Foundation Document

This page contains elements of the “foundation document” for Kalaupapa National Historical Park. The foundation document provides the underlying basis for park management. The foundation document is a shared understanding of the park’s purpose, significance, resources and values, and interpretive themes. This page also includes documentation of the park's special mandates and administrative commitment. These statements identify Kalaupapa’s unique characteristics and what is most important about Kalaupapa National Historical Park.

A foundation document can be used in all aspects of park management to ensure that the most important objectives are accomplished before turning to items that are also important, but not directly critical to achieving the park purpose and maintaining its significance.

What is Included in this Foundation Document?

The foundation document includes relatively stable components that will not change much over time. These components are the legislated purpose of the park unit, the significance it holds, what the focus of its interpretation (interpretive themes) and education program should be, and its fundamental resources and values. The special mandates and administrative commitments sections include the requirements that must be followed in the management of the park unit.

Foundation Planning for Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Components of the foundation document for Kalaupapa NHP were developed at a workshop in October 2006 attended by park and regional staff, as well as other individuals associated with the history and management of the park. The foundation document components were refined by the planning team during the general management plan process between 2009 - 2017.

 

Purpose

A park purpose is a statement of why Congress and/or the president established a unit of the national park system. A purpose statement provides the most fundamental criteria against which the appropriateness of all planning recommendations, operational decisions, and actions are tested. The purpose of the park is grounded in a thorough analysis of the park’s legislation (or executive order) and legislative history. A park purpose statement goes beyond a restatement of the law and details shared assumptions about what the law means in terms specific to the park unit.

 

Significance

Park significance statements express why the park’s resources and values are important enough to warrant national park designation. Statements of the park’s significance describe why an area is important within a global, national, regional, or systemwide context and are directly linked to the purpose of the park unit. Park unit significance statements are substanti- ated by data or consensus and reflect the most current scientific or scholarly inquiry and cultural perceptions, which may have changed since the park unit’s establishment.


Significance Statements for Kalaupapa National Historical Park

Kalaupapa National Historical Park preserves the only intact historic institutional settlement in the United States created for the sole purpose of isolating Hansen’s disease (leprosy) patients from the rest of society.

Mālama ʻo Kalaupapa National Historical Park i ke kaiāulu hoʻokahi i koe ma ʻAmelika i hoʻokumu mākia ʻia no ka hoʻokaupale ʻana i ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale mai ka lehulehu aku.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park’s surviving (and deceased) Hansen’s disease population, with its material culture, oral histories, and intact cultural landscape, is the only community of its kind in the United States.


ʻO Kalaupapa National Historical Park, me ka heluna kanaka maʻi hoʻokaʻawale e ola nei (a i hala aku) a me ona nā mau pono nohona, moʻolelo pilikino a hiʻohiʻona

nohona e waiho nei, ʻo ia ke kaiāulu hoʻokahi o kona ʻano ma ʻAmelika Huipūʻia.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park is the site of renowned work by Saint Damien de Veuster, Saint Marianne Cope, Brother Dutton, Jonathan Napela, and Ambrose Hutchi- son, that has brought widespread attention to the segrega- tion and care of those afflicted with leprosy. Their work inspired many religious leaders, medical professionals and lay people to serve the Hansen’s disease community.


ʻO Kalaupapa National Historical Park kahi o ka hana kaulana a Sāna Kamiano De Veuster, Sāna Meleana Cope, Kahu Dutton, Jonathan Napela me Ambrose Hutchison, kahi mea e kuʻi ai ka lono e pili ana i ka hoʻokaʻawale ʻana a me ka mālama ʻana i ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale. Ua hoʻoulu kā lākou hana i nā alakaʻi hoʻomana, nā kauka a me ka lehulehu e komo i ka lawena hana no ke kaiāulu maʻi hoʻokaʻawale.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park’s history and land- scape document at least 900 years of native Hawaiian life, activities, and cultural heritage prior to 1866 when the first patients arrived. The vast number of archeological resources and variety of site types ake the park one of the richest and most valuable archaeological complexes in Hawaiʻi.


Hoʻākāka maila ka moʻolelo me ka waihona ʻāina o Kalaupapa National Historical Park i 900 a ʻoi mau maka- hiki o ka nohona Hawaiʻi maoli ma mua o ka hikina mua ʻana mai o ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale i ka makahiki 1866. ʻO ia kekahi o nā kahua hulikoena waiwai loa ma Hawaiʻi nei mamuli o ka helu nui o nā pono huʻea o laila, a me inā ʻano like ʻole o nā wahi hulikoena e waiho mai nei ma ia ʻāina.

