Kalaupapa

Nancy Holman, superintendent of the National Park at Kalaupapa on Molokaʻi, spoke to HPR's Catherine Cruz about the reopening of tours to the historic settlement created for Hansen’s disease patients.

A former settlement for people with Hansen's disease on Molokaʻi that’s been closed to tours and religious pilgrimages is reopening this month. Kalaupapa National Historical Park says it was closed since the COVID-19 pandemic because the disease posed a threat to its last remaining elderly patients.

January is Kalaupapa Month, a time to honor and learn the history of the remote settlement on Molokaʻi's northern coastline that once served as a place of exile for thousands of people diagnosed with Hansen's disease. As HPR’s Catherine Cluett Pactol reports, several dates make January significant for Kalaupapa.

Joseph Dutton was a U.S. Civil War lieutenant who later spent 44 years serving those with Hansen’s disease in Kalaupapa, Molokaʻi. Advocates have been gathering evidence about his life and legacy to send to the Vatican for review.

Devotees of two Catholic saints — Damien and Marianne of Molokaʻi — want to see where they spent a pivotal part of their lives caring for Hawaiʻi’s leprosy patients. A pilgrimage to the Kalaupapa settlement is logistically challenging since this beautiful and haunting slice of northern Molokaʻi is defined by its natural isolation.

The remote peninsula of Kalaupapa, on Molokaʻi's northern coast, will get electrical upgrades in 2025 — and overcome many logistical challenges to complete the project. Reliable electricity is critical to daily life, and the current electrical system is aged and failing. It was first installed in 1969. HPR's Catherine Cluett Pactol has more.

Superintendent Nancy Holman says the new plan accounts for the possibility that after decades of care for those with Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, Kalaupapa may soon no longer serve any living patients. The Conversation's Catherine Cruz has more.

We hear from U.S. Rep. Ed Case about a continuing resolution to keep the federal government operating, which includes money for dealing with the Red Hill water crisis; An Earthjustice attorney shares concerns about the military's plans filed this week to comply with the state’s order to defuel the tank farm; A community raises concerns about proposed luxe development on Keaukaha coast; Looking to Kalaupapa's future when patients are no longer living at the historic settlement.

On the road to sainthood, here's the story of Brother Joseph Dutton — born April 27, 1843, in Vermont. He lived a life of penance serving the Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, patients at Kalaupapa for 44 years.

We talk history on today's Conversation, with Brother Joseph Dutton's long road to sainthood for his service in Kalaupapa, public input on the State Historic Preservation Division's five-year plan, and a remembrance for historian and author David Forbes.