Formative Encounters: Colonial Data Collection on Land and Law in German Micronesia
Echterhölter, Anna (December 2021). "Formative Encounters: Colonial Data Collection on Land and Law in German Micronesia". Science in Context. 34 (4): 527–552. doi:10.1017/S0269889723000042. ISSN 1474-0664.
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Abstract: explores the complex dynamics of colonial data collection practices in German Micronesia. The study is structured into several key sections that detail the interactions between colonial authorities and indigenous Pohnpeians regarding land rights and legal frameworks.
Circulating Rights to Resources: This section delves into surveys conducted on indigenous law, particularly focusing on land tenure systems in Pohnpei before and during German colonization. It discusses the methods used by colonial administrators, such as Ferdinand Jung and Arno Senfft, who documented the rotational usufruct rights practiced by a small elite, and how these were circulated through missionary and bureaucratic networks.
Self-Measurement by Pohnpei People: The article examines a cadastral survey initiated by the German administrator Kersting, which involved the indigenous population directly. This survey aimed to communicate new land plots and homesteads to the local people, effectively making them participants in the colonial administration process .
Statistical Gaps and Violent Data: The third section discusses the inherent gaps and biases in the colonial data, particularly how the act of surveying itself exerted power and control, often at the expense of local populations like the Sokehs, who were displaced post-rebellion.
The conclusion of the paper highlights the broader colonial situation where data collection activities were entwined with efforts to reshape local legal and social systems to fit colonial objectives, resulting in significant cultural and legal disruptions.
