Lānaʻi

Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Infobox island

LānaTemplate:Okinai,Template:Efn sometimes written Lanai, is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The island's only settlement of note is the small town of [[LānaTemplate:Okinai City]]. The island is 98% owned by Larry Ellison, cofounder and chairman of Oracle Corporation;<ref name="NYTM 2014/09/28">Template:Cite web</ref> the remaining 2% is owned by the state of Hawaii or individual homeowners.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

LānaTemplate:Okinai has a land area of Template:Convert, making it the 43rd largest island in the United States.<ref name="SizeRef">Template:Cite web</ref> It is separated from the island of [[Molokai|MolokaTemplate:Okinai]] by the Kalohi Channel to the north, and from Maui by the [[Hawaiian islands channels|AuTemplate:Okinaau Channel]] to the east. The United States Census Bureau defines LānaTemplate:Okinai as Census Tract 316 of Maui County. Its population rose to 3,367 as of the 2020 United States census,<ref name="2020 Census"/> from 3,193 as of the 2000 census<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 3,131 as of the 2010 census.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> As visible via satellite imagery, many of the island's landmarks are accessible only by dirt roads that require a four-wheel drive vehicle.

There is one school, [[LānaTemplate:Okinai High and Elementary School]], serving the entire island from kindergarten through 12th grade. There is also one hospital, Lanai Community Hospital, in LānaTemplate:Okinai City, with 24 beds, and a community health center providing primary care, dental care, behavioral health care, and selected specialty services.<ref>Lanai Community Hospital Retrieved 30 June 2017.</ref><ref>Lanai Community Health Center Retrieved 30 June 2017.</ref> There are no traffic lights.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

History

LānaTemplate:Okinai has been under the control of nearby Maui since before recorded history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its first inhabitants may have arrived as late as the 15th century.

The Hawaiian-language name Template:Lang is of uncertain origin, but the island has historically been called Template:Lang, which can be rendered in English as "day of the conquest of KauluāTemplate:Okinaau". This epithet refers to a legend about a Mauian prince who was banished to LānaTemplate:Okinai because of his wild pranks at his father's court in Lāhainā. The island was said to be haunted by Akua-ino, ghosts and goblins that KauluāTemplate:Okinaau chased away, bringing peace and order to the island and regaining his father's favor as a consequence.

The first people to migrate there, most likely from Maui and MolokaTemplate:Okinai, probably first established fishing villages along the coast and then spread into the interior, where they raised taro in the fertile volcanic soil. During most of this period, the [[Moi of Maui|MōTemplate:Okinaī of Maui]] controlled LānaTemplate:Okinai, but generally left its inhabitants alone. But at some point, King Kamehameha I or [[KalaniTemplate:OkinaōpuTemplate:Okinau|KalaniTemplate:OkinaōpuTemplate:Okinau-a-Kaiamamao]] invaded and killed many of them. The population must have been mostly eradicated by 1792, because in that year George Vancouver reported that he had ignored the island during his voyage because of its apparent lack of inhabitants or villages. LānaTemplate:Okinai is said to have been Kamehameha's favorite fishing spot among Hawaii's main eight islands.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The history of sugar cultivation in Hawaii begins in LānaTemplate:Okinai, when in 1802 a farmer from China, Wong Tse Chun, produced a small amount there. He used a crude stone mill he had brought with him to crush the cane.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1854, a group of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were granted a lease in the [[ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa]] of Pālāwai. In 1862, Walter M. Gibson arrived on LānaTemplate:Okinai to reorganize the settlement. A year later he bought the ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa of Pālāwai for $3,000; he used the church's money but titled the land in his name. When church members learned this, they excommunicated him, but he retained ownership of the land.<ref name="lanaichc.org">Time line of key events in LĀNA‘I's history LānaTemplate:Okinai Culture and Heritage Center. Retrieved 7 July 2017.archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610035204/https://www.lanaichc.org/historic-summary.html |archive-date=June 10,2017 |url-status=dead</ref> By the 1870s, Gibson, then the leader of the colony on the island, had acquired most of the island's land, which he used for ranching.<ref name="NYTM 2014/09/28"/>

By 1890, the population of LānaTemplate:Okinai had declined to 200. In 1899, Gibson's daughter and son-in-law formed Maunalei Sugar Company, headquartered in Keomuku, on the windward (northeast) coast, downstream from Maunalei Valley. The company failed in 1901.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> But between 1899 and 1901 nearly 800 laborers, mostly from Japan, had been contracted to work for the plantations. Many Native Hawaiians continued to live along the less arid windward coast, supporting themselves by ranching and fishing.<ref name="Kaye">Template:Cite book</ref>

