Sapwuahfik
Sapwuahfik is an atoll in the Eastern Caroline Islands.
Alternative spellings and historic names include: Islas de Passion, Los Valientes, Nachikku, Natiki, Natikku, Ngarik, Ngaryk, Ngatik, Nuteck, Pasion, Raven, Ravene, and Seven Islands
Sapwuahfik is a coral atoll located at 5° 49' N, 157° 21' E(at the southeastern tip), 75 miles south of Pohnpei, 145 miles southeast of Oroluk, and 176 miles northeast of Nukuoro. It is roughly triangular in shape, eleven miles in length (E-W), and five miles in width. The atoll has eight low islets with a total land surface of 370 acres. All the islets are on the east, with the exception of the largest, Sapwuahfik (formely Ngatik) Island, which lies at the extreme west. The lagoon, which is obstructed by shoals, has two anchorages; it is entered by along, narrow passage in the south.
The atoll was possibly sighted by Pedro Fernandez de Quiros in 1595 but probably discovered by the Spanish Captain Don Felipe Thompson in 1773; seen by Captain Thomas Musgrave in 1793 as well as by Joaquin Lafita in 1802; visited by Russian Friedrich Benjamin Graf von Lütke in 1828.
Sapwuahfik is a part of the Outer Islands of Pohnpei within Pohnpei State, in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Subunits
Islands within the atoll include: Ngatik, Peina, Bigen Karakar, Jirup, Bigen kalang, Pikepe, Dekehnman, Wat, Pikenmetkow, Uataluk
"Sapwuahfik" is also an island. As with many placenames in Micronesia, this is a geographic 'pars pro toto', in which the name of a constitutive village, island or atoll is often used describe the larger island, atoll or island grouping in which it is the predominate member.
Population, Language and Religion
The 2010 FSM Census reported a population of 456. Ngatikese (Sapwuahfik) is the spoken language and religious affiliation is roughly evenly split between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
A 1935 census by the Japanese counted 295 residents, all of them natives.
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), Sapwuahfik 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 Sapwuahfikfell 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), Sapwuahfik 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) Sapwuahfik 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
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); frequent interpersonal violence (between individuals who frequently, but not always, are known to one another); several deaths per year but lethal violence socially disdained (3 on Younger's 0-4 scale); frequent warfare, defined as armed aggression between political communities or alliances of political communities, with wars every few years but not continuous (3 on Younger's 0-4 scale).
Evolution
The native political organization of Mwoakilloa, Sapwuahfik, and Pingelap was essentially the same as that of Pohnpei, each of these atolls forming a separate administrative district. These three districts and the five 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
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.
Spanish Period
American Protestant missionary enterprise spread from Pohnpei to the smaller islands of the central and eastern Carolines during the Spanish Period. In 1873, native evangelists and teachers were sent to Satowan, and by 1878 there were seven mission stations in the Nomoi Islands (Ettal, Lukunor, and Satowan). A native missionary was also sent to Pingelap in 1873, and in the next few years stations were established on Losap, Mwoakilloa, Nema, Namoluk, Sapwuahfik, Nukuoro, and Chuuk.
Sometime after it's formation in 1887, the Jaluit Company began operating a trading station on Sapwuahfik
German Period
The activities of the Boston Mission in the central and eastern Carolines, after its final withdrawal from Pohnpei and Chuuk in 1910, were confined exclusively to Kosrae and to the three Pohnpei-dependent atolls of Mwoakilloa, Sapwuahfik, and Pingelap, at which native pastors and teachers continued to work through the German and Japanese Periods.
Japanese Period
The Nanyo Boeki Kaisha maintained a scheduled trip from Pohnpei called at Pakin, Sapwuahfik, Nukuoro, Kapingamarangi, and Oroluk, covering adistance of 1,240 miles in 24 days. Three such trips were made a year. The firm had a trading station on the island, purchasing copra and selling imported products. By 1941, a good road encircled the island of Sapwuahfik, close to the coast.
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.Sapwuahfik is represented in the FSM Congress by the Pohnpei, At-Large Seat Senator, and the Pohnpei, District 1 Senator.
Education
The Local Education Agency, or “school district” for Sapwuahfik is the Ponhpei State Deparment of Education and Sapwuahfik falls within the Educational Division 1.
Runway
Sapwuahfik Civil Airfield is located in Pohnpei State on the reef adjacent to Ngatik Island at the western extreme of Sapwuahfik Atoll, roughly 96 nautical miles southwest of Pohnpei Island. Due to coastal erosion, the airstrip is now separated from the island by about 20 meters and passengers are ferried back and forth by boat. The runway is 1,200 by 75 ft of concrete.
