1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:05,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. An upcoming episode of the show is going 2 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:08,480 Speaker 1: to talk a bit about the development of the first 3 00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: effective treatment for leprosy also called Hanson's disease to be 4 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: used in US territory. That work happened in Hawaii in 5 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century, and we have a past episode 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 1: related to the history of Hanson's disease in Hawaii, so 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:26,280 Speaker 1: to provide a little more context for that upcoming discussion, 8 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,120 Speaker 1: we are running it as Today's Saturday Classic. 9 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,159 Speaker 2: At the end of this classic, we talk about people 10 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,599 Speaker 2: still living at the formal Lepresarium at Kalaupapa as of 11 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,880 Speaker 2: twenty sixteen, which was when this episode originally came out, 12 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 2: and discussions of what to. 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:44,360 Speaker 1: Do with that site. 14 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 2: Efforts are underway to build a memorial there, including legislation 15 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 2: granting five million dollars of funding for that which was 16 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 2: in twenty twenty two. As of May of twenty twenty four, 17 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 2: eight patients from the Klaopapa Registry Worse still living in 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 2: both Hello Papa and Oahu, and also often traveling in 19 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:06,880 Speaker 2: between those two places. 20 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: This episode originally came out on March second, twenty sixteen. 21 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class, a 22 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. 23 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 2: Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy B. 24 00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. 25 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: It has been quite a while since Hawaiian history made 26 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 2: an appearance on our podcast. Back in twenty ten, Katie 27 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 2: and Sarah covered up the long arc of Hawaii's history 28 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 2: from its unification under Kamehameheather Great which was completed in 29 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 2: eighteen ten, to the overthrow of its last monarch, Lily Ulukalani, 30 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 2: which was only eighty three years later, and that was 31 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 2: at the hands of American business interests with the support 32 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 2: of United States troops. Today's episode is connected to that history, 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 2: but those two shows from the archive, while totally we're 34 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 2: are worth listening to, aren't really required listening to understand 35 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 2: what we're talking about today. Sometime probably in the late 36 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,120 Speaker 2: eighteenth or early nineteenth century, leprosy, which is now known 37 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 2: as Hanson's disease, was introduced to Hawaii, and as this 38 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 2: disease was spreading through a population that had no resistance 39 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 2: to it, businessmen, especially from the United States, were having 40 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 2: an increasing influence on the Hawaiian government. This influence had 41 00:02:28,760 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 2: a direct effect on how Hawaii approached the disease and 42 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 2: its spread. 43 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:37,200 Speaker 1: We'll start by setting the stage with some information about 44 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:41,920 Speaker 1: Hanson's disease, named for Norwegian scientist and physician Gerhard Heinrich 45 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:46,360 Speaker 1: Aermauer Hansen, who identified its cause. Hanson's disease is a 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: bacterial infection. Today, it's easily treatable with antibiotics, although treatment 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,239 Speaker 1: usually takes a lot longer than a course of antibiotics 48 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: for say, a strep throat. Often, Hanson's disease is successfully 49 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: cured after antibiotic treatment that lasts one to three years, 50 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: and it stops being contagious after the first few doses, 51 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:09,240 Speaker 1: and it's not highly contagious even without treatment. For example, 52 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: prior to the development of antibiotic treatments, only about five 53 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: percent of spouses living with patients contracted the disease. 54 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,240 Speaker 2: In parts of the world where diagnosis and treatment are 55 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:23,800 Speaker 2: readily available, Hanson's disease presents itself mostly as a relatively 56 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 2: minor skin condition, albeit one that takes a really long 57 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 2: time for antibiotics to completely cure. But in places where 58 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 2: people don't have easy access to antibiotics and knowledgeable doctors 59 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 2: to prescribe them, Hanson's disease can become much more complicated, damaging, disabling, 60 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 2: and disfiguring. 