Page 308 - Micronesia

owever in 1874, an enterprising Irish ing marriages, transfers of land title, or as men’s houses that women are allowed to
H Sea captain named David O’Keefe hit
upon the idea of employing the Yapese
to import more “money” in the form of
shiploads of large stones, also from Palau.
O’Keefe then traded these stones with the
Yapese for other commodities such as sea
cucumbers and copra. The 1954 movie
His Majesty O’Keefe cast Burt Lancaster in
the captain’s role. Although some of the
O’Keefe stones are larger than the canoe-
transported stones, they are less valuable
than the earlier stones due to the compara-
tive ease with which they were obtained.
As no more disks are being produced or
imported, this money supply is fixed. The
islanders know who owns which piece but
do not necessarily move them when owner-
ship changes. Their size and weight (the
largest ones require 20 adult men to carry)
make them very difficult to move around.
Although today the United States dollar is
the currency used for everyday transactions
in Yap, the stone disks are still used for
more traditional or ceremonial exchange.
The stone disks may change ownership dur-
compensation for damages suffered by an
aggrieved party.
T here are three types of traditional
buildings on Yap. The “tabnuw” is a
family house and has a roof made of woven
thatch (dried palm fronds). Inside, there is
one open room with no lavatory. Kitchens
are separate structures outside the family
houses. The “faluw” is the “men’s house”.
Prior to World War I, women had been kid-
napped and taken to the faluw. Today this
practice no longer occurs. Women consid-
ered it an honor to be chosen for the faluw,
because only the most beautiful women
would be taken there. Such a woman was
called the “mispil” (resident female) of the
faluw. As the island’s culture was more and
more influenced by the rest of the world’s
views on prostitution, this practice ended.
Largest of the three types is the “pebay”, a
place for the community to come together
for school, dances or meetings. As with all
structures on Yap, it is necessary to obtain
permission before entering. There are a few
enter, however people must always ask for
permission.
Y apese belongs to the Austronesian lan-
guages, more specifically to the Oce-
anic languages. Yap was initially settled by
ancient migrants from the Malay Peninsula,
the Indonesian Archipelago, New Guinea,
and the Solomon Islands. The people of
Yap’s outer islands are descendants of Poly-
nesian settlers, and as such have significant
ethnic dissimilarities from the people of
Yap proper. Their culture and languages
are closely related to those of the neigh-
boring islands of Chuuk. The Yapese and
outer island Yapese were some of the most
renowned navigators in the Pacific. Yapese
sailors travelled phenomenal distances
in outrigger canoes, without the aid of a
compass, navigating by the stars and the
patterns of ocean waves using techniques
of Micronesian and Polynesian navigation.