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The Yapese people are a Micronesian
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
native to the main island of
Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...
. Yapese culture is built on the maxim: Respect and Responsibility. Aspects of traditional Yapese culture are still important in modern Yapese culture.


History

Before coming into contact with Europeans, the Yapese people were familiar with surrounding island groups. Yapese sailors traveled to
Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
to quarry stones.
Carolinian people Carolinians are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people. They are also known as ''Remathau'' in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People ...
visited Yap during times of crises. Spanish and German traders colonized Yap in 1885 and started converting the people to Christianity. The Japanese navy took control of Yap in 1914. After World War II, Yap became a part of the United States
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994. History Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
. In 1978, Yap became a district in the
Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...
. Today, traditional Yapese culture is taught in elementary and junior high schools in the course "Practical Art/Culture". A survey conducted in 2010 showed significant interest in preserving and handing down traditional Yapese culture.


Demographics

Before World War II, Yap faced critical depopulation from contact with European diseases and cultural abortion. Antibiotics introduced after World War II caused a population explosion. A 1994 census of Yap found that 48.1% of the people on Yap identified as Yapese. A 2000 census found that number changed to 49.1%. A 2010 survey reported that 5.7% of the population of the
Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from west to east, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei and Kosraethat are spread across the western Pacific. Together, the states comprise a ...
(FSM) were Yapese. A 2012 survey of Micronesians outside the FSM that there were 258 Yapese in the
Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
, 412 in
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
, 72 in
Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, and 865 in the
contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...
.


Entertainment

Yap has no music, everything is human-made, like their local dances - no instruments whatsoever - which is the "writing" of Yapese culture, passed down from generation to generation. Yapese traditional dance (''churu’'') is very formal and ritualistic. A Yapese dance is performed in a group and accompanied by instruments and chanting. The dance movements and chanting generally tell a story. Dances are often performed on special occasions such as
Yap Day Yap Day is a legal holiday in Yap State, one of the four states of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), held annually on March 1. It is a celebration of traditional Yapese culture. Common activities held during this time include competition ...
or during ritual exchanges (''guyuwol''). Traditional Yapese clothing is often worn during dances.


Clothing

Traditional clothing on the main island of Yap includes loincloths and hibiscus fiber for the men and grass skirts for the women. This clothing is popular in remote villages and during festivals. Modern clothing is slowly replacing traditional clothing on these islands.


Personal and family life


Households and land

''Tabinaw'' is most commonly the Yapese household, which is generally composed of one's nuclear family. Each nuclear family generally has its own house and land. A long log divides the house into two sections; the back side (''tabgul'') is reserved for the father, and the front side (''to’or'') is open to any member of the family. Traditional households have cookhouses for different members of one's family, while modern households have a shared family cookhouse. Yapese houses are made out of lumber, corrugated metal, and concrete. A Yapese estate includes several households living on land owned by a single house site. Men can join an estate by having their patrilineal name selected from a pool of ancestral names. Women can belong to the estate they were born on, or they can belong to the estate of their husband. Land is generally passed down from father to son or from older brother to younger brother. If a family does not have any sons, the oldest daughter can inherit the land. This land is separated by matrilineal kinship. Individuals and groups who have to rely on other people's lands are part of the serf caste.


Politics

A patriclan is a political and economic unit while a patrilineage is a social unit of kinsmen. Yapese clans or sibs (''genung'') are totemic and claim mythical ancestry and a mythical place of origin. Sib members are instructed not to eat the living counterpart of their mythical ancestress. Sibs are
exogamous Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...
and consider each other as brothers and sisters. Each sib has a chief, and each village has a head chief who acts for all his sib mates. The village chief voices group consensus. Traditional villages have a council of elders which maintains social control through judicial means.


