Kalaupapa Forced Exile: Hawaii’s Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) Settlement on Molokai | 075

Kalaupapa forced exile on Molokai remains one of the darkest and most important stories in Hawaii history. In 1866, the Hawaiian Kingdom began sending people diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, then commonly called leprosy, to the remote Kalaupapa peninsula, separating families and turning illness into exile. Over the next century, nearly 8,000 people were sent there. This episode follows the law, the fear, the family rupture, and the human cost behind Kalaupapa. It also traces the community people built anyway through care, faith, music, friendship, and endurance. You’ll hear the larger history behind Father Damien, Jonathan Napela, the removal of children from parents, the repeal of forced isolation in 1969, and the descendant-led work to restore names, graves, and family ties today. Kalaupapa is not just a Hawaii history story. It is a story about stigma, state power, Native Hawaiian loss, survival, and memory. If you’ve searched for Kalaupapa, Molokai history, Father Damien, Hansen’s disease in Hawaii, or the history of Hawaii’s leprosy settlement, this episode goes straight to the heart of it. Sources: A Brief History of Kalaupapa — https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/a-brief-history-of-kalaupapa.htm The History of Hansen’s Disease in Hawaii — https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/hansensdisease.htm Father Damien — https://www.nps.gov/kala/learn/historyculture/damien.htm The Kalaupapa Names Project — https://www.kalaupapaohana.org/kalaupapa-names-project Kalaupapa Month honors settlement’s history and strength of those who were exiled — https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/local-news/2024-01-17/kalaupapa-month-honors-settlements-history-and-strength-of-those-who-were-exiled Kalaupapa has thousands of unmarked graves. A proposed memorial would honor all who lived there — https://www.hawaiipublicradio.org/the-conversation/2022-01-06/kalaupapa-has-thousands-of-unmarked-graves-a-proposed-memorial-would-honor-all-who-lived-there #Kalaupapa #Molokai #HawaiiHistory #HansensDisease #LeprosyHistory #FatherDamien #NativeHawaiianHistory #HistoryPodcast #HawaiiPodcast #BeneathThePalms