Lamotrek Atoll and Inter-island Socioeconomic Ties
Alkire, William H. (1965). Lamotrek Atoll and Inter-island Socioeconomic Ties (Thesis). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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Abstract: The inhabitants of the many small atolls and islands of the Western Pacific rarely constitute wholly independent economic, social and political societies despite their comparative isolation from one another over many miles of ocean. Island populations in anthropological research are often studied, however, from the viewpoint that the society is synonymous with the island, but few islands of the world--even aboriginally—have been completely isolated. This thesis, which is an analysis of structure and not of content, is primarily concerned with the people of Lamotrek Atoll in the Western Caroline Islands of Micronesia. In this case, though, the society in question is not limited to this island alone, but that population which interacts in terms of a single pattern and, thus, embraces several other islands of the area as well. If the study of the social organization of this area were not defined in this broader sense and groups of islands were not treated as participating in cohesive social systems, then inter-island communication and exchange--although often reported for the area--would remain unexplained, A fundamental premise of this study is that interisland modes of interaction are of the same social structure as that which organizes activities of the residents of a single island within an interacting group. Ube rol (1962) has demonstrated the value of this approach in his recent re-analysis of the political aspects of the kula (Mahnowski 1961) and Davenport (1964) has noted the presence of similar systems elsewhere in Melanesia.
The following factors will emerge in the course of this analysis: (I) There are features of the natural environmental setting of the Western Carolines which encourage the development of a system of interisland social ties. Among such environmental characteristics are, (a) the restricted land areas of Western Caroline islands, (b) the limited range of agricultural staples available, (c) the hazards and uncertainties of marine exploitation and, most important, (d) the destructive effects of tropical storms.
Human survival on the coral islands of the Western Caro lines is precarious owing to the low elevation of the land area above sea level and the frequent ravages of tropical storms When natural disaster diminishes the food supply and threatens the survival of a population, the people often take refuge upon or seek assistance from neighboring islands and atolls with which they maintain ties of reciprocity. Lamotrek, like most other small islands of the area, is reasonably fertile under normal conditions and its resources have often supported a fairly dense population and a relatively complex local kinship, political and religious system. But destruction of resources has been sufficiently frequent for survival to have required that Lamotrek and other islands be linked by systems of _ mutual economic aid which, in turn, have involved kinship and other ties. The establishment Of inter-island bonds allows a wider distribution of economic goods, hence, a greater resource base than that available to any single island. In this way, any shortage, whether due to the individual characteristics of a particular island or to the effects of a natural disaster can be offset by dependence upon materials obtained from another 3 island within the network. If such exchange is to occur smoothly a structured means of dealing with the sitUation is necessary. The superior position of Yap among the Western Caroline Islands (which is described more fully below) is not the result of mere conquest—although this island may have used such force at times in the past-but rather of the greater abundance and reliability of its resources which have given it a prominence, in a reciprocal system.
One of the main characteristics of the social organization of these islands is flexibility in adapting to changing conditions by recognizing legitimate alternatives of action. This fact is directly related to the need of Western Caroline social organization to be adapted to an environment which might unexpectedly and rapidly change. When, later in the text, the problems of depopulation, land tenure and inheritance, interisland exchange of economic goods and personnel, and the integration of foreign influences are discussed, alternatives choices sanctioned by the traditional social organization should be evident. The particular course of action followed depends on the existing complex of circumstances. For example, the fact that normally "Course A" would prevail eighty percent of the time does not mean that "Course B", chosen the other twenty percent of the time—when altered conditions exist—is any less traditional or legitimate. A structural analysis can only be considered complete -• when it encompasses all legitimate cultural alternatives related to the complex of circumstances in which they occur.
Contact with World Powers has not yet led to any fundamental structural changes in Western Caroline atoll society. If one were to 4 assume that the traditional culture under consideration were that of a .., single island's people, then certain features of contemporary social organization on Lamotrek, for example, might be explained as changes brought about by contact with foreign powers. Thus, they would be classified as symptomatic of a break-down in traditional cultural organization. However, when the islands of the Western Carolines are viewed as components of a larger social system, where socio-economic decisions are often made on an inter-island level, many of the trends in recent cultural change are no more than adjustments to and integration of new environmental conditions through means contained within the traditional structure.
Foreign administrative influence has, for all practical purposes, replaced Yapese suzerainty over the outer islands. Contact between the outer islands and the administering government has never been frequent. The resources available in the outer islands for exploitation were not of such value or quantity as to warrant forced cultural changes by an administration. Thus, there has been no alteration in the islanders' basic reliance on a subsistence economy. The appearance of foreign administrators can be viewed as merely another environmental change--a substitution of Japanese or Americans for Yapese. Even the depopulation which occurred, directly and indirectly, because of this contact was not an event completely alien to the Western Carolinians. Conditions which often led to food and resource shortages also reduced or limited the population numbers of an island. Hence, post-contact depopulation did not result in a break-down of traditional social organization; the means for the orderly integration of such change were contained in the existing 5 social system. In summary, this analysis will show that the societies of Lamotrek, Elato, and Satawal are components in a single social system. Many of the features of the local social organization of each can only be adequately explained with reference to this larger supra-island structure and, furthermore, the processes involved in culture change, whether stimulated internally or externally, can only be understood as taking place in the context of an inter-island organization.
The Western Caroline Islands For the purposes of this thesis I shall hereafter refer to all islands from Yap to Namonutto as the Western Caroline Islands. Aboriginally, a network of outlying low coral islands and atolls was presided over by Gaga District on the volcanic Island of Yap. The Islands of Uhthi, Fats, Sorol, Woleat, Eauripik, Ifaluk, Faraulep, Elato, Lamotrek, Satawal, Puluwat, Pulusuk, Pulap, and Namonuito (Map I) were linked to Yap by a system of political, economic, and religious ties. W. A. Lessa (1950) from information gathered on Ulitht, reconstructed the system in some detail as it existed into the recent past. His article, which is primarily concerned with Ulithian-Yapese relationships, deals with the political center of the network. Lessa's analysis should be consulted for many details; for I shall only restate here those aspects of the system which directly relate to the islands at the eastern periphery of Yapese control.
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DOI: 10.2307/596488 ISSN: 00030279 MAG: 2611221336 OpenAlex: W2611221336