Many who come to Kalaupapa recognize mana or spiritual power that Hawaiian peoples acknowledge in everything. The ʻāina (land), a vital source that links us to spirit is sacred and connects us to the continued presence of all who lived out their lives on this peninsula. The ʻāina’s mana (spiritual essence) connects us to each other.

Hoʻomaopopo pinepine ihola ka poʻe e kipa ana ma Kalaupapa i ka mana o ia wahi, ia mea a ka Hawaiʻi e ʻike ai ma nā mea a pau o ke ao. He mea laʻahia ka ʻāina, a he kumu pono e pili ai kākou i ka mauli ola, a e pili mai ai ke ʻano ō mau o ka poʻe o mua i noho a ola ma kēia ʻane moku. ʻO ka mana o ka ʻāina ka mea e pili mau ai kākou kekahi i kekahi.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park presents an exemplary geologic and scenic panorama of towering sea cliffs and a flat leaf-shaped peninsula that were created by a cataclys- mic landslide and subsequent volcanic eruption.

Kū ka ʻikena o nā pali kūnihi ma ka lihi o ka ʻanemoku palaha ma Kalaupapa National Historical Park i laʻana maikaʻi o kahi i haneʻe ʻino ai ka mauna a hū hou auaneʻi ka pele.


Kalaupapa National Historical Park presents an exemplary geologic and scenic panorama of towering sea cliffs and a flat leaf-shaped peninsula that were created by a cataclysmic landslide and subsequent volcanic eruption.

Kū ka ʻikena o nā pali kūnihi ma ka lihi o ka ʻanemoku palaha ma Kalaupapa National Historical Park i laʻana maikaʻi o kahi i haneʻe ʻino ai ka mauna a hū hou auaneʻi ka pele.

From uka to kai (mountain to sea) Kalaupapa National Historical Park preserves and interprets some of the last remaining examples of fragile Hawaiian Island plant and animal communities found nowhere else in the world.


Mai uka a i kai, mālama a hoʻomaopopo aku ʻo Kalaupapa National Historical Park i kekahi o nā laʻana hope loa o nā kaiameaola Hawaiʻi pōhae i ʻike ʻole ʻia ma kahi ʻē o ke ao nei.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park preserves robust and diverse nearshore marine resources due to the geographic remoteness, locally restricted access, and controlled sub- sistence practices.

Mālama ʻo Kalaupapa National Historical Park i ka ikaika me ke ʻano makawalu o nā kumuwaiwai pili kai mamuli

o ka mamao a kaʻawale o ia wahi, a mamuli hoʻi o ke kāohi ʻana i ka hele wale ʻana mai me nā hana e hiki ai ke hana ʻia.

 

Interpretive Themes

Interpretive themes connect park unit resources to relevant ideas, meanings, concepts, contexts, beliefs, and values. They support the desired interpretive outcome of increasing visitor understanding and appreciation of the significances of the park’s resources. Interpretive themes are based upon park purpose and significance. They provide the foundation on which the park unit’s educational and interpretive programs are based.

Interpretive Themes for Kalaupapa National Historical Park

The stories and experiences of Hansen’s disease patients can be powerfully felt and understood at Kalaupapa, where beauty, isolation, and expressions of the patients’ enduring spirit continue to offer refuge and healing from hardship, fear, and discrimination.


Hiki ke hoʻomaopopo akāka ʻia maila nā moʻolelo a me ke ola o ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale ma Kalaupapa, kahi e hoʻokanāho a hoʻōla maila ka nani, ke kaʻawale a me ke ʻano ō mau o ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale i ka pōpilikia, ka makaʻu a me ka hoʻokae.

Kalaupapa has an amplified sense of power and sacred- ness by virtue of the events, circumstances, and peoples who lived and died there. The sheer numbers of people who are buried at Kalaupapa create a sense of kuleana— the cultural responsibility to care for the bones of the ancestors. In turn, the ancestors watch over this ʻāina and protect it.

Uluhia ka mana, ka ʻihiʻihi a me ke ʻano laʻa o Kalaupapa mamuli o nā hanana, nā kūlana, a me nā kānaka i ola a hala aku i laila mai ō kikilo loa mai. ʻO ka helu nui o nā kānaka i kanu ʻia ma Kalaupapa kahi mea e ulu aʻe ai ke kuleana - ka pono e mālama i nā iwi kūpuna. A kō ia kuleana, na ia poʻe kūpuna e kiaʻi a mālama mai i ka ʻāina nei.

