Editing Niihau (section)

===Population===
[[File:Niihau helicopter.jpg|thumb|260px|Navy contractors from [[Pacific Missile Range Facility|PMRF]] arrive at Paniau Ridge on Ni{{okina}}ihau in an [[AgustaWestland AW109|Agusta A109 helicopter]]. The seabird sanctuary island of [[Lehua]] can be seen in the background.]]
The 2010 census states that there were 170 people living on the island.<ref>{{cite web|title=Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data |url=http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/census/Census_2010/demographic/demo_profile_ct_NI/2010dp_ct412.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151026061033/http://files.hawaii.gov/dbedt/census/Census_2010/demographic/demo_profile_ct_NI/2010dp_ct412.pdf |archive-date=2015-10-26 |url-status=live |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=April 24, 2017}}</ref> However, witness accounts estimate that the population actually ranges between 35 and 50 people.<ref>{{cite web |title=That's Just How I Rule |date=March 3, 2017 |publisher=This American Life, 2017 |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/611/vague-and-confused?act=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.niihauheritage.org/niihau_today.htm|title=Ni'ihau Island Today – Learn about the Forbidden Island of Ni'ihau|date=November 17, 2020}}</ref> Some support themselves largely by subsistence fishing and farming, while others depend on [[Welfare (financial aid)#Welfare in the United States|welfare]].<ref name="crm">Langlas, Charles and Kehaulani Shintani. [http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/09_rwebsite_sub.cfm?issue=Volume%203%20Number%201%20Winter%202006&seq=8 "''Mälama ka ‘Äina: To Care For The Land''"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223075113/http://crmjournal.cr.nps.gov/09_rwebsite_sub.cfm?issue=Volume%203%20Number%201%20Winter%202006&seq=8 |date=February 23, 2012 }} [review]. ''CRM: The Journal of Heritage Stewardship.'' Vol. 3 No. 1 (Winter 2006).</ref> All residents live rent-free, and meat is free.<ref name="khon2009" /> Ni{{okina}}ihau has no telephone services and no paved roads. Horses are the main form of transportation; bicycles are also used. There are no power lines; solar power provides all electricity. There is no plumbing or running water on the island. Water comes from [[rainwater catchment]]. The Robinson family established most of these conditions. There is no hotel, and barges deliver groceries from Kaua{{okina}}i, often purchased by relatives, with free shipping.<ref name="khon2009" />

Residents generally speak the [[Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect]] of [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]] as their first language, in part encouraged by terms in the original purchase contract which obligated the new owners to help preserve Hawaiian culture and tradition. The Ni{{okina}}ihau [[dialect]] differs from modern standard Hawaiian in that, for example, {{IPA|[t]}} and {{IPA|[ɾ]}} are the most common [[allophone|realizations]] of the [[phonemes]] {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}, respectively.<ref name="khon2009" /> Ni{{okina}}ihau is the only island where Hawaiian is spoken as a primary language.<ref name="Olsen-2001">{{cite journal |last1=Olsen |first1=Eric P. |title=Paradise Preserved |journal=World & I |volume=16 |issue=10 |pages=108 |date=October 2001}}</ref> Oral tradition maintains that the Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect is closer to the Hawaiian register spoken during the time of contact with Europeans; there is linguistic evidence to support this claim, such as the pronunciation of k as {{IPA|/t/}}.<ref name="flame2016">{{cite web |last1=Hitt |first1=Catherine |title=Keepers of the Flame: How cultural practitioners are preserving Niihau's unique traditions |url=https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/keepers-of-the-flame-how-cultural-practitioners-are-preserving-niihaus-unique-traditions/ |website=Hawaii Magazine |access-date=November 8, 2021 |language=en |date=May 13, 2016}}</ref> English is the second language.

Some residents have radio and television sets, although limited reception effectively limits the latter to watching pre-recorded media.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/97/07/14/features/story3.html |title=Niihau: Island at a Crossroad |first=Catherine Kekoa |last=Enomoto |year=1997 |work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin}}</ref> Ni{{okina}}ihau is subject to regular droughts that occasionally force the population to evacuate to Kaua{{okina}}i temporarily, until rainfall replenishes their water supply. Residents commonly also commute to Kaua{{okina}}i for work, medical care, or school, and many of them call both islands home. To avoid a long boat ride, the island's owners maintain an [[Agusta A109|Agusta A109 helicopter]] for emergencies and for transporting Navy contractors and residents to and from Kaua{{okina}}i. Helicopter tours and safaris help offset the costs of this service.<ref>{{cite web |title=Niihau – Hawaii's "Forbidden Island" |publisher=Kauai Visitor Magazine |url=http://www.visitormagazines.com/kauai/edit/ed-niihau-KV.html |access-date=June 19, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230130945/http://www.visitormagazines.com/kauai/edit/ed-niihau-KV.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=December 30, 2006}}</ref>

A form of [[ipu]] art is known to have developed solely on the island of Ni{{okina}}ihau.<ref name="Crites">{{cite journal |url=http://www.hanahou.com/pages/Magazine.asp?Action=DrawArticle&ArticleID=611&MagazineID=39 |title=The Ipu Guy |first=Jennifer |last=Crites |journal=[[Hana Hou!]] |volume=10 |issue=5 |date=October–November 2007 |access-date=October 18, 2007 |quote=This method developed <nowiki>[</nowiki>circa [[Anno Domini|AD]] 1600<nowiki>]</nowiki> only on Ni{{okina}}ihau – nowhere else in the world – and then vanished at the end of the 19th century," explains Harburg. "It was lost until Dr. Bruce Ka{{okina}}imiloa Chrisman figured out how it was done.}}</ref><ref name="Bordessa">{{cite journal |url=http://www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol04/?pg=30&liid=659d5683f1 |title=The Lost Ipu Art of Ni{{okina}}ihau |first=Kris |last=Bordessa |journal=[[Craft (American magazine)|Craft:]] |volume=4 |year=2007 |access-date=October 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204030000/http://www.craftzine-digital.com/craft/vol04/?pg=30&liid=659d5683f1 |archive-date=December 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In this method, after a design is carved in the skin of a fresh [[gourd]], it is filled with [[dye]] which, after several weeks, changes the color of the uncarved portions of the surface where the skin is intact. [[Hawaiian music]] plays a central role on the island, with [[a cappella]] singers making use of only two or three tones and changing rhythms. [[Ukulele]] and guitar playing is nearly ubiquitous among the islanders, and there are three separate styles of [[Slack-key guitar|slack-key]] music, with an older style originating from [[Kohala, Hawaii|Kohala]].{{sfn|Tava|Keale|1998|p=105}}