Wehewehe Wikiwiki Hawaiian language dictionaries

Island in Kauaʻi County, 18 miles long, 6 miles wide, with an area of 73 square miles and a 1970 population of 237. Major village is Puʻuwai.

• References:
  • Poetic: see PE, kō, ʻulu. (UL 212.)

1. Niʻihau is the seventh largest (69.5 square miles) of the eight major Hawaiian Islands and with Kauaʻi is one of two islands in Kauaʻi County. It has a populalion of 160, the majority of whom are of Hawaiian ancestry. The highest mountain on the island is Paniʻau with an elevation of 1,281 feet, and the pupu Niʻihau, or Niʻihau shell, is the emblem of the island. Niʻihau's nickname is the Hawaiian Island. The island is privately owned and operated by the Robinson family as a sheep and cattle ranch. Residents there produce charcoal for commercial sale, and Niʻihau Ranch runs a small hunting business, flying hunters to the island by helicopter to shoot trophy sheep and boars. Residents also collect the prized Niʻihau shells and string them into leis for commercial sale. Also known as the Forbidden Island.
2. Dive site, north shore, Niʻihau. Dive tour operators from Kauaʻi dive at several sites that they call “Niʻihau” between the north point of the island and Lehua Island.