Nahnmwarki System

Traditionally, the political structure of Pohnpei was closely integrated with the native system of land tenure and the prevalent form of social organization and was very complex. The island was divided into five independent districts, Kitti, Madolenihmw, U, Sokehs, and Nett. The political boundaries cut the island like a pie, so that each district included sections of the forests and mountains. the foreland, and the shore. The residents of a district belonged to different matrilineal clans, and, generally speaking, each of the clans of Pohnpei was represented in each district. There was also a sharp class differentiation. At the bottom were the commoners who did all the manual labor and tilled the soil, and at the top were the aristocrats who owned the land and managed its use. Within each district the members of two particular clans always constituted the aristocracy.

In the Madolenihmw district, for example, the upper class was composed of the members of the Tip en pan and Tip en nai clans, while the lower class comprised the members of all the other clans represented in the district. The prestige enjoyed by the two dominant clans in Madolenihmw, however, did not extend to members or the same clans living in other districts; there they were commoners, and the aristocracy were members of quite different pairs of clans.

Each political district was administered by a paramount chief (Nahnmwarki). who was drawn from among the members of the first of the aristocratic clans. He was assisted by ten or eleven titled chiefs, also drawn from this clan, who were always addressed by their titles and never by name. The paramount chief, the titled chiefs, and their clansmen in that district constituted the royalty (tsopeiti). The titled chiefs performed various administrative functions under the direction of the paramount chief. They were graded in rank, and on ceremonial occasions each titled chief received the bowl of kava in order according to his rank. This hierarchy of titled chiefs was particularly important in determining the order of succession. When the paramount chief died, the titled chief in the highest position (uachai) became the successor, and each of the others moved up one rank. The position at the bottom of the ladder was filled from among the dead chief's close relatives, either his younger brother, his sister's son, or, more in later years, his son if his wife was of royal blood.

The land in each district was owned by the royal clan and administered by the paramount chief with the assistance of the titled chiefs. One part of the land was set aside as the personal domain of the royal clansmen. The rest of the district was split up into a number of fiefs (jap), each of which was managed by a feudal lord (jaumaj). A fief consisted of a local settlement divided into farmsteads or plots (palienjap) which were tilled by the common people. The settlement in which the paramount chief lived was also managed by a lord, who was given a special title (nanekin) and who held a position of particular importance. He acted as aliaison between the lords and the paramount chief, attempting to iron out whatever difficulties arose between them. The lords were always drawn from the second of the two aristocratic clans of the district, and they, together with their clansmen, were classed as nobles (seriso).

In return for the use of the land, the commoners turned over a large proportion ft of their garden produce and the fieb. they caught to their overlords. Atleast twice a year each lord sent an accumulation of these foodstuffs as tribute to his paramount chief. The presentation was made in ceremonial fashion accompanied by a feast. Occasionally, too, the paramount chief visited the various fiefs in his district and collected tribute. The produce which he obtained he distributed among the members of his clan.

The royal and noble clans of each district formed a superordinate social class, which was regarded as superior in all respects to the conmon people. The aristocracy were thought to be lighter in color than the commoners, perhaps because they did little work in the suh, and were entitled to special forms of respect and deference. Intermarriage between the aristocracy and the common people rarely occurred, although an occasional aristocrat might take a common woman as his second or third wife. Since marriage within the clan was also forbidden, members of the royalty were forced to obtain their wives from outside the district or from among the nobility. In the early days the former alternative was prevented by native law, which forbade royal personages to enter another district, so that marriage with members of the nobility was the only solution. Contact with European civilization, however, weakened the entire political structure, and the old laws lost their effectiveness. District boundaries were crossed by members of the royal clans, and intermarriage with the royalty of other districts became frequent.

The five traditional administrative districts on Pohnpei were retained as local political units by both the German and the Japanese administrations, a chief being placed in charge of each. Under the Japanese system, village headmen, corresponding to the old feudal lords or managers, were placed under the eight village chiefs. However, one very fundamental change in the native system was introduced by the German administration and continued by the Japanese government. This was the curtailment of the power of the chiefs by the distribution of land among the common people as private property. Under the Japanese administration, moreover, chiefs were often selected because of their willingness to conform to the Japanese notions of how the district should be administered, rather than because they were next in the line of succession. This led to a certain amount of dissension and conflict, which the Japanese partially alleviated by conferring informally with the aggrieved persons and asking their advice about administrative matters.