Outer Islands of Yap
The Outer Islands of Yap are a group of islands and atolls in the Western Caroline Islands.
Alternative spellings and historic names include: Neighboring Islands, Remathau
The Outer Islands of Yap are a portion of Yap State within the Federated States of Micronesia.
Subunits
Atolls and islands within the group include: Eauripik, Elato, Fais, Faraulep, Gaferut, Ifalik, Lamotrek, Ngulu, Olimarao, Piagailoe, Pikelot, Satawal, Sorol, Ulithi, Woleai
Population, Language and Religion
The 2010 FSM Census reported a population of 4,006. Ulithian, Woleaian, Satawalese are the spoken language and religious affiliation is predominantly Roman Catholic.
Governance
Spain laid claim to the Carolines from the time of initial discovery in the early 1500's but made no attempt to occupy or administer them. In 1885 a Governor for the Carolines was appointed by the Governor General of the Philippines and presence established in Pohnpei and Yap. In this Spanish Period (1521-1899), Outer Islands of Yap fell within the Western District of the Spanish East Indies.
After the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the Palau, Caroline, and Marianas Islands to Germany in 1899. In this German Period (1899-1914), the Caroline, Palau and Mariana Islands (excluding Guam), along with the Marshalls, annexed in 1885, were titled Imperial German Pacific Protectorates. The Carolines become an administrative district of German New Guinea under direction of a vice-governor and Outer Islands of Yapfell within the Western Caroline District.
The Carolines were seized from the Germans by the Japanese early in World War I. Despite protests from the United States, including the Yap Crisis, the Islands were in 1920 mandated to Japan by the League of Nations. In this Japanese Period (1914-1941), Outer Islands of Yap fell within the Yap District of the “Nan'yō Cho” or South Seas Government.
Following liberation of the islands in the War in the Pacific, the islands were administered by the US Navy. The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was formalized by United Nations Security Council Resolution 21 in 1947. The Navy passed governing duties to the Department of the Interior in 1951. During the USN Period (1945-1947) and the TTPI Period (1947-1979) Outer Islands of Yap fell within the Yap Administrative Unit and then the Yap District.
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was established with the end of the Trust Territory. The FSM is one of three “Freely Associated States,” or “FAS” nations that entered into a Compact of Free Association or “COFA” with the US. The treaty and agreements provide economic assistance to the countries, secured US defense rights and set defense responsibilities, and allow FAS citizens to migrate to the United States.
Traditional Culture
Pre-Contact
The Outer Islands of Yap were part of the "Yap-Ulithi-"Woleai" chain of authority and the related "Sawei" Yap/Outer Island Trade and Tribute Network (sometimes called the "Yap Empire”).
Pre-contact social order was characterized by: a social hierarchy with stronger chiefs where violence used to seize and maintain power (Goldman Level 2 of 3); occasional interpersonal violence (between individuals who frequently, but not always, are known to one another); one or just a few deaths per year (2 on Younger's 0-4 scale); chronic warfare, defined as armed aggression between political communities or alliances of political communities, essentially continuously (4 on Younger's 0-4 scale).
The islands were characterized by a lineage-based system, predominantly matrilineal, emphasizing primogeniture and sibling solidarity, with cross-sibling sets given ritual prominence. The subsistence system relied on marine and horticultural resource exploitation. Men primarily engaged in fishing, while women were responsible for horticulture. Trade and exchange were integral at all levels, from estates to interisland interactions. The political structure vested power in ranked land-holding groups and their representatives. Ranking was derived from the order of settlement, paralleling primogeniture, but also influenced by conquest, the defense of customs, and the possession and application of specialized knowledge. These islands hosted a religious system that embraced gods, ghosts, and patron spirits. “Local” supernatural beings often were classified separately from “off-island” ones. A dualistic ideology was reflected in the organization and structure of all these systems.
Material Culture
The Outer Islanders of Yap, sometimes called the Remathau (or "People of the Sea") are well known for their skills in crafting and navigating outrigger canoes. These signature outrigger canoes, or proa, are crafted using traditional hafted Micronesian adzes.
