Fedor

Fedor (also spelled Fedoor, Fedeor, Feeduqor) is a village in Dalipebinaw Municipality on Yap in Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia. It is located on the island of Marbaa'.

Overview

Fedor is classified as a Caste III, Class 7 village (III–7) within the Yapese system of ranked villages associated with Tabinaw. This places it toward the lower end of the hierarchy of independent villages, below the chiefly and noble ranks, but still above the servant and serf villages at the lowest levels of Caste III.

Its polling place is Fedor.

Geography

Fedor lies at approximately 9.502041 N latitude and 138.074478 E longitude on Yap Island proper, within the area now associated with the Yap International Airport corridor. A National Weather Service facility is located roughly one kilometer from the village center, and a communications site lies within several hundred meters.

Variants

The village appears in variant forms including Fedeor, Fedoor, Feeduqor. The municipality name also appears in variant forms including Dalibepinau, Dalipebinau.

Taliw u Fedoor

A mortuary complex known as Taliw u Fedoor lies inland from the village. The site extends across approximately 25.3 hectares and contains at least 200 burial structures. These include earthen mounds, terraces, ditches, and stone burial platforms. Recorded burial types range from simple earthen mound graves (malang) to stone platforms and more complex multi-tiered structures, as well as clustered burial features grouped within the landscape.

Survey documentation records variation in burial construction and grouping across the site. Some areas of the complex remain maintained and are recognized by present-day communities.

Settlement and Demography

In 1966, Fedor was recorded with a population of approximately 47 persons and a land area of approximately 202.5 acres. Archaeological survey identifies burial areas associated with Fedor as located inland from settlement zones.

Land Tenure and Registration

Fedor was included in the island-wide land registration program conducted during the TTPI Period (1947-1979). Land determinations from this period record individually held parcels, recognized ownership boundaries, and parcels subject to public rights-of-way. These records reflect formal documentation of landholding in the village area.

Fedoor Rock Quarry

A quarry site identified as the Fedoor Rock Quarry was operated under a lease agreement during the Trust Territory period. The quarry was established in 1973 and terminated in 1979. The agreement permitted extraction of rock for public works purposes and included annual rental payments and additional fees based on the volume of material removed.

The lease also included provisions addressing disturbance of graves, and records document that burial sites within the quarry area were disturbed during earlier activity, leading to negotiated compensation.

Historic and Military Features

The Fedor area includes documented evidence of Japanese mineral prospecting activity from 1937 to 1943 during the Japanese Period (1914-1941), as well as World War II defensive features associated with the War in the Pacific (1941-1945). The area also contains bomb craters and associated remains from U.S. air operations. These features occur within the same survey area as the mortuary complex.

Cultural Notes

Fedor is documented as the location of an ambush site in inter-village warfare, described as a strategically selected point along a movement route where an attack was carried out against forces from Okau.

Local documentation also records the use of the name "Fedoor" as a label for a cultivated plant variety described as originating from the village. Ethnographic materials further record Fedor as a site of documented traditional practices, including Weaving, based on field interviews conducted in the village.