Gov. David Ige poses with members of Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa and others June 16 at Washington Place in Honolulu after signing a bill designating January as Kalaupapa Month. (Photo courtesy of Greg Lau)
By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Imagine if, for the health of the community during an epidemic, you were asked to quarantine, not for 10 days, not for 14 days, not for one year, but for the rest of your life.
That is what 8,000 Hawaii citizens were forced to do between 1866 to 1969, because they had contracted Hansen’s disease — leprosy.
To remind Hawaii’s residents of the ultimate sacrifice made for them by these men, women and children, the state has designated January as Kalaupapa Month, named after their place of exile on Molokai.
Gov. David Ige on June 16 signed into law SB 697, the Hawaii State Senate bill naming the first month of the year to evoke this important part of Hawaii’s history.
“The month of January shall be known and designated as “Kalaupapa Month,” the bill states, “to serve as an annual reminder to people all over of the importance of Kalaupapa and the significant sacrifices and contributions made by its residents throughout the history of Hawaii.”
It was Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa, an organization made up of Kalaupapa residents, their relatives and friends, that first proposed designating January as a month to celebrate and honor the people of Kalaupapa and remember their important history.
According to Ka Ohana member and former executive director Valerie Monson, through this designation, the organization “hopes that teachers will include Kalaupapa in their classrooms, that church leaders will pay tribute to the people of Kalaupapa who shared their faith in God, and that family members will remember their ancestors in various ways.”
The Ohana selected January because of the number of significant dates that took place that month connected to Kalaupapa’s history.
The group also thought it was a great way to start the new year.
“The people of Kalaupapa have always been about resiliency, faith and community,” Monson said. “For the most part, they have not let adversity stop them, and are role models for the rest of us who face difficulties in life.”
State Sen. Kalani English and others introduced the bill, which received the support of Kalaupapa residents, descendants and friends, Bishop Larry Silva, the State Department of Health, Iolani Palace and the Historic Hawaii Foundation.
Gov. Ige signed the bill at Washington Place in the presence of Kalaupapa resident John Arruda, Sen. Roz Baker, Rep. Lynn DeCoite, Kalaupapa descendants, and representatives of the Department of Health.
Deceased leaders of Ka Ohana — Bernard K. Punikaia, Kuulei Bell and Clarence “Boogie” Kahilihiwa — were represented at the signing by large photos.
“After all these years to have Kalaupapa recognized like this is just very special,” said Arruda, who stood next to Governor Ige during the signing. “It’s very emotional to know that all our people who sacrificed so much, who were taken from their families and sent here will be remembered in this way.”
The Governor presented Arruda, a young 97-year-old who was sent to Kalaupapa in 1945, with the pen he used to sign the bill. Arruda will be giving the pen to Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa for display with the signed bill.
The governor said he hoped the month so designated will lead the people of Hawaii to be inspired by the people of Kalaupapa who “despite the odds against them, came together to build a community of caring, respect and aloha for each other and for the broader community.”
Ka Ohana O Kalaupapa will be coordinating events to commemorate Kalaupapa Month in January 2022.
Kalaupapa’s January dates
- Jan. 6, 1866: Twelve citizens of Hawaii — nine men and three women — arrived at Kalaupapa, the first of an estimated 8,000 people taken from their families and forced into isolation there.
- Jan. 23, 1838: Barbara Koob (St. Marianne) was born in Germany. As a Sister of St. Francis of Syracuse and hospital administrator, she answered the call of King Kalakaua to help people affected by leprosy in Hawaii. She spent 30 years at Kalaupapa. She was canonized in 2012.
- Jan. 3, 1840: Joseph de Veuster (St. Damien) is born in Belgium. Arriving at Kalaupapa in 1873, he spends the final 16 years of his life caring for the people there until his death at age 49 in 1889. He was canonized in 2009.
- Jan. 5, 1879: Ambrose Kanewalii Hutchison arrived at Kalaupapa where he lived for the next 53 years, serving as resident superintendent for 10 years, the longest of any other person with leprosy.
- January 1895: The last of the original (pre-leprosy) inhabitants of Kalaupapa are evicted as the settlement became overcrowded. They played a crucial role in caring for the settlement’s first patients.
- Jan. 24, 1931: The wedding of Jack and Mary Sing, two important and much-loved leaders of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Kalaupapa who in 1981 celebrated their 50th anniversary, one of only three couples to do so.
- Jan. 26, 1978: Eight residents of Hale Mohalu in Pearl City (a second home for many Kalaupapa patients) are relocated to Leahi Hospital against their wishes.
- Fourth Sunday of January: Kalaupapa Sunday established in 2014 by the Hawaii Conference for the United Church of Christ to remember the people of Kalaupapa, particularly the 35 who founded Siloama Church there.