By 1907, about half the island was owned by cattle rancher Charles Gay. Backed by sugar planter William G. Irwin, Gay worked to acquire the remaining land. The Hawaiian Organic Act made it illegal for the territorial government to sell such a large portion of land to Gay, but a land exchange deal circumvented the law. Gay transferred several acres of land of what is now downtown Honolulu in exchange for the rest of the land on LānaTemplate:Okinai. The transfer was completed on April 10, 1907, and Gay mortgaged the land that day to Irwin for $200,000. By 1909, Gay had defaulted on the mortgage and officially conveyed the land to Irwin for a rebuttable presumption of consideration of $1. From this comes the myth that the land was bought for a mere $1; the true cost included the $200,000 mortgage (Template:Inflation).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1921, Gay planted the first pineapple plant on LānaTemplate:Okinai. The population had decreased again, to 150—most of whom were the descendants of the island's traditional families.<ref>Time line of key events in Lanai's history LānaTemplate:Okinai Culture and Heritage Center. Retrieved 7 July 2017.</ref> A year later, James Dole, the president of Hawaiian Pineapple Company (later the Dole Food Company), bought the island and developed much of it into the world's largest pineapple plantation.

Upon Hawaii statehood in 1959, LānaTemplate:Okinai became part of Maui County.

In 1985, LānaTemplate:Okinai passed into the control of David H. Murdock upon his purchase of Castle & Cooke, then the owner of Dole. High labor and land costs led to a decline in Hawaii pineapple production in the 1980s, and Dole phased out its pineapple operations on LānaTemplate:Okinai in 1992.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2012, Larry Ellison, then CEO of Oracle Corporation, purchased Castle & Cooke's 98% share of the island for $300 million. The state and individual homeowners own the remaining 2%, which includes the harbor and the homes where the 3,000 inhabitants live.<ref>Shimogawa, Duane. "PBN confirms amount billionaire Larry Ellison paid for Hawaiian Island of Lanai" Pacific Business News, January 8, 2016</ref> Ellison stated his intention to invest as much as $500 million to improve the island's infrastructure and create an environmentally friendly agricultural industry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He spent an estimated $450 million to remodel his Four Seasons Resort Lanai, which reopened in 2016. He also remodeled his other resort in 2020 and announced plans for further green energy projects by buying out diesel-powered utility assets, but he has since canceled this plan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BI2018-3">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ellison is rich and influential and has been described as a contemporary American king on Lāna'i. A provision in his rental agreement stipulates that anyone who loses a job with his company may also be evicted from their home, and many people both work for and rent from him; additionally, small enterprises' lease agreements, which could be as high as five-years previously, are now usually thirty days. According to Lānai's representative on the regional Maui County Council, Gabe Johnson, the government has limited authority over public infrastructure.<ref name="h869">Template:Cite web</ref>

Legends

According to Hawaiian legends, man-eating spirits have occupied the island. For generations, Maui chiefs believed in these spirits. Differing legends say that either the prophet Lanikāula drove the spirits from the island or the unruly Maui prince KauluāTemplate:Okinaau accomplished that feat. The more popular myth is that the mischievous KauluāTemplate:Okinaau pulled up every breadfruit tree (Template:Okinaulu) he could find on Maui. Finally his father, [[Kakaalaneo|KakaTemplate:Okinaalaneo]], banished him to LānaTemplate:Okinai, expecting him not to survive in that hostile place. But KauluāTemplate:Okinaau outwitted the spirits and drove them from the island. The chief looked across the channel from Maui and saw that his son's fire continued to burn nightly on the shore, and he sent a canoe to LānaTemplate:Okinai to bring the prince back, redeemed by his courage and cleverness. As a reward, KakaTemplate:Okinaalaneo gave KauluāTemplate:Okinaau control of the island and encouraged emigration from other islands.<ref>Let's Go Hawaii: On a Budget by Sara Joy Culver (Let's Go Inc.), p. 350</ref> KauluāTemplate:Okinaau had, in the meantime, pulled up all the breadfruit trees on LānaTemplate:Okinai, accounting for the historic lack of them on that island.Template:Citation needed

