Molokai activists celebrate Kalaupapa tour pause; future still uncertain
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Activists protesting the reopening of hiking tours to Kalaupapa were met with an unexpected development Saturday morning: no visitors arrived.
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The National Park Service (NPS) confirmed it has temporarily paused future public tours to the historic peninsula while it reassesses the feasibility of visitor access.
The decision came just days after more than 30 Molokai residents gathered to oppose the restart of tours to Kalaupapa, where thousands of people with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, were forcibly isolated from 1866 to 1969.
Members of the activist group Kuno Ia Kalaupapa returned to the top of the trail Saturday expecting to continue their demonstrations.
“It was a big shock to us,” said longtime activist Walter Ritte. “Nobody knew that nobody was going to show up. We were ready to do our thing and try to convince them to talk before you bring in tourists to Kalaupapa.”
The park service launched its new hiking tour program Thursday, marking the first organized visitor access to the peninsula in years. The reopening quickly drew criticism from some Molokai residents and cultural practitioners who said the tours moved forward without sufficient community consultation.
Maui County council member Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, who joined Thursday’s protest, called the temporary pause a positive first step.
“NPS pausing its operations is the first step toward repairing its relationship with our Molokai community,” she said.
Still, activists say significant questions remain about the future of the program and whether local residents will be included in decisions moving forward.
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In a statement, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) said Kalaupapa is “an extraordinary place” and that any visitor program should respect the patient legacy, Native Hawaiian interests, Molokai residents and the department’s responsibilities as a landowner.
The agency added that continued discussions should address issues including visitor management, community impacts, emergency response coordination and how Kalaupapa’s history is interpreted for the public.
Rawlins-Fernandez also raised concerns about whether enough consultation occurred before the tours resumed, despite DHHL determining that the agency’s beneficiary consultation policy was not violated.
“We can disagree about that,” she said.
For activists, the temporary halt is being viewed as an opportunity for broader discussions about the future of Kalaupapa and the role tourism should play there.
“The future of Molokai needs to be talked about,” Ritte said. “They play a role in that future. They can’t just be a neighbor that doesn’t care what impacts they’re having on the island.”
The National Park Service has not said how long the pause will last.
“We don’t know what temporary means,” Rawlins-Fernandez said. “We don’t know if it’s just today’s tour or how long this temporary pause is going to last, and whether community consultation will happen before tours restart.”
In a brief statement, the National Park Service said it has paused future public tours while it reassesses the feasibility of visitor access but provided no additional details on a timeline for resuming the program.
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