King Kamehameha IV put Niihau up for sale in 1863, and Kauai resident Elizabeth Sinclair bought the island for $10,000. (She reportedly chose to purchase Ni‘ihau over a few other pieces of real estate, including Waikiki and Pearl Harbor.) Today, Sinclair’s descendants, the Robinson family, continue her commitment to maintain Niihau’s Hawaiian culture. The Hawaiian language is spoken almost exclusively on the island.
