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).

Read the full article at UH Hilo Stories.