The stories of a thriving native Hawaiian community who lived and worked the land for over 900 years enriches our understanding of the past and establishes a continuing legacy for future generations of Hawaiians.

ʻO nā moʻolelo o ke kaiāulu ahuahu o nā kānaka Hawaiʻi i noho a mālama i ka ʻāina no 900 makahiki ka mea e māhuahua ai ke akāka o ka wā i hala, a e hoʻokino ʻia ai ka hoʻoilina kūmau no nā hanauna Hawaiʻi o mua aʻe nei.

Saint Damien, Saint Marianne, Brother Dutton, Jonathan Napela, Ambrose Hutchison and other kokua’s devotion to improving patient lives continues to inspire us today.


A hiki i kēia lā, pā ka naʻau i ke kipona aloha o Sāna Kamiano, Sāna Meleana, Kahu Dutton, Jonathan Napela, Ambrose Hutchison a me nā kōkua ʻē aʻe i molia i ke ola ma ka hoʻomaikaʻi ʻana i ke ola o ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale.


The architecture, landscapes, and archeology of the peninsula reflect an evolution of the settlement from barely surviving patients with Hansen’s disease at Kalawao to a highly organized medical and social community at Kalaupapa.

Hōʻike nā hale, nā ʻikena, a me nā koena huʻea o kēia ʻanemoku i ka loli ʻana aʻe o ka nohona mai kahi i ola māhunehune ai ka poʻe maʻi ma Kalawao a i kaiāulu i kūkulu pono ʻia maila no ka hoʻōla kanaka ma Kalaupapa.

Perceived today as a scenic Hawaiian paradise, Molokaʻi’s dramatic North Shore Cliffs and flat Kalaupapa peninsula are the result of numerous geologic forces still at work throughout the Pacific archipelagos. These geologic fea- tures created a natural prison for isolating people with Hansen’s disease.

ʻIke ʻia i kēia lā ma ke ʻano he palekaiko Hawaiʻi nani loa, he hopena nā pali o Molokaʻi a me ka ʻanemoku ʻo Kalaupapa a nā hana honua e noke mau nei ma nā pae moku Pākīpika. Ua kū nō nā hiʻona o ia ʻāina ma ke ʻano he wahi no ka hoʻopale ʻana aku i ka poʻe maʻi hoʻokaʻawale.

Kalaupapa’s plant and animal communities, including the seabird colonies and Loulu (Pritchardia hillebrandii) forest, hearken back to the pre-contact condition of the Hawaiian Islands. The rarity of these surviving fragile populations is a reminder of how much has been lost.

Kuhikuhi maila nā kaiameaola o Kalaupapa, pū no me nā kaiāulu manu kai me ka ulu Loulu, i ke kūlana o kēia pae ʻāina ma mua o ka pili mau ʻana me ko waho. Hōʻike ʻike a hoʻomanaʻo ihola ke ʻano kākaʻikahi o kēia mau kaiameaola pōhae i ka nui o nā mea i lilo a nalo loa aku.

Kalaupapa National Historical Park’s unique and thriving reef environment reminds us of what these areas were once like throughout Hawaiʻi, and it serves as a potential source of replenishment for degraded reef systems around the islands.

Ulu a māhuahua ka ʻāpapa o Kalaupapa National Historical Park, e hōʻike ana i ke ʻano i laha wale i ke au i hala a puni nā moku, a e kū ana paha i kumuwaiwai e hoʻoulu hou ai i nā ʻāpapa i hōʻino ʻia ma ka pae ʻāina.

 

Fundamental Resources and Values

Fundamental resources and values are the most important elements, ideas, or concepts to be communicated to the public about a park unit. They warrant primary consideration during planning and management because they are critical to achieving the park’s purpose and maintaining its significance. They provide a valuable focus throughout the planning process and the life of the plan and may include systems, processes, features, visitor experiences, stories, scenes, sounds, or other resources and values. They are the reasons for data collection, planning issues, management prescriptions, impact assessments, and value analyses.

 

Special Mandates and Administrative Commitments

This section describes the unique management structure of Kalaupapa National Historical Park and includes information about management authority, jurisdiction, landownership, designations and protected areas, special mandates, and cooperative agreements.

Management Authority and Jurisdiction

Kalaupapa National Historical Park differs significantly from most other national parks in that almost all of the 8,720 acres of land, 2,060 acres of submerged and offshore lands, and improvements within the authorized boundary may remain in nonfederal ownership to be managed by the National Park Service through cooperative agreements. This section describes landownership, special designations and protected areas within the park, special mandates, and cooperative agreements that are unique to Kalaupapa National Historical Park.

