By Valerie Monson
Special to the Herald
KALAUPAPA — The gathering at the Kalaupapa wharf on a blustery Jan. 6 was to remember a sad beginning: the 150th anniversary of when the first 12 people were banished here because of newly-established government policies regarding those diagnosed with leprosy.
In the ensuing century, nearly 8,000 would follow, tearing apart thousands of families, mostly Native Hawaiians, many of whom would never see one another again.
On this day, Kalaupapa was not alone in its thoughts. While the remaining individuals once diagnosed with the disease held hands with friends and workers to solemnly commemorate the occasion, families and friends on the other islands came together to show their love and support.
For Gloria Marks, at 77 the youngest woman at Kalaupapa, the ceremony at the wharf was made even more poignant knowing that families and friends were gathering elsewhere.
“That was really special, to know that people who had family here or who know us were getting together to remember,” she said. “It just shows we’re not alone even though we’re on different islands. They send our prayers to us, we send our prayers to them.”
At dawn in Lahaina, Maui, an awa ceremony honoring the first 12 was led by Kalapana Kollars, whose ancestors were taken to the desolate Molokai peninsula. On Oahu, descendants and friends met at Kewalo Basin thinking of the thousands of sad goodbyes that took place at Honolulu Harbor. To each of a dozen red roses was attached the name of one of those first 12. An additional single white rose represented all the others sent.
Piolani Motta, whose mother was born at Kalaupapa, read aloud the names of the first 12.
Church services, prayers and memories were also shared on Kauai, Hawaii Island, upper Molokai and, just before sunset, at Kahului Harbor where 12 candles were arranged in a circle. A special dedication for the anniversary was said during the daily devotionals at the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
The events were coordinated by Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring each of those sent to Kalaupapa, perpetuating their legacies and reaching out to their descendants. Marks sits on the board of directors. The Ohana worked with Kalaupapa National Historical Park for the commemoration at Kalaupapa.
“I felt we were not only remembering the first 12, but the entire patient congregation and all our families who all went through so much,” said Marks.
At Kalaupapa, they held hands as they looked out over crashing waves typical of winter here, wondering what it must have been like for those first individuals to be tendered in from a schooner on smaller boats — probably scared, mostly alone and facing a future uncertain.
After a welcome by historical park superintendent Erika Stein-Espaniola, longtime resident Boogie Kahilihiwa, president of Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa, offered a prayer. Pauline Chow, another Kalaupapa resident and vice president of the Ohana, read aloud the 12 names:
“Kahauliko, Loe, Liilii, Puha, Kini, Lono, Waipio, Kainaina, Kaaumoana, Nahuina, Lakapu, Kipehe.”
The first six were men, the last three women. Because of the research by Ohana historian Anwei Law, it is now known that a child came along with the first group as did some family members.
The ceremony started on the Kalaupapa side of the peninsula because, again through Law’s research, it is now known that the first people landed there and then walked the few miles to the settlement at Kalawao where kamaaina reached out to help them. Plans for some of the staffers in attendance to walk a similar path were scrapped because of the rainy weather, but everyone realized that the first people would have had no choice in such conditions.
At Kalawao, Mikiala Pescaia of Kalaupapa National Historical Park led a blessing at a field of 2,000 unmarked graves that was followed by an awa ceremony. Hookupu (offerings) were left at the ahu that marks the site of the Kalaupapa Memorial that will eventually list the names of everyone sent to Kalaupapa. The names of the 12 people sent here on Jan. 6, 1866, will be the first to be engraved.
“I’m glad we were still here to witness this day,” said Marks. “Without the work of the Ohana, I don’t think we would know about all these people. All these years I’ve been here, I never knew the names of the first 12 people.”
