Representative Mele Carroll of Maui introduced a Senate Bill aimed at transferring Kalawao County to the Department of Hawaiian Homelands (DHHL).  Kalawao County, which encompasses the historic Kalaupapa settlement for Hansen’s Disease patients on Molokai, is currently under the ownership and management of the state department of Health and the Department of Land and Natural... Read more »

A pilgrimage tour honoring Hawaii’s first saint continues on Maui today (Monday, October 26, 2009) as a relic from the famed Father Damien makes stops in Kula, Waihee, Kapalua and Lahaina. Today’s stops include a visit at the Holy Ghost Church in Kula from 7-11 a.m.  Then, at noon, a reception of the relic with... Read more »

A series of Kalaupapa family workshops begins this week to help people find information about ancestors that were forcibly relocated to the remote Molokai community.  There were an estimated 8,000 individuals who were sent to the Kalaupapa Peninsula between 1866 and 1969 because of government policies regarding Hansens disease. The meeting times are as follows:... Read more »

A bill that would authorize a memorial for thousands of Hansen’s Disease Patients on the island of Molokai, has cleared a vote in the U.S. House and now awaits the president’s signature.The item is part of a larger Omnibus Public Land Management Act that was passed by the house in a 285 to 140 vote... Read more »

Thousands of former Hansen Disease patients buried in the remote Kalaupapa Peninsula on Molokai, could finally get a memorial in their honor.  Although the Kalaupapa Memorial Act passed in the U.S. House last year, it did not pass the Senate prior to the conclusion of the 110th Congress.  It has since been reintroduced in the... Read more »