61 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: As it progresses. Hanson's disease can cause skin growths, blindness, 62 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: ulcers on the hands and feet, and softening of the 63 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: body's cartilage. As the nerves become damaged, people lose their 64 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:56,000 Speaker 1: sense of touch and can become injured without realizing it. 65 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,240 Speaker 1: A lot of the perception that leprosy causes people's fingers 66 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: or toes to fall off is really complications from injuries 67 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: because they did not realize that they were touching something dangerous. 68 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 1: Hanson's disease progresses very very slowly, though, so it can 69 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: take years or even decades for it to reach the 70 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: point where people begin to experience its most dramatic and 71 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:20,960 Speaker 1: damaging effects. Somewhat ironically, it's actually easy for Hanson's disease 72 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:24,280 Speaker 1: to be overlooked or misdiagnosed in wealthy nations with good 73 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: health care systems. This is mostly because it's rare enough 74 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: that physicians in a lot of the world don't ever 75 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:32,559 Speaker 1: see it in their daily practice. So when somebody shows 76 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,000 Speaker 1: up with this like sore that feels kind of numb, 77 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: they misdiagnose it as other more innocuous things, as was 78 00:04:40,839 --> 00:04:44,360 Speaker 1: the case with scarlet fever, tuberculosis, and many of history's 79 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,279 Speaker 1: other most feared but now treatable diseases. Before the discovery 80 00:04:48,279 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: of antibiotics, leprosy was regarded much much differently. Before doctor 81 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: Hanson discovered that it was caused by bacteria in eighteen 82 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,520 Speaker 1: seventy three, people thought leprosy was caused by everything from 83 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: sinful behavior to curses. People with the disease were considered unclean, 84 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: and of course people recognized that it was contagious. We're 85 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: not going to get into all of the various things 86 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,599 Speaker 1: that humanity tried while looking for a cure to Hanson's disease, 87 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: but if you're interested, the podcast saw Bones has an 88 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,760 Speaker 1: episode on it that will link to in this show notes, however, 89 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: that combination of a contagious disease with an unknown cause, 90 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 1: no effective treatment, and terrifying effects when left untreated meant 91 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:33,280 Speaker 1: that for centuries, a lot of societies around the world 92 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:37,960 Speaker 1: treated leprosy through lifelong quarantine of anyone who was believed 93 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: to be infected. This was particularly true in Western societies, 94 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,280 Speaker 1: in part because, beginning in the medieval period, people started 95 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 1: to interpret biblical instructions to shun and separate people with 96 00:05:49,880 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: a skin condition as being in reference to leprosy. The 97 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: root of this was a Hebrew word that really encompassed 98 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 1: multiple conditions, including things that were pretty benign even at 99 00:05:59,480 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: the time, like vidalaigo. Often, the resulting quarantine zones, which 100 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: came to be called leper colonies or leprosaria, were basically 101 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: places where people were sent to die out of the 102 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: site of the rest of society. There are actually colonies 103 00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: still in existence today, and because of the deep stigma 104 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,400 Speaker 1: that still exists about hanson disease and some Hanson's disease 105 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:23,920 Speaker 1: in some parts of the world, some of the people 106 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: living in them have been completely cured, but have not 107 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,720 Speaker 1: been allowed to return to society. Hanson's disease was first 108 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 1: diagnosed in Hawaii in eighteen forty eight, while Hawaii was 109 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: still a constitutional monarchy, and for nearly twenty years after 110 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: that first diagnosis, Hawaii's approach to patients was completely different 111 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,159 Speaker 1: from in Europe and North America. A central part of 112 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: Hawaiian culture is the idea of ohana, which is a 113 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:52,799 Speaker 1: person's immediate and extended family, including people related by marriage 114 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: and adoption. Also important is the idea of the place 115 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 1: where a person was born. So for years, when a 116 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: person was diego ignosed with leprosy, their family pulled together 117 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,000 Speaker 1: to take care of them at home, surrounded by their 118 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,359 Speaker 1: ohana and in the place where they were born. The 119 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: idea that you should be disgusted by leprosy was so 120 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: ingrained in Western culture that the fact that Hawaiians were 121 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 1: not disgusted became caused to stigmatize Hawaiians as a whole. 