban from the island if a resident leaves for an extended amount of time, and a ban on long hair and beards for men.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-03 |title=Hawaii’s Forbidden Island and the Real-Life Swiss Family Robinson who Controls it |url=https://www.messynessychic.com/2021/08/25/hawaiis-forbidden-island-and-the-real-life-swiss-family-robinson-who-controls-it/ |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=Messy Nessy Chic |language=en-US}}</ref> The island lacks electricity and running water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dive Niihau the Forbidden Island {{!}} Scuba in Kauai |url=https://seasportdivers.com/niihau/#:~:text=The%20dry%20climate%20is%20ideal,own%20food,%20hunting%20and%20fishing. |access-date=2024-11-11 |website=seasportdivers.com}}</ref>