Honoring the Past: January is Kalaupapa Month

The community is invited to observe Kalaupapa Month through events and resources, honoring and remembering a significant episode in Hawaiʻi’s history.

Image of Kalaupapa peninsula with the words January is Kalaupapa Month. Hui Mālama Makanalua, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, Department of History. UH Hilo logo.
(Background image of Kalaupapa peninsula: National Park Service. Graphics: UH Hilo Stories.)

By Susan Enright.

Kerri Inglis pictured.
Kerri Inglis

Kerri Inglis, a professor of history at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, has announced this year’s events and resources for Kalaupapa Month, observed annually in January.

In an email sent to the UH Hilo ʻohana yesterday, Inglis explains that in January of 1866 the first 12 people were sent to Kalawao (on the Kalaupapa peninsula, north shore of Molokai) because of government policies related to leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease. Between 1866 and 1969 approximately 8,000 persons were separated from their families and most were exiled to the peninsula. Ninety percent of those sent to Kalaupapa over this 103 year history were Kānaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian).

“While the suffering and challenges were many, they persevered, demonstrating their resilience, tenacity, and aloha for their lāhui [nation],” says Inglis. “Their stories can teach us much.”

Hui Mālama Makanalua — a group founded by UH Hilo students, staff, and faculty in 2014 with a commitment to honor Kalaupapa kūpuna (elders and ancestors), preserve their history, and serve the peninsula’s community  — invites the university community to observe Kalaupapa Month, honoring and remembering this significant episode in Hawaiʻi’s history, through the following events:

Professor Inglis, who coordinates Kalaupapa Month and other related events on campus throughout the year, has devoted her career to studying the history of leprosy in Hawaiʻi and done extensive research on patients’ experience at Kalaupapa peninsula on Molokai pre-1900. She has written a book on the topic, Maʻi Lepera: Disease and Displacement in 19th Century Hawaiʻi (2013, UH Press), which earned honorable mention for Excellence in Hawaiian Language, Culture, and History at the 2014 Ka Palapala Poʻokela Awards.

Learn more about Professor Inglis’s teaching and research.

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By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.

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