Kinship

David M. Schneider David Murray Schneider (November 11, 1918, Brooklyn, New York – October 30, 1995, Santa Cruz, California) was an American cultural anthropologist, best known for his studies of kinship and as a major proponent of the symbolic anthropology app ...
recorded Yapese belief on conception in the 1960s. He found that the Yapese did not view human pregnancy as a result of copulation, but rather as a bestowal from one's ancestors for good behavior. Support for this idea came from the observation that promiscuous Yapese women did become pregnant. Thomas Helmig disputed Schneider's conclusions regarding the link between coitus and pregnancy on Yap. Helmig cites
Wilhelm Müller-Wismar Wilhelm Müller-Wismar (20 May 1881 – 13 October 1916) was a German ethnographer. A native of Wismar, he graduated in 1905 from the University of Berlin, where he studied ethnography and anthropology under Felix von Luschan (1854-1924). From ...
's ethnographic research indicated that the Yapese concept of fatherhood began prenatally, much like their concept of motherhood. Strong sexual taboos on Yap prohibit incest, which is viewed as one of the worst offences one can commit. Those who commit incest are likened to animals or cannibals.


Food and agriculture

Yapese use local foods to express cultural values. Local foods bind the land and people together. Common food grown in Yap include taro, yams, breadfruit, bananas, and reef fish. Traditional agricultural systems on Yap include gardens, shifting cultivation, taro systems, and animal husbandry. Chewing
betel nut The betel (''Piper betle'') is a vine of the family Piperaceae, which includes pepper and kava. The betel plant is native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious perennial, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plan ...
, drinking
palm wine Palm wine, known by several #Names, local names, is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the Borassus, palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and i ...
, and consuming commercial alcohol are popular social activities on Yap. The United States gave large subsidies to Micronesia in the 20th century, creating a decline in local food production on Yap. Imported foods such as
white rice White rice is milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the rice and helps prevent spoilage, extend its storage life, and makes it easier to digest. After milling (hulling), the ...
, canned meat, and frozen meat became more popular. Men generally work as fishermen while women generally work as farmers in taro patches. The protein from the men's work (''thumag'') and the starch from the women's work (''ggaan'') complement each other in the Yapese meal. Imported foods are generally adapted within this classification system; for example, canned meats are considered ''thumag'' and rice is considered ''ggaan''. Eating classes on Yap are composed of male non-serfs who eat together. New members of these eating classes must undergo an initiation ritual (''dowach''). Food is separately prepared for the men, the women and children, and the menstruating daughters. Boys over the age of ten live and eat in the village's young men's house and menstruating girls have to eat in a separate house. In the main house, older males eat separately from the women and younger children.


See also

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Governor of Yap The office of the Governor of Yap is the highest elected position in the state of Yap, Federated States of Micronesia The Federated States of Micronesia (; abbreviated FSM) is an island country in Oceania. It consists of four states from we ...
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Rai stones A rai stone ( yap, raay), or fei stone, is one of many large artifacts that were manufactured and treasured by the native inhabitants of the Yap islands in Micronesia. They are also known as Yapese stone money or similar names. The typical rai ...
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Religion in Yap Religion in Yap is predominantly Roman Catholic, which first arrived in Yap in the late 1880s. Before that, the Yapese people practiced traditional rituals and practices and held beliefs about the gods, the spirits, taboos, and death. Through the ...
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Rull Men's Meetinghouse The Rull Men's Meetinghouse (known as a ''faluw'' in the Yapese language) is a historic meeting house in Rull, a village on the island of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia. It is a large rectangular structure, set on a raised stone platfo ...
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Yapese language Yapese is a language spoken by the people on the island of Yap (Federated States of Micronesia). It belongs to the Austronesian languages, more specifically to the Oceanic branch of that family. It has been difficult to classify it further, b ...


References


Further reading

* {{cite book , last=Throop , first=C. Jason , title=Suffering and Sentiment: Exploring the Vicissitudes of Experience and Pain in Yap , date=2010 , publisher=University of California Press , location=Berkeley , isbn=9780520260573 Ethnic groups in the Federated States of Micronesia Indigenous peoples of Micronesia Yap