122 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: According to Western thinking at the time, the only normal 123 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: response to leprosy was discussed, and the fact that they 124 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: weren't repulsed meant that native Hawaiians must be less than civilized. 125 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: In the decades after the first diagnosis of leprosy in Hawaii, 126 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:40,320 Speaker 1: white business interests, particularly American business interests, had a bigger 127 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: and bigger influence on the Hawaiian government. This influence started 128 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: decades before the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown. White men established 129 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 1: Hawaii's first Board of Health in in eighteen sixty five, 130 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: Under pressure from the Board of Health, the King and 131 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: the Legislative Assembly passed an act to prevent the spread 132 00:07:57,400 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: of leprosy. 133 00:07:59,040 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 2: This act authorized the government to purchase land to be 134 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,680 Speaker 2: used as a leprosarium. Along with the creation of a hospital. 135 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 2: It authorized the Board of Health to arrest and confine 136 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 2: anyone with leprosy. It basically criminalized leprosy and sentenced anybody 137 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 2: who was deemed to be incurable to confinement for life. 138 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 2: On the island of Molokaii, a portion of the peninsula 139 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 2: of Kalaupapa, which at the time was better known by 140 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 2: the name Makaina Luna, was acquired for the leprosarium. Overwhelmingly 141 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 2: the people who were sentenced to live there under the 142 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 2: Act were native Hawaiians. That was ninety seven percent of 143 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 2: the people exiled within the first twenty years after the 144 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:42,719 Speaker 2: act was passed, and this exile was particularly harsh punishment 145 00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:45,680 Speaker 2: for the people who were sent away. Being sent to 146 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 2: the leprosarium cut off a person from their oahana and 147 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 2: from their place of birth for a little while. Patients 148 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:57,120 Speaker 2: were allowed to be accompanied by a cocua or a helper, 149 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: and that was often a person's spouse or family member, 150 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,079 Speaker 2: and that was their only tie to their ohana after 151 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:08,000 Speaker 2: being exiled. Eventually, though, this allowance was rescinded, so people 152 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:10,120 Speaker 2: were sent away by themselves. 153 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:13,959 Speaker 1: Being separated from a person's family in place of birth 154 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: did not stop once a person was at Kalaupapa. People 155 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: exiled to the peninsula met married and had children there, 156 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: as did spouses who were exiled there. Together. These children 157 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: were removed from their families and placed in adoptive homes, 158 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:31,600 Speaker 1: usually on other islands entirely, and they were often not 159 00:09:31,679 --> 00:09:34,559 Speaker 1: told who or where their birth parents were. In the 160 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:37,760 Speaker 1: words of a nineteen thirteen public health report quote, the 161 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: children that are born to these unions are at once 162 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 1: removed to clean surroundings and are cared for by the 163 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:47,080 Speaker 1: territory until they become self supporting. The rest of that report, 164 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:49,720 Speaker 1: by the way, is all about how generous the Hawaiian 165 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: government had been to give people this well appointed isolation 166 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: in an island paradise, decrying the notion that it was 167 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 1: a prison, while also blithely talking about how anyone who 168 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 1: escaped from it would be apprehended by police and returned. 169 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:07,880 Speaker 1: So the idea that you would just cut somebody off 170 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: from their home and their family and send them away 171 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: to be quarantined is completely antithetical to Hawaiian culture's ideals 172 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,480 Speaker 1: and values. In fact, the exile was so disruptive and traumatic. 173 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: That the literal meaning of one of the terms for 174 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: leprosy in Hawaiian is the separating sickness. Another term also 175 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: translates to Chinese sickness from the belief that it was 176 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: introduced by Chinese immigrants. In addition to the fact that 177 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: this punishment for having leprosy was particularly harsh in light 178 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: of Hawaiian culture, there was also no real medical care 179 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:42,720 Speaker 1: available in the colony from eighteen sixty five to eighteen 180 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: seventy three, and the care available from eighteen seventy three 181 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,800 Speaker 1: until the eighteen eighties was pretty minimal. In eighteen ninety three, 182 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:54,480 Speaker 1: one family in particular violently resisted the effort to remove 183 00:10:54,520 --> 00:10:57,839 Speaker 1: them to Molokai. We'll talk about that after we first 184 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: paused for a brief word from one of our sponsors. 