Kalaupapa travel guides

Kalaupapa - Overview

weather: Partly Cloudy70°F    21°C

Kalaupapa, Hawai‘i, is a small village on the island of Moloka‘i in the state of Hawai‘i, and part of Kalawao County.

The village is located on the Kalaupapa Peninsula at the base of cliffs. These cliffs are the highest sea cliffs in the world, dropping about 1010 metres into the Pacific Ocean.

The village is the site of a former leprosy settlement which was attended by Father Damien and Mother Marianne Cope, among others. At its peak, about 1,200 men, women, and children were in exile in this island prison. The isolation law was enacted by King Kamehameha V and remained in effect until 1969, when it was finally repealed. Today, 33 former sufferers of leprosy — now known as Hansen's Disease — continue to live there. The colony is now part of Kalaupapa National Historical Park.

Shortly before the end of mandatory isolation in 1969, the State Legislature considered closing the facility in its entirety. Intervention by interested persons such as entertainer Don Ho and TV newsman Don Picken, resulted in allowing the residents to remain there for life. The interveners pointed out that, although there were no active cases of leprosy in existence, many of the residents were physically scarred by the disease to an extent which would make their integration into mainstream society difficult if not impossible.