Geography

The highest point in LānaTemplate:Okinai is Mount LānaTemplate:Okinaihale. It is an inactive volcano near the center of the island and east of LānaTemplate:Okinai City. Its elevation is Template:Convert.<ref name="ElevationRef">Template:Cite web</ref>

LānaTemplate:Okinai was traditionally administered in 13 political subdivisions ([[Ahupuaa|AhupuaTemplate:Okinaa]]), grouped into two districts (mokuoloko): kona (Leeward) and koTemplate:Okinaolau (Windward). The ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa are listed below, in clockwise sequence, and with original area figures in acres, starting in the northwest of the island.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Nr.	Ahupuaa	Area acres	Area km²	Population<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1	KaTemplate:Okinaā	19468	78.78	207
2	PaomaTemplate:Okinai Template:Cn	9078	36.74	147
3	Mahana	7973	32.27	1
4	Maunalei	3794	15.35	0
5	Kalulu	6078	24.60	1
6	Kaunolū	7860	31.81	3
7	Pālāwai	5897	23.86	1
8	Pāwili	1930	7.81	0
9	KaTemplate:Okinaōhai	9677	39.16	1
10	KamaTemplate:Okinao	2751	11.13	2
11	Keālia Aupuni	5897	23.86	2
12	Keālia Kapu	1829	7.40	1
13	KamokuTemplate:Cn	8291	33.55	2804
	LānaTemplate:Okinai	90523	366.33	3170

Kamoku has the largest population because it contains most of LānaTemplate:Okinai City. Parts of LānaTemplate:Okinai City stretch to KaTemplate:Okinaā and PaomaTemplate:Okinai. Template:As of, the remaining ahupuaTemplate:Okinaa were virtually uninhabited. According to the 2020 census, LānaTemplate:Okinai City accounts for 99% of the island's population (3,332 of 3,367). As a census-designated place, LānaTemplate:Okinai City is defined solely for statistical purposes, not by administrative boundaries.

A giant wave generated by a submarine landslide on a sea scarp south of LānaTemplate:Okinai 100,000 years ago generated a megatsunami that inundated land to elevations higher than Template:Convert.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Update inline

Tourism

Template:Main Tourism on LānaTemplate:Okinai began to be prominent in more recent history as the pineapple and sugarcane industries were phased out in the islands. But the number of visitors to the island is still relatively small, with around 59,000 expected in 2016. Of all the publicly accessible Hawaiian islands, only [[Molokai|MolokaTemplate:Okinai]] attracts fewer visitors.<ref>Annual Report 2016 Hawaii Tourist Authority (PDF). Retrieved 7 July 2017.</ref>

Template:As of, the two resort hotels on LānaTemplate:Okinai were managed by Four Seasons Hotels; the Four Seasons Resort Lanai is in Manele Bay at Hulupoe Beach. The Hotel Lanai in LānaTemplate:Okinai City was built in 1923 by James Dole of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company as a lodge to house the executives overseeing the island's pineapple production. It was the island's only hotel until 1990.

LānaTemplate:Okinai is also home to three golf courses, one at each Four Seasons resort and a third, free course.

The Challenge at Manele borders the ocean and was designed by Jack Nicklaus. Bill Gates married Melinda French on the 12th hole tee-box.
The Experience at Koele is in the mountains of LānaTemplate:Okinai and was designed by Ted Robinson Sr., with input from Greg Norman.
The Cavendish is a public golf course designed by E. B. Cavendish in 1947. It is a nine-hole course surrounded by Norfolk pines.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Shipwreck Beach, on the island's north shore, is so named because of the remains of a wrecked vessel a short distance offshore. This is popularly called a World War II Liberty Ship, but it is YOG-42, one of several concrete barges built during the war.<ref>Shipwreck Beach, Lanai Hawaii Travel Guide | To-Hawaii.com</ref>

Transportation

There are no traffic lights on LānaTemplate:Okinai. Public transportation is supplied by the hotels. Most attractions outside the hotels and town can be visited only via dirt roads on an off-road vehicle, bicycle, or foot.

LānaTemplate:Okinai is served by Lanai Airport, which offers air taxi and scheduled commercial operations to other Hawaiian islands.

Education

There is one school district in Hawaii, the Hawaii State Department of Education. The district operates Lanai High and Elementary School.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The Hawaii State Public Library System operates the Lanai Public and School Library.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

Danny Lockin, actor, dancer, born in LānaTemplate:Okinai in 1943. Best known for his role as Barnaby Tucker in the 1969 movie Hello, Dolly!, he played the same role in the Broadway play when it toured the United States.