Landownership

The National Park Service (NPS) owns 22.88 acres in which the light house, as well as the Molokai Light Station, two historic houses, and four outbuildings are located.

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) owns 1,290 acres within the park boundary. The current 50-year lease between the National Park Service and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (which could be renewed in 2041) encumbers only the 1,247-acre parcel and does not include the 43 acres at Pālāʻau State Park, which lies outside of Kalawao County.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) owns 9,394 acres within the park. The National Park Service has a cooperative agreement with the Department of Land and Natural Resources to administer some of these lands. Most Department of Land and Natural Resources land is zoned Conservation — with 1,541 acres in the Molokai Forest Reserve (not administered by the National Park Service) and 2,060 acres of submerged and offshore lands including 60 acres surrounding Nihoa. The application of the Conservation zone indicates that the state has imposed development restrictions on the land to conserve, protect, or preserve important natural resources in those areas.

The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation (DOT) owns 42.2 acres at the tip of the peninsula. This area encompasses the airport runway and adjacent lands. The Department of Transportation owns the structures at the airport facility including the terminal and three storage/maintenance buildings.

R. W. Meyer, Ltd., owns 72 acres at the top of the pali east of Pālāʻau State Park.

 

Designations and Protected Areas

Within Kalaupapa National Historic Park are a number or geographical areas that have special designations and are administered by different agencies. These areas are listed in the following table and described in detail in this section.

Designations and Protected Areas in Kalaupapa National Historical Park
Designation Date Designator Total Area of Designation (acres) Area of Designation Within Park (acres)
Molokai Forest Reserve 1903 Territorial Government of Hawai'i 1,541 1,541
National Natural Landmark 1972 Secretary of the Interior 27,100 5,085
National Historic Landmark 1976 Secretary of the Interior 15,645 10,674
Seabird Sanctuaries on 'Ōkala and Huelo Islands 1981 State of Hawai'i, DLNR 9 9
Pu'u Ali'i Natural Area Reserve 1985 State of Hawai'i, Governor 1,330 1,330

 

Special Mandates

 

Long-Term Agreements

The Secretary of the Interior shall seek and may enter into cooperative agreements with the owners of property within the park pursuant to which the Secretary may preserve, protect, maintain, construct, reconstruct, develop, improve, and interpret sites, facilities, and resources of historic, natural, architectural, and cultural significance. Cooperative agreements shall be of not less than 20 years duration and may be extended and amended by mutual agreement. Cooperative agreements shall include, without limitation, provisions that the Secretary shall have the right of access at reasonable times to public parts of the property for interpretive and other purposes. No changes or alterations shall be made in the property except by mutual agreement (Public Law 96–565, sec. 105, December 22, 1980).

Each agreement shall provide that the owner shall be liable to the United States in an amount equal to the fair market value of any capital improvements made to or placed on the property in the event the agreement is terminated prior to its natural expiration or any extension thereof. The Secretary is permitted to remove such capital improvements within a reasonable time of termination of the cooperative agreement. Upon expiration of the agreement, the improvements thereon shall become the property of the owner, unless the United States desires to remove such capital improvements and restore the property to its natural state within a reasonable time for such expiration. Except for emergency, temporary, and interim activity, no funds shall be expended on nonfederal property unless such expenditure is pursuant to a cooperative agreement with the owner (Public Law 96–565, sec. 105, December 22, 1980). The lease and agreements are shown in the table below.
 

Long-term Lease, Agreements, and Memorandum of Understanding, Kalaupapa National Historical Park
Partner Instrument Effective Term Term (years)
State of Hawai'i Department of Hawaiian Home Lands General Lease July 15, 1991-July 14, 2041 50
Hawai'i Conference Foundation Cooperative Agreement Set. 27, 2003-Sept. 26, 2023 20
State of Hawai'i Department of Health Cooperative agreement April 1, 2004–March 31, 2024 20
Catholic Church Cooperative agreement Aug. 23, 2004- Aug. 22, 2034 20
State of Hawai'i Department of Transportation Cooperative agreement Expired March 9, 2007; new agreement is in development. 20
State of Hawai'i Department of Land and Natural Resources Cooperative agreement Sept. 15, 2009–Sept. 14, 2029 20
R. W. Meyer, Ltd. Memorandum of understanding April 27, 2012–April 26, 2017 5

Last updated: June 4, 2025

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Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 2222
7 Puahi Street

Kalaupapa, HI 96742

Phone:

808 567-6802

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