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“THE HUI PANALAAU” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E842 on May 10, 2011.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE HUI PANALAAU
______
HON. MAZIE K. HIRONO
of hawaii
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, I would like to share the story of 130 young men from Hawaii, who were asked by the U.S. Federal Government to occupy a trio of deserted islands in the remote Pacific Ocean from 1935 to 1942.
These young men were asked to live on the islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis for three-month shifts of four-men per island. The men earned $3 a day, a good wage during the Great Depression.
The majority of the colonists were Native Hawaiians because the government planners felt that the colonizing task was so daunting that only young Hawaiians would be able to survive. Kamehameha Schools, a school for Native Hawaiian children, was asked to recruit recent male graduates who could swim, fish, and handle a boat. Collectively, the group came to be known as the Hui Panalaau (group of colonizers).
The islands of Howland, Baker, and Jarvis are about halfway between Hawaii and Australia. The colonists traveled by boat and it typically took five days to reach Jarvis and another three to reach Howland and Baker.
The Hui Panalaau were supplied only with canned goods, water, and a few tents. The colonists were asked to keep logbooks about the weather and to gather natural specimens. Their lives on the islands meant enduring rats, beetles, sharks, and the blazing sun.
Why were the Hui Panalaau recruited by the United States to live on these islands? The U.S. Department of Defense considered these islands to be of strategic importance. After the first year of colonization, the United States claimed territorial jurisdiction of the islands and air supremacy. So while the public mission of the colonists was to take weather readings for potential commercial flight routes, the colonist program also served secret military objectives.
In 1941, as World War II intensified, Japanese planes attacked Howland Island likely because of the landing field the colonists were directed to construct. Two colonists, Richard ``Dickey'' Kanani Whaley and Joseph Kealoha Keliihananui lost their lives during the attack. Their deaths ended the Hui Panalaau program.
Bishop Museum, the Hawaii State museum for natural and cultural history, developed a documentary on the story of the Hui Panalaau, entitled, Under a Jarvis Moon. The film combines historical interviews of the colonists, still photographs, government documents, and newsreel footage. The film is titled after a song co-written by one of the four surviving colonists, George Kahanu, Sr. The film was directed by Heather Giugni and Noelle Kahanu, the granddaughter of George.
Under a Jarvis Moon premiered at the 2011 Hawaii International Film Festival and was nominated for the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award. On March 12, 2011, the U.S. Department of the Interior will be hosting a screening of the film and I encourage my colleagues to see it and hear the story of the Hui Panalaau from the men who lived it.
Mahalo nui loa (thank you very much).
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