185 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 2: As we mentioned at the top of the show, with 186 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:14,600 Speaker 2: the help of the United States military, white businessmen overthrew 187 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 2: the native Hawaiian monarchy in eighteen ninety three, and one 188 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,800 Speaker 2: of the acts of Hawaii's new provisional government was to 189 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 2: step up the enforcement of the previous eighteen sixty five 190 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 2: Act to prevent the spread of leprosy. 191 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: A small community had been living in Kolalau Valley, Kawaii, 192 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,680 Speaker 1: including several people with leprosy, and it had becomes sort 193 00:11:35,679 --> 00:11:39,479 Speaker 1: of an unofficial lepresarium populated by patients and their families. 194 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:42,760 Speaker 1: The government knew they were there, but they hadn't done 195 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,360 Speaker 1: much to force them to move. Before eighteen ninety three. 196 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 2: However, Attorney General and President of the Board of Health, 197 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,120 Speaker 2: William Owen Smith issued orders for the people of the 198 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 2: Kalalau Valley to be moved to Kalo Papa on June 199 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 2: twenty fourth, eighteen ninety three. Sheriff Lewis H. Stolza was 200 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:01,360 Speaker 2: to lead the operation. 201 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,640 Speaker 1: First, the sheriff visited Kolalao and tried to persuade the 202 00:12:06,679 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: people living there to move to Koalaupapa, where, in the 203 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: words of the Hawaiian Gazette on July fourth, eighteen ninety three, 204 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:16,480 Speaker 1: quote they would be properly looked after by the government. 205 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:19,920 Speaker 1: Several of the people who were living there did agree 206 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: to go, but a couple of them refused. One of 207 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: them was a man known as Koolau, whose full name 208 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:31,200 Speaker 1: was Paniolo haluai O Koolao. Health authorities had learned that 209 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: Koolau had contracted leprosy the year prior, and had told 210 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 1: him that he would be relocated to Kalaupapa. At that point, 211 00:12:39,520 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: he moved to Kolalao with his wife and son, who 212 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: also had leprosy, and said that he would kill anyone 213 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,520 Speaker 1: who tried to separate him from his family. Since the 214 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,320 Speaker 1: sheriff had gotten all but two patients to agree to 215 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: be removed to Kalaupapa, he left, intending to return later 216 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:59,640 Speaker 1: to convince the last holdouts. Once he left, though, Koolao 217 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:01,959 Speaker 1: starts to trying to convince the rest of the colony 218 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: that they should stay where they were. One reason, he 219 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: had previously been told that his wife pi Ilani would 220 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 1: accompany him as Kokua, but a deputy had informed him 221 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: that this would in fact no longer be the case. 222 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 2: Gradually, Koolao convinced many of the residents of Kalalau to stay. 223 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,280 Speaker 2: When the sheriff returned with a constable a couple of 224 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,520 Speaker 2: days later, he was surprised to find that most of 225 00:13:25,559 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 2: the residents were no longer willing to come with him. 226 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 2: He temporarily deputies some of Kalalau's healthy residents to serve 227 00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:36,000 Speaker 2: as guides. Once he returned with reinforcements to try to 228 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,120 Speaker 2: remove the entire community. While he was away, Coolao and 229 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 2: several others began planning to resist the sheriff, and when 230 00:13:43,520 --> 00:13:48,320 Speaker 2: the sheriff came back, violence followed. Historical accounts differ significantly 231 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,840 Speaker 2: on what happened and how this played out. One newspaper 232 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,200 Speaker 2: reports that another patient deliberately lured the sheriff to where 233 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 2: Koolau was hiding in order to kill him, and another 234 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 2: reports that the show was about to kill another patient 235 00:14:02,080 --> 00:14:04,920 Speaker 2: when Koolau fired his gun in an effort to protect 236 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:08,719 Speaker 2: that man. Pi Ilani's own account is that Colao had 237 00:14:08,760 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 2: heard that the sheriff was under orders to kill him 238 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,840 Speaker 2: if he resisted, and so he was defending himself. Whatever 239 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 2: the details, the result was that Koolau shot and killed 240 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 2: Sheriff Stolza. The government responded by implementing martial law and 241 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 2: mustering a force of about thirty five armed men to 242 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,560 Speaker 2: force the relocation out of the makeshift lepisarium. Once it 243 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 