Kahoʻolawe History

Additional Resources

• Living Library Explore the Kahoʻolawe Living Library

Hanau Hou He ʻUla ʻo Kahoʻolawe – Rebirth of a Sacred Island

Archaeological evidence suggests that Hawaiians came to Kahoʻolawe as early as 400 A.D., settling in small fishing villages along the island’s coast. To date, nearly 3,000 archaeological and historical sites and features inventoried through 2004 paint a picture of Kahoʻolawe as a navigational center for voyaging, the site of an adze quarry, an agricultural center, and a place of religious and cultural ceremony. Traditionally, the island has been revered as a wahi pana and a puʻuhonua.

As modern times unfolded, Kahoʻolawe underwent a harsh transformation. It was used briefly as a penal colony, for sheep and cattle ranching, and eventually transferred to the U.S. Navy for use as a bombing range. Litigation forced an end to the bombing in 1990 and the island was placed under the administration of the Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission (KIRC). Following a 10-year period of ordnance removal, control of access to Kahoʻolawe was transferred to the State of Hawaiʻi in 2003. Today, KIRC is responsible for the restoration and sustainable management of the island until it can be transferred to a Native Hawaiian entity.

Kahoʻolawe Timeline

• 400–1750 Native Hawaiians settle and continue to migrate from the South Pacific to Hawaiʻi. Kahoʻolawe is dedicated to Kanaloa, Hawaiian deity of the ocean. The island is also historically referred to as Kohemalamalama o Kanaloa.
• 1793 Goats are introduced to Kahoʻolawe as a gift from Captain Vancouver to Chief Kahekili of Maui.
• 1832–1852 As early as 1832, adult men are sent to a penal colony on Kahoʻolawe for various offenses. Headquarters for the penal colony is located at Kaulana Bay. In 1853, the law establishing Kahoʻolawe as a penal colony is repealed.
• 1858–1941 The Hawaiian government issues the first of many ranch leases for the island. Throughout the ranching period, uncontrolled grazing by cattle, sheep, and goats causes severe environmental damage and substantial soil loss through accelerated erosion. By the late 1890s, there are 900 cattle and 15,000 sheep on the island.
• 1941 After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declares martial law, leading to the use of Kahoʻolawe as a bombing range.
• 1941–1988 The goat population on Kahoʻolawe reaches about 50,000.
• 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower transfers title of Kahoʻolawe to the U.S. Navy with the provision that it be returned in a condition suitable for habitation when no longer needed by the military.
• 1976 Members of Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana begin a series of occupations of the island in an effort to halt bombing. PKO also files suit in Federal District Court to enjoin the Navy’s bombing activities. In 1977, the court orders the Navy to conduct an environmental impact statement and inventory and protect the island’s historic sites.
• 1980 A consent decree is signed between the U.S. Navy and PKO, resulting in a Memorandum of Understanding requiring the Navy to begin soil conservation, revegetation, and goat eradication programs.
• 1981 Kahoʻolawe is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated the Kahoʻolawe Archaeological District.
• 1990 As a result of PKO actions and litigation, President George Bush Sr. orders a stop to the bombing of Kahoʻolawe.
• 1993 Senator Daniel K. Inouye sponsors Title X of the 1994 Department of Defense Appropriations Act, authorizing conveyance of Kahoʻolawe and its surrounding waters back to the State of Hawaiʻi. Congress ends military use of the island and authorizes $400 million for ordnance removal.
• 1994 The U.S. Navy conveys the deed of ownership of Kahoʻolawe to the State of Hawaiʻi. The Kahoʻolawe Island Reserve Commission is established to manage activities on the island.
• 1997–1998 The U.S. Navy awards contracts for the removal of unexploded ordnance on Kahoʻolawe.
• 2003 Control of access is returned from the U.S. Navy to the State of Hawaiʻi in a ceremony at ʻIolani Palace on November 11, 2003.
• 2004 The U.S. Navy ends the Kahoʻolawe UXO Clearance Project. At completion, approximately 75% of the island is surface-cleared of unexploded ordnance. Of this, 10% of the island, or 2,647 acres, is additionally cleared to a depth of four feet. The remaining 25%, or 6,692 acres, is not cleared and remains unsafe for unescorted access.
• 2004–2016 The Hawaiʻi Department of Health’s Polluted Runoff Control Program provides nearly $1.9 million in CWA Section 319 funding to KIRC, supplemented by nearly $1.9 million in matching funds from volunteer restoration activities. These funds support significant progress in restoring two targeted watersheds and reducing erosion and sediment runoff.
• 2013–Present The Aloha Kahoʻolawe program is created to support a sustainable funding plan through the State of Hawaiʻi as the federal Trust Fund declines. Initial outcomes include a membership program, community-building events at the KIRC Kihei site, and Kahoʻolawe’s first appropriation of General Funds.