The Outer Islanders also produce lavalava, a distinctive type of skirt woven on backstrap looms.
Present Day
Traditional chiefly authority is exercised by the Council of Tamol.
In Yap, traditional leaders have a role in governnance that enshrines them as a "Fourth Branch." As John Haglelgam, former President of the FSM observed in his "Traditional Leaders and Governance in Micronesia" (1998), “in Yap, the traditional leaders have formal roles in the government. The Yap state constitution created two councils of chiefs: one for the main islands of Yap and one for the outer island chiefs. These councils are empowered to review and disapprove an act of the state legislature if it violates custom and tradition… The legislature cannot override the veto of these councils but can incorporate their objection in the bill and return it for their review. So far. the councils have used their power sparingly. The councils have also expanded their power to review policy of the executive branch which has forced the governor and his cabinet to justify their policy to the councils… The two councils are in essence public watchdogs, making sure that elected officials and bureaucrats are doing their job.“
The natives of the Western and Central Carolines have long been competent navigators. In former times the inhabitants of Ngulu voyaged to such distant islands as Ulithi, Eauripik, Fais, Sorol, and Woleai, and even as far eastward as Ifalik. The natives of Elato and Woleai sailed their canoes to Guam in the Marianas, and many of them with their canoes entered the service of the Spanish Government these, carrying on what little trade and communication existed between the Spanish administration at Guam and the northern Marianas. Canoes built on Elato and Woleai were highly valued throughout the area and also in the Marianas. Voyages were made to Palau to obtain the material for stone money, and the natives of the central and eastern atolls visited Yap to trade, to pay tribute, and to attend religious rituals.
From the time of the earlier voyagers to the last quarter of the nineteenth century, sea captains and other experienced navigators have testified to the amazing navigational knowledge of the Islanders. Without instruments of any kind, they were able to undertake long and hazardous voyages in their relatively small sailing canoes, relying on their knowledge of the stars and on observations of currents, ground swells, and winds. They did not, however, share with the Marshall Islanders the art of making and using charts.
Starting in the German Period, the islanders took advantage of the interisland shipping services begun by the Germans and later materially extended by the Japanese. Later, the Japanese administration discourage long voyages in native sailing canoes. The Yap Branch Government in 1928 directly forbade extended voyages in native craft by the inhabitants of isolated islands, and the other Branch Governments adopted a similar attitude. Resultantly, in the coral islands throughout the area the use of native craft was thereafter largely confined to short trips to other islets of the same atoll.
Political Status of Yap
Over several centuries, Yap and it's outer islands have been administratively group by foreign powers into political units with other more distant islands in Palau, eastern Caroline, and Marshall Islands. Despite this, the People of Yap have always retained very distinctive and cohesive linguistic, social and cultural patterns and identity. At the close of the US administered Trust Territory, elected leaders and the voters of Yap opted to join the nascent Federated States of Micronesia and enter into Free Association with the United States. Still, questions about Yap's Political Status remain unresolved in the minds of many voters and political leaders.
Electoral Divisions
The legislative branch of the Federated States of Micronesia is unicameral. Two types of Senators are elected: at-large senators, one for each of the four states, who serve four-year terms, and population-based senators, representing specific constituencies, who serve two-year terms. The President of Micronesia is elected by the Congress from amongst the four at-large senators, after which a special election is held to (re)fill that seat.Outer Islands of Yap is represented in the FSM Congress by the Yap, At-Large Seat Senator, and the Yap, Sole Population-Based District Senator.
Since the establishment of the FSM, Yap State voters have elected and maintained in Congress one Yapese Senator and one Outer Island Senator. This de facto power-sharing arrangement is similar to the requirement in the Yap's State Constitution stating "if the Governor is a resident of Yap Islands Proper, the Lieutenant Governor shall be a resident of the Outer Islands, and if the Governor is a resident of the Outer Islands, the Lieutenant Governor shall be a resident of Yap Islands Proper."
Education
The Local Education Agency, or “school district” for Outer Islands of Yap is the Yap State Department.
