Pohnpei
Pohnpei is a high volcanic island with several detached small islands lying within the barrier reef in Eastern Caroline Islands.
Alternative spellings and historic names include: Ponape; Ascension, Bonebay, Falope, Harper, Quirosa, Torress, William The Fourth
Pohnpei is a part of the eponymous Pohnpei State within the Federated States of Micronesia.
Subunits
Municipalities within the islands include: Kitti, Kolonia, Madolenihmw, Nett, Sokehs, U
Population, Language and Religion
The 2010 FSM Census reported a population of 34,789. Pohnpeian is the spoken language and religious affiliation is roughly evenly split between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
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), Pohnpei 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 Pohnpeifell within the Eastern 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), Pohnpei fell within the Ponape 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) Pohnpei fell within the East Carolines Administrative Unit and then the Pohnpei 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
Pohnpei was part of the Senyavin Grouping, comprised of Pohnpei, Ant and Pakin.
Social organization and hierarchy was defined Chieftainship, and the principal elements determining rank and status among kin group were based on priority of settlement; hierarchy claims refer to legends of migration from islands to the east (Sudo Type 1).
Pre-contact social order was characterized by: a social hierarchy with several levels of social stratification and feudal relationship wherein lower chiefs owed tribute and service to higher chiefs (Goldman Level 3 of 3); chronic interpersonal violence (between individuals who frequently, but not always, are known to one another); violence was a major part of the culture (4 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).
Property rights were characterized by: a land tenure system based on matrilineal ownership but extended patrilineal usage. Land inheritance is inherited mainly patrilineal (Sudo, Type 3). lands are nominally owned by the matrilineage, but are actually used by a small patri-extended family because of the custom of patrilocal residence. An individual living on his father's lineage land may choose to belong to either his mother's or his father's side. The systems of ambilateral inheritance choice and the flexibility in group affiliation are the other means of keeping a balance between group population and food resources.; a system of sea tenure in which a reef and lagoon is owned by all islanders or villages but is controlled by a chief (Sudo Type 1).
Evolution
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.
Present Day
Traditional chiefly authority is exercised by the Nahnmwarki System.
In Pohnpei, the state constitution does not make specific mention of a formal role for the traditional leaders but chiefs can play an informal role in public sector governance, including swaying election results in favor of a particular candidate.
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.Pohnpei is represented in the FSM Congress by the Pohnpei, At-Large Seat Senator, and the Senator.
Education
The Local Education Agency, or “school district” for Pohnpei is the Ponhpei State Deparment of Education.
Runway
Pohnpei International Airport (PNI) is located on Deketik, a small lagoon islet connected to Pohnpei Island by a mile-long causeway. The airport receives regular commercial flights from Guam (via Chuuk) and Honolulu (via the Marshall Islands and Kosrae). The facilities are also equipped to handle direct flights from the Asian and U.S. mainlands and island groups in the region. Caroline Islands Air makes periodic flights from Pohnpei to civil airfields on the atolls of Mwoakilloa, Pingelap, and Sapwuahfik. The runway is 6,001 by 150 feet of asphalt.
Texts Dealing with Pohnpei
Alkire, William H., and David Hanlon. 1990. “Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890.” Man 25(3). doi:10.2307/2803730.
Balick, M. J. 2009. Ethnobotany of Pohnpei: Plants, People, and Island Culture. First. University of Hawaii Press. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/938881778.
Evans, Michael J. “Political Development In Micronesia: A View From The Island Of Pohnpei.”
Falgout, Suzanne. “Lessons of War from Pohnpei.”
Gossman, Gary M. 1990. “Achieving Educational Excellence: The Challenge of the 90s in the Federated States of Micronesia. Overview of National Findings and Recommendations.”
Rehg, Kenneth L., Joel Bradshaw, Robert Gibson, George Grace, Jean Kirschenmann, Marylin Low, Rodrigo Mauricio, et al. 2004. “Linguists, Literacy, and the Law of Unintended Consequences" In a Paper Presented in 1994 at the Seventh International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics, Donald Topping.” Oceanic Linguistics 43(2).
Riesenberg, Saul H. 1952. “Ponapean Omens.” The Journal of American Folklore 65 (258). https://doi.org/10.2307/536038.
Riesenberg, Saul H. 1968. “Native Polity of Ponape.” Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology, no. 10. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810223.10.1.
Riesenberg, Saul H., and J. L. Fischer. 1955. “Some Ponapean Proverbs.” The Journal of American Folklore 68 (267). https://doi.org/10.2307/537106.
