Hawaiian Shells and Niihau

Ni’ihau Island (pronounced Nee-ee-how) is a 72 square mile privately owned island just southwest of the island of Kauai where time has stood still. Purchased from King Kamehameha V in 1864, this island is inhabited by about 200 locals preserving many of the traditional ways of life and speaking Hawaiian as their primary language. Not affected by modern progress, these proud people continue to fish and hunt for their main staples of food with ropes and knives and spears and nets. Niihau is in the rain shadow of Mt Waialeale on Kauai, which averages 400 inches of rain per year, leaving it dry and barren. While the other Hawaiian islands are known for their beautiful flower leis, this arid island which lacks tropical flowers has been famous for their beautiful shell leis for centuries. Captain Cook returned from his first explorations with a Ni’ihau Shell Lei which now resides in the British Museum.

The main shell collecting period is from October to March when the winter seas generate high surf and deposit large quantities of shells on the North shore. Whole families are involved in collecting the shells from the beaches which are anywhere from two to nine miles walking distance from the village. They usually leave early in the day to avoid the intense sun and spend hours lying on the beach slowly scanning across the hot sand inch by inch for the tiny shells used to make leis. Ranging in size from 3 to 10 mm in size, an average day of collecting may produce a small baby food jar full, while a good day may produce a 16 oz jar. Later they are sorted by size and color. Shells are rated in color from light to good to strong, with the strongest colors being the rarest and most prized. Certain of the strong, brown, striped variety may only be found in one month of the year, in one particular section, of one particular beach, on this one amazing island.