Park Newsletter Announced

Kalaupapa National Historical Park began a park newsletter in late October.  View issue number 1.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama signed into law the Kalaupapa Memorial Act. The law states that “The Secretary of the Interior shall authorize Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, a non-profit organization consisting of patient residents at Kalaupapa National Historical Park, and their family members and friends, to establish a memorial at a suitable location or locations approved by the Secretary at Kalawao or Kalaupapa within the boundaries of Kalaupapa National Historical Park … to honor and perpetuate the memory of those individuals who were forcibly relocated to the Kalaupapa Peninsula from 1866 to 1969.”

The first meeting will be held at Kaumakapili Church, 766 North King Street, in Honolulu on September 18, 2009. The Family Workshop will begin at 6 p.m., followed by the public scoping session regarding the Memorial from 7 to 9 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.

Kaumakapili Church was chosen as the site for the first meeting since this was the home church of Kahauliko who was sent to Kalaupapa on January 6, 1866, and is listed as No. 1 on the Admission Register of persons sent to Kalaupapa. Consequently, Kahauliko’s name will be listed first on the Kalaupapa Memorial, which will contain the names of the estimated 8,000 individuals sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula because of government policies regarding leprosy.

Other public meetings will be held on:

Lanai, September 19, venue and times to be announced

Maui, September 21, Paukukalo Hawaiian Homes Community Center, 661 Kaumualii Street, Wailuku
Family Workshop, 6 p.m.
Memorial Public Scoping Session, 7-9 p.m.

Molokai, September 23, Kalana O`iwi Conference Center,
600 Maunaloa Highway, Kaunakakai
Family Workshop, 6 p.m.
Memorial Public Scoping Session, 7-9 p.m.

Kalaupapa: September 26, McVeigh Hall
Family Workshop, 9 a.m.
Memorial Public Scoping Session, 10 a.m.-noon

Comments in writing from individuals on the Big Island and Kauai or anywhere else can be mailed to: Ka `Ohana O Kalaupapa, P.O. Box 1111, Kalaupapa, HI 96742 or to Kalaupapa National Historical Park, P. O. Box 2222, Kalaupapa, HI 96742.

The ‘Ohana is a nonprofit organization that is made up of Kalaupapa residents, their family members, descendants and longtime friends.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park was established in 1980 at the request of the Kalaupapa community. Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa was organized in 2003.

The Kalaupapa Memorial Act was introduced to Congress in late 2005 by then-Congressman Ed Case. When Case left the US House of Representatives a year later, his successor, Congresswoman Mazie Hirono, re-introduced the bill where it was passed on the House floor last year. Senator Daniel Akaka introduced the Kalaupapa Memorial Act to the US Senate where it was also adopted as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009.

For more information, call Valerie Monson, secretary/coordinator for Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, at 808-573-2746, or Steve Prokop, Superintendent, Kalaupapa National Historical Park at 808-567-6802, ext. 1100.