Towawai

Towawai (also recorded as Tawoway, Tawoowaay, Towoway, or Towaawaai) is a village in Gilman municipality on Marbaa' in Yap State of the Federated States of Micronesia.

Towawai is located at approximately 9.447595624 latitude and 138.0572569 longitude and is associated with the polling area of Gilman.

A bridge is located approximately 0.27 km from the village area.

Caste and class

Towawai is classified within the Yapese system of ranked villages associated with Tabinaw as Caste II, Class 5 (II–5).

This places Towawai among the middle-ranked villages within the traditional Yapese political hierarchy.

Population and settlement

In Jane Hainline Underwood’s demographic survey of Yap during the 1960s, Towawai was recorded with a population of 28 residents occupying approximately 202.52 acres of land.

The village formed part of the southern Gilman coastal village sequence between Muruuru and Anoth. Unlike nearby Muruuru, which appeared as uninhabited in some late-1960s planning records, Towawai was recorded as an occupied settlement during this period.

Village setting

Towawai lies on the western portion of Gilman municipality adjacent to Anoth village.

The village was known locally for fertile agricultural soil, and during the Japanese administration period the area was reportedly used extensively for crop cultivation and agricultural production.

One of the FSM Telecommunications Corporation communication towers is located within the village area.

Although the village appears only infrequently in colonial and ethnographic literature, TTPI-era demographic and planning records identified Towawai as one of the larger village tracts within the southern Gilman peninsula area.