Niihau - Peles Hawaiian Landfall: a History

(Hardback)

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Niihau basks like a whaleor in some lights, like a jewelacross the sea from Kauai. Fewer than a hundred Niihauans now live there, but it is the spiritual home to many more elsewhere in Hawaii. Long known as the "Forbidden Island," it is seldom visited by outsiders. In this fully illustrated, wide-ranging study, Steven Gentry explores:

The natural world of Niihau, and how its plants and animals have evolved and adapted to Polynesian and European arrivals
Origins of Niihaus inhabitants, their journey to the Hawaiian islands; Niihauan creation myths and voyaging traditions, and the development of a distinctive culture
The mixed blessings of European arrival in the Hawaiian islands, 1778
Niihaus complex relationship with Kauai
Purchase of Niihau from King Kamehameha by the Sinclair family
Early missionaries and ranching
Aubrey Robinsons leadership and family, 1880s to the 1920s
Aylmer Robinsons stewardship of the island
State and private ownership, and preservation of the Niihauan language
Dramatic and intriguing stories of island life, past and present

The volcanic island of Niihau arose steaming and hissing from the ocean millions of years ago, but by the time the goddess Peles canoe landed on a golden Niihauan beach its fires were no more. In time Niihau and the other Hawaiian islands were settled by Polynesian people. Then came missionaries and, after them, ranchers. In 1864 Niihau was sold by the king of Hawaii to the Sinclair family, whose descendants still own it today. Steven Gentry traces all this history and weaves it into an intimate and engrossing account of this intriguing island.

Author Bio

Steven Gentry shuttled between Honolulu and Wellington for nine years while researching Niihau: Peles Hawaiian Landfall, his second book. His attraction to little-known islands led him first to write a history of the Kermadecs, which lie halfway between New Zealand and Tonga, published in 2013. Originally trained as a civil engineer in New Zealand and at Berkeley, California, Gentry traveled the world as a consultant on agricultural development projects. On retirement he turned to historical writing.