Field Notes on Native Culture in Yap District
Field Notes on Native Culture in Yap District (Report). Colonia, Yap: United States Navy. 1947-01-31.
- Has attachment: File:9HXBKDV7.pdf
Abstract: (a) There ~ere no drastic changes during the month 1n the deg ree and charac tor of ac cu l tu r a t i on aChieved. I t is still difficult for the people of Y~ p to assimilat~ the fact that we a r e not here to exploit the~ and that we are r eal ly 1n earnest when we want the~ to assume the prerogatives of self-government. (b) The policy contir.ues for ancour agi ng retnntion and reviytng of i ndi-genous cust~8 insofar as they are not in confl i ct with Mi l i tary Government r egul a t i ons. Pr obabl y one of the mo st characteri s t i c phases of Yap culture ie the love for dancing. UaDy ot thei r dances a re deep r ooted from gene rations past and no one car. give definite in~ormation ae to their origin. Others haTe be~or rowed from Pona pe, the Palsus and the Marshalls. St i l l othe rs have been devised in comparatively recent yeare , and b gestures and song depict the r e cent W or l d Var or other events of this generation. To the casual spectator there is a ~arked similarity in the basic stops and gestures but they have specifi c interpretation to the people participatir~ and every dance tells its own story. Anothe r characteristic of Yap culture is the use of the AII-:len 's House. Du ring the JaF anese time all but one of th re e were destroyed. Encourage~ent for re construction of these and e ven gifts of some ~aterial is the present policy. (c) Yap people in the main are polite , cooperative and f riendly. Re lations betveen them and the ~~ericans continues to be excel lent. Uost of the chiefs a re reluctant to aS8U~e the initiative in adopting an, new plans or ideas but follow explicitly any AAerican order. ~rrorts toward p romotin~ eolf government show some pro gress but it is very slov. For so ~any 'eare Yap inhabitants have been iv~n orde rs b~~ outside ruler5 that they ex~ct to be told ~xactly what to do ar.d what not to do .