2: became clear how outnumbered and outgunned they were, Coolao advised 244 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 2: the other residents of Kolalao to cooperate, but for his 245 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 2: own part, he his wife and their son, fled. Law 246 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 2: enforcement tried to track them down for days, including firing 247 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 2: a cannon at caves where they were hiding, and at 248 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 2: one point Coolao seems to have killed at least two 249 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,480 Speaker 2: other deputies in self defense. Coolao and his family lived 250 00:14:54,560 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 2: in remote and inaccessible parts of Kolalao for years, sometimes 251 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 2: getting help from other Huwai in the area. Eventually, their 252 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:05,520 Speaker 2: son died and Cooolao died of his disease as well. 253 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,200 Speaker 1: After both of their deaths, pi Ilani left the valley 254 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,920 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety seven, and she composed a lengthy poem 255 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: in Hawaiian about her family's story. Coolao became a folk 256 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,120 Speaker 1: hero and an important figure in Hawaiian culture, and there's 257 00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:21,440 Speaker 1: now a play about him as well, called The Legend 258 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,720 Speaker 1: of Coooliau, which premiered in twenty fourteen, and it will 259 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: be performed in Sacramento, California, in April of this year. 260 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 1: We're recording in twenty sixteen. 261 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 2: Cole Lao's rebellion was really the thing that drove me 262 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 2: to research this and in my head because it has 263 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 2: the folk hero elements and the resistance of being unjustly exiled. 264 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:50,880 Speaker 2: I was not expecting it to be as sad a 265 00:15:51,040 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 2: story as it actually is. There's also a Jack London 266 00:15:54,960 --> 00:15:57,640 Speaker 2: story about this whole thing, but it is really not accurate, 267 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:01,520 Speaker 2: and don't read it for accuracy. 268 00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: For anything but enjoyment. 269 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 2: Even that, like, I mean, you can read it, but no, 270 00:16:11,280 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 2: that like, not only is its portrayal of what actually 271 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:18,120 Speaker 2: happened not accurate, its portrayal of people with Hanson's disease 272 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,480 Speaker 2: is not accurate either. So even though I got into 273 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 2: this episode with the intent of talking about co Alaus rebellion, 274 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:26,440 Speaker 2: we would be remiss if we didn't also talk about 275 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,520 Speaker 2: one of the other most famous figures associated with Hanson's 276 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:32,760 Speaker 2: disease in Hawaii, which we will do after one more 277 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:45,040 Speaker 2: sponsor break. There is another famous figure associated with Hanson's 278 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 2: disease in Hawaii for completely different reasons, and that is 279 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 2: Father Damien. Father Damien was born Joseph de Veuster in 280 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,320 Speaker 2: Belgium in eighteen forty and he became a priest in 281 00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 2: the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. Joseph's brother was assigned 282 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 2: to missionary work Hawaii, but when it came time for 283 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 2: him to depart, he was too sick to go, so 284 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 2: Joseph went in his place. On March nineteenth, eighteen sixty four, 285 00:17:09,240 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 2: Joseph arrived in Honolulu. He took the name Damien when 286 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:14,640 Speaker 2: he was ordained there at the end of that month, 287 00:17:14,760 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 2: and he spent several years in ministry on the island 288 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:20,840 Speaker 2: of Hawaii. In eighteen seventy three, he heard that priests 289 00:17:20,880 --> 00:17:24,719 Speaker 2: were needed to help leprosy patients on the kalau Papa Peninsula. 290 00:17:25,280 --> 00:17:28,400 Speaker 2: Father Damien volunteered to go, and he was the first 291 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 2: priest to arrive at the peninsula in response to this 292 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,720 Speaker 2: particular call. Three other priests followed shortly thereafter. There had 293 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:38,920 Speaker 2: been other religious workers and caregivers on the peninsula prior 294 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 2: to this point, but as we noted earlier, eighteen seventy 295 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 2: three was really the first year that there was any 296 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,400 Speaker 2: real medical care available there at all. Once he got 297 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 2: to the klau Papa Peninsula, Father Damien became one of 298 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 2: the many religious caregivers who tried to give the Hansens 299 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 2: disease patients exiled there a better quality of life. He 300 00:17:57,359 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 2: tried to attend to both the spiritual and the physical 301 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,399 Speaker 2: needs of the patients, in addition to taking care of 302 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,959 Speaker 2: sick people, bandaging their sores and providing comfort and council. 