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Nihoa Island Archeological District
(U.S. Registered Historic District)
View of Nihoa Island
View of Nihoa Island
Nearest city: Kauai, HI
Added to NRHP: June 13, 1988
NRHP Reference#: 88000640 [1]
Governing body: United States Fish and Wildlife Service

Nihoa (also known as Bird Island or Moku Manu) is a small island in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands located 120 miles (190 km) northwest of the island of Niihau and 280 miles (450 km) northwest of Honolulu. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A historic district in the United States is a group of buildings properties or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally Kauai (in standard Hawaiian kauˈaʔi in Kauai- Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect; usually spelled Kauai outside the Hawaiian Islands and ˈkaʊɑɪ or /kaʊˈɑɪ/ The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands or the Leeward Islands are the small Islands and Atolls in the Hawaiian island chain located northwest Niihau ( Hawaiian: Ni‘ihau) is the smallest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U Honolulu is the Capital and most populous Census-designated place (CDP in the U Nihoa is composed of 173. 234 acres (701,050 m²) of dry land, surrounded by 140,554 acres (568. 80 km²) of coral reef.

Captain William Douglas, the second Western explorer to find Nihoa, describes it as "[bearing] the form of a saddle, high at each end, and low in the middle. To the south, it is covered with verdure; but on the north, west, and east sides it is a barren rock, perpendicularly steep. . . " (Rauzon 8). Its jagged nature gives the island its name, Nihoa, which means "tooth" in the Hawaiian language. The Hawaiian language (Hawaiian ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i) is an Austronesian language that takes its name from Hawai'i, the largest island in the tropical Nihoa is the tallest of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, with two peaks, 895 feet (273 m) Miller's Peak in the west, and 852 feet (260 m) Tanager Peak in the east. Visitors to Nihoa (as with almost all of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands) require a USFWS-issued special-use permit to land on the island so as to reduce the risk of introducing alien species to Nihoa's already fragile ecosystem. An introduced species (also known as naturalized species or exotic species) is an Organism that is not indigenous to a given location but

Contents

Geology

Devil's Slide
Devil's Slide
The cliffs of Tanager Peak, looking east from Miller Peak.
The cliffs of Tanager Peak, looking east from Miller Peak.

Nihoa is 7. 2 million years old, and was once a large island before erosion wore it down to its current size. Erosion is the carrying away or displacement of solids ( Sediment, Soil, rock and other particles usually by the agents of currents such as wind Six valleys slant down from north to south, meeting at the south side of the island: West Valley, West Palm Valley, Miller Valley, Middle Valley, East Palm Valley, and East Valley. Several interesting features occur on Nihoa. Dog's Head Peak (358 ft/109 m) is named for its likeness. Pinnacle Peak (626 ft/191 m) is a volcanic dike created when less resilient rock was eroded away and harder rock was open to the elements. A dike or dyke in Geology is a type of Sheet intrusion referring to any geologic body that cuts Discordantly ' across planar The only flat area on the island is called Albatross Plateau, just below Miller's Peak. The Devil's Slide is a particularly impressive geological feature, a narrow cleft descending 700 feet (210 m) irrespective of the surrounding elevation. Extending northward from Albatross Plateau, it ends at the vertical cliffs with an 190 feet (60 m) drop straight down to the ocean below. In this chasm, rare ferns grow, along with several endemic species, including a giant cricket. Thaumatogryllus conanti, is a nocturnal species of cricket endemic to the island of Nihoa in Devil's Slide a narrow ravine

Ecology

Nihoa is a sanctuary for endemic species. Endemism is the Ecological state of being unique to a place Endemic species are not naturally found elsewhere Some include:

Because of Nihoa's small size, most of its endemic organisms are endangered, as one single disaster such as an island-wide fire or an introduction of invasive species could wipe out the whole population. Pritchardia remota ( Nihoa Pritchardia, Nihoa Fan Palm, or Loulu) is a species of palm endemic on the island of The Nihoa Millerbird ( Acrocephalus familiaris kingi) is a subspecies of the Millerbird. The Nihoa Finch ( Telespiza ultima) is one of the two endemic Bird species of the tiny Hawaiian Island Nihoa, the other being the The Nihoa Conehead Katydid ( Banza nihoa) is one of the many endemic species on the island of Nihoa in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The Nihoa Carnation ( Schiedea verticillata) is an Endangered species of carnation, endemic to the island of Nihoa in the Sesbania tomentosa or ‘ohai is an endangered species of Sesbania endemic to the main Hawaiian Islands and Nihoa and Necker Island Amaranthus brownii, also known as Brown's amaranth, or more commonly pigweed, is an annual herb in the Amaranthaceae family The Nihoa trapdoor spider or Nihoa mahina is a Trapdoor spider endemic to Nihoa, Hawaii. Thaumatogryllus conanti, is a nocturnal species of cricket endemic to the island of Nihoa in Devil's Slide a narrow ravine Oahu tree snails are a large group of colorful tropical tree-living air-breathing land snails Arboreal Pulmonate Gastropod Mollusks One such invasive species is grasshoppers; from the period between 1999 and 2003, grasshoppers devastated much of the vegetation on the island and posed a real threat to the continued health of plants on Nihoa (Liittschwager, 94). Grasshoppers are Insects of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. The following year, the numbers decreased and the vegetation became lush again. The grasshoppers probably came to Nihoa by way of wind from Kauai. Kauai (in standard Hawaiian kauˈaʔi in Kauai- Ni{{okina}}ihau dialect; usually spelled Kauai outside the Hawaiian Islands and ˈkaʊɑɪ or /kaʊˈɑɪ/

Prehistoric human habitation

Nihoa was well known to the early Hawaiians. Archaeological expeditions found extensive prehistoric agricultural terraces and house sites. [2] There is some doubt as to how many people lived on Nihoa, because while the large terraces built suggest that a large number lived there, there is scant fresh water to be found. It is thought that Nihoa may have been used for religious purposes only. Because of the island's importance, the island was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988, and subsequently became part of Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in June of 2006. The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is a US National Monument encompassing of ocean waters and ten islands and atolls of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Early exploration

The first Westerner to discover Nihoa was Captain James Colnett of the Prince of Wales, on March 21, 1788. Events 630 - Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the True Cross to Jerusalem. Year 1788 ( MDCCLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap As he was later captured by the Spanish and went mad in prison, the discovery was once widely accredited to Captain William Douglas of the Iphigenia, who sighted Nihoa almost a year later. William Douglas may refer to Earls of Douglas William Douglas 1st Earl of Douglas (c [3]

By the end of the 18th century, Nihoa had been forgotten by most Hawaiians. In 1822, Queen Kaahumanu and her husband King Kaumualii traveled with Captain William Sumner to find Nihoa, as her generation had only known the island through songs and myths. Elizabeth Kaahumanu ( March 17, 1768 – June 5, 1832) was queen regent of the Kingdom of Hawai{{okina}}i and a wife of Kamehameha Kaumualii (c 1778 – May 26, 1824) also known as George Kaumualii, was the last independent Ali{{okina}}i Aimoku, or king of the islands William Graham Sumner ( October 30, 1840 – April 12, 1910) was an American academic and professor at Yale College [2] Later, King Kamehameha IV sailed there to officially annex the island as part of the Kingdom. Kamehameha IV, born Alexander Iolani Liholiho Keawenui, reigned as the fourth king of the united Kingdom of Hawai‘i from 11 January 1855 to Finally, in 1885, Princess Liliuokalani made a pilgrimage to Nihoa with her escorts, but their luncheon was cut short when one of the party set off a brush fire by accident. Liliuokalani ( September 2, 1838 – November 11, 1917) born Lydia Liliu Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamakaeha, was the last A wildfire, also known as a wildland fire, forest fire, brush fire, vegetation fire, grass fire, Peat fire, The group tried to flee the island, but the rising tides made it difficult and several boats were flooded, destroying some of the photographs taken. [4]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ National Register Information System. The 1923 Tanager Expedition, under Captain Samuel Wilder King of the USS ''Tanager'', was a survey of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands Necker Island ( Hawaiian: Mokumanamana) is a small island in the Pacific Ocean, north of the Tropic of Cancer, located at. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
  2. ^ a b Tava 1998, p.  102-103.
  3. ^ Rauzon 2001, p.  8.
  4. ^ Rauzon 2001, p.  12.

References

Further reading

External links

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