HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	73
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO ALLOW AND APPROVE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A MEMORIAL AT A SUITABLE LOCATION WITHIN KALAUPAPA NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK ON THE ISLAND OF MOLOKAI TO HONOR AND PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE FORCIBLY RELOCATED TO THE KALAUPAPA PENINSULA FROM 1866 TO 1969.

     WHEREAS, from 1866 to 1969, people from Hawaii afflicted with Hansen's disease were forced to relocate to the remote northern Kalaupapa peninsula on the island of Molokai; and

     WHEREAS, the churches of Siloama, established in 1866 and St. Philomena, begun in 1872, and associated with the work of Father Damien (Joseph DeVeuster) are located at Kalawao.  Father Damien's life and death among his people focused the attention of the world on the problem of Hansen's disease and the plight of its victims; and

     WHEREAS, situated on the leeward side of the peninsula, Kalaupapa Settlement is still home for several surviving Hansen's disease patients whose memories and experiences are cherished.  Once a community in isolation, Kalaupapa now serves as a place for education and contemplation and the site became a national park in 1980 dedicated to preserving the memories and lessons of the past; and

     WHEREAS, Ka `Ohana O Kalaupapa is a nonprofit organization consisting of patient residents at Kalaupapa National Historical Park and their family members and friends; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, the Senate concurring, that the Secretary of the Interior is requested to allow and approve the establishment of a memorial at a suitable location within Kalaupapa National Historical Park by Ka `Ohana O Kalaupapa on the island of Molokai to honor and perpetuate the memory of those individuals who were forcibly relocated to the Kalaupapa peninsula from 1866 to 1969; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Interior is requested to have the memorial display in an appropriate manner the names of the:

(1)  First five thousand individuals sent to the Kalaupapa peninsula between 1866 and 1896, most of whom lived at Kalawao; and

(2)  Approximately three thousand individuals who arrived at Kalaupapa in the second part of its history, when most of the community was concentrated on the Kalaupapa side of the peninsula; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Interior.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Kalaupapa Nat'l Historical Park Memorial; Ka `Ohana O Kalaupapa