303 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:08,879 Speaker 2: He helped to build houses and a water system, and 304 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 2: to organize schools and social events. He also added a 305 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 2: wing to his church. About three years into his time 306 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,760 Speaker 2: at the Leprosarium, Father Damien was made the interim superintendent 307 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 2: of the colonies of basically the administrator in charge that 308 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:26,080 Speaker 2: followed the death of the previous man to hold the post. 309 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 2: He wound up being removed in favor of a patient 310 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,320 Speaker 2: named William Sumners, who was half Hawaiian. There was also 311 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 2: some controversy over a minister that Father Damien had had 312 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 2: arrested during this time. The minister alleged that Father Damien's 313 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:42,600 Speaker 2: treatment of him had been arbitrary and that his demeanor 314 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,480 Speaker 2: in his post of superintendent was overbearing. Several years after 315 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,720 Speaker 2: he arrived on the peninsula, Father Damien contracted Hanson's disease 316 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 2: as well. This was due to the years of hands 317 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 2: on care he had provided patients, and he died on 318 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 2: April fifteenth of eighteen eighty nine at the age of 319 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 2: forty nine. 320 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,840 Speaker 1: He saw his contracting the same disease as the people 321 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: he had spent more than a decade trying to help. 322 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:05,400 Speaker 1: As the will of God. 323 00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:09,680 Speaker 2: There have also been some more practical explanations put forth, 324 00:19:09,720 --> 00:19:13,679 Speaker 2: which was that he apparently was kind of cavalier about 325 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 2: maintaining his own hygiene during a lot of this hands 326 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:20,520 Speaker 2: on care. In nineteen thirty six, Father Damien's remains were 327 00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,520 Speaker 2: exhumed and returned to Belgium. His body hadn't been returned 328 00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:26,159 Speaker 2: there upon his death because travel to and from the 329 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:29,600 Speaker 2: Peninsula was so rare. The remains of his right hand 330 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,159 Speaker 2: were returned to his original burial site in Hawaii in 331 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety five, and he was canonized as a saint 332 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:38,080 Speaker 2: in the Catholic Church in two thousand and nine. Although 333 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:41,600 Speaker 2: Father Damien was definitely one of Hawaii's most famous religious 334 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 2: caregivers at the Leprosarium, the way his story is retold 335 00:19:45,280 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 2: today often has some problems. Basically, it's made to seem 336 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:52,240 Speaker 2: like everyone lived in squalor too lazy or ignorant to 337 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 2: care for themselves until Father Damien got there and started 338 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:00,200 Speaker 2: fixing things himself and advocating for better treatment. This is 339 00:20:00,280 --> 00:20:03,399 Speaker 2: really not true. Native Hawaiians had been petitioning for the 340 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 2: creation of regional leprosy hospitals since the eighteen sixties, and 341 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 2: the reasons for why the colony on Kalo Papa hadn't 342 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,919 Speaker 2: become self sufficient prior to Father Damien's arrival really had 343 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 2: nothing to do with ignorance or laziness. A lot of 344 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 2: the first patients mistakenly believed that their exile was temporary, 345 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:24,360 Speaker 2: so they didn't start planting crops that they thought wouldn't 346 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:26,840 Speaker 2: even have matured by the time they got to go home. 347 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 2: Others understood that their sentence was lifelong, but thought that 348 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:33,920 Speaker 2: this was just so unjust that surely it would be 349 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 2: overturned soon, allowing them to leave. Also, the part of 350 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 2: the peninsula that was originally set aside for the Lepresarium 351 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:44,760 Speaker 2: didn't really include that much farmland. The nearby farmland that 352 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 2: did exist was least to healthy farmers or, in some cases, 353 00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,400 Speaker 2: the king. Once farmland was turned over to the residents 354 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:55,240 Speaker 2: of the Leprosarium, patients started using the fields as a 355 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,720 Speaker 2: route to escape, because the way through the cliffs was 356 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,880 Speaker 2: less treacherous from there. The government to forbid people from 357 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,639 Speaker 2: living close to the farmland, which made it harder for 358 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:08,480 Speaker 2: people to actually farm. So there are lots of reasons 359 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 2: of like wishful thinking and miscommunication and resources that all 360 00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 2: tied together to why Kalo Papa was not really that 361 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,640 Speaker 2: self sustaining before Father Damien got there. 362 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: So basically it is clear that Father Damien did very 363 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: real and compassionate work in Hawaii, and that in a 364 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,520 Speaker 1: lot of ways his work with Hanson's disease patients was 365 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,360 Speaker 1: both tireless and selfless, but it is really not accurate 366 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 1: to portray it as though he swooped in and saved 367 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:39,800 Speaker 1: all of these Hawaiians from themselves. From the time of 368 00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: its establishment, roughly eight thousand people were sentenced to exile 369 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: on Kalo Papa. Many of their names are unknown because 370 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: of spotty record keeping, and only about a thousand of 371 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:53,720 Speaker 1: them were buried in grave sites that were marked with tombstones. 372 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: The peninsula's fourteen different graveyards accommodated burial traditions from numerous 373 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: religious faiths, including casae Flix, Protestants, Mormons, Buddhists, and the 374 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: Hawaiian religion, and the engravings that do survive on some 375 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:10,120 Speaker 1: of the tombstones also reflect the languages of the people 376 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: who were sentenced to confinement on the peninsula. They include Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, 377 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: and English. Leprosy was finally decriminalized in Hawaii in nineteen 378 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:24,360 Speaker 1: sixty nine. The National Park Service designated the peninsula as 379 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:26,160 Speaker 1: a national park in nineteen eighty. 380 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 2: As of May twenty fifteen, there were still sixteen people 381 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:33,280 Speaker 2: who had lived in the colony who were still alive, 382 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,360 Speaker 2: including six who were still voluntarily living in the colony itself, 383 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:41,760 Speaker 2: and we haven't really addressed it before. There are people 384 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 2: in parts of the world who were still living in 385 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 2: Leprosaria who are not permitted to return to society. But 386 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 2: then there are other people who, having lived in a 387 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 2: place for their whole life, feel like it's their home 388 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:53,880 Speaker 2: and don't really want to leave. So there are lots 389 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 2: of different reasons for why people are still living in 390 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 2: Leprosaria when there's not really a medical reason keep them 391 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,760 Speaker 2: keep them quarantined. There's also a really passionate debate going 392 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:08,120 Speaker 2: on on exactly what to do with the former Lepresarium 393 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 2: site once the six people who were still living there 394 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 2: have passed away. There are basically people it's a national 395 00:23:14,400 --> 00:23:16,800 Speaker 2: park currently, and there are people who want to make 396 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 2: it easier and more accessible for people to be able 397 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 2: to visit the park. There are other people who feel 398 00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 2: like an increasing number of tourists would ruin the rather 399 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,960 Speaker 2: remote and tranquil atmosphere that exists there now. So that 400 00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 2: is some Hawaiian history and some medical history all rolled together. 401 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: Yay yay, although a lot of it is said. 402 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 2: That's how I feel about. As I mentioned before one 403 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 2: of the before one of the breaks, I really as 404 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 2: I was deciding what to talk about today, I have 405 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 2: I have a fondness for folk heroes, and often folk 406 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 2: heroes stories, while sometimes have a tragic end, are often 407 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:02,120 Speaker 2: uplifting in their tenor yeah, like they often come off 408 00:24:02,200 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 2: as an inspirational story, and like Cootelaw is definitely a 409 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:12,159 Speaker 2: heroic figure in Hawaiian uh Hawaiian history, in Hawaiian culture. 410 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:14,400 Speaker 2: But then all the things that you have to explain 411 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 2: to make sense for why that is our really upsetting. 412 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:27,360 Speaker 2: Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. Since 413 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:29,439 Speaker 2: this episode is out of the archive, if you heard 414 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:32,240 Speaker 2: an email address or a Facebook RL or something similar 415 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,160 Speaker 2: over the course of the show, that could be obsolete now. 416 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:41,160 Speaker 2: Our current email address is History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 417 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,280 Speaker 2: You can find us all over social media at missed 418 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 2: in History, and you can subscribe to our show on 419 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:51,640 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, Google podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else 420 00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:57,040 Speaker 2: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 421 00:24:57,119 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 2: is a production of iHeartRadio. 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