Page 307 - Micronesia
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Yap and its Magnificent Manta Rays
Yap is an island in the Caroline Islands of the of (usually) calcite, up to 4 m (12 ft.) in diameter
western Pacific Ocean. It is considered to be (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as
made up of four separate islands. The three are little as 3.5 centimeters (1.4 in) in diameter.[4]
contiguous though separated by water and are There are five major types of monies: Mmbul,
surrounded by a common coral reef. They are Gaw, Fe’ or Rai, Yar, and Reng, this last being
formed from an uplift of the Philippine Sea Plate, only 0.3 m (1 ft.) in diameter. Many of them were
and are referred to as “high” islands as opposed brought from other islands, as far as New Guinea,
to atolls. The land is mostly rolling hills densely but most came in ancient times from Palau. Their
vegetated. Mangrove swamps line much of the value is based on both the stone’s size and its
shore. Yap’s indigenous cultures and traditions history. Historically the Yapese valued the disks
are strong compared to other states in Micro- because the material looks like quartz, and these
nesia. Colonia is the capital of the State of Yap were the shiniest objects around. Eventually
which includes Yap proper and the fourteen the stones became legal tender and were even
outer islands (mostly atolls) reaching to the east mandatory in some payments. The value of the
and south for some 800 km (500 mi). Historically stones was kept high due to the difficulty and
a tributary system existed between the outer hazards involved in obtaining them. To quarry
islands and Yap proper. This probably related to the stones, Yapese adventurers had to sail to
the need for goods from the high islands, includ- distant islands and deal with local inhabitants
ing food, as well as wood for construction of who were sometimes hostile. Once quarried, the
seagoing vessels. disks had to be transported back to Yap on rafts
towed behind sail-driven canoes. The scarcity of
Yap is known for its stone money, known as the disks, and the effort and peril required to get
Rai: large doughnut-shaped, carved disks them, made them valuable to the Yapese.
