ltfICRONESIAN FOLKLORE CONCEmInlG VOYAGING

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Karen M. PeacockPacific VoyagingDecember 9, 1975Dr. Ben Finney

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own culture.

Today Micronesia consists administratively of six dist~ic:sl

the ·'!arianas, Marshalls, PaIauj Ponape , Truk, and Yap. Central

brief account of the history of the islands should ~ive one rRu~e

to think of the adaptin~ that Micronesians have done in the face

An amazing resi l i ency has marked their lnt~~-of foreign intrusion. .

action with foreiRn cultures; ~icronesians have rlisrlayed an atil~ty

to accept new ideas and outlooks while' retainjng the basics of their

and schools. While Japan's concern was largely with her own

colonists, Micronesians remember wistfully the ranid econo~ic ce-velopment that occured at the time. World War II brou~h~ figh:in~

and death for rJIicronesians as Japan and the Uni ted States '1..a.~~:~j

bloody war over the islands. At the war's end the island3 beca~e

Even this

i,iicron~si an

a United nations Trusteeship administered by the U.S.

government is located in the headquarters on Sai,ari.

government has consisted of an executive branch made up of the

HiRh C~mmissioner and his staff; a le~i91ative branch of thf

Con~ress of Micronesia and district legislatures; and the tiudiciRrv,

with n High Court as well as district courts. (Or~aniz~tion of ~ov

ernment· in Briefing Materials 1974: 8-9).

Micronesia faces the twentieth century as a land of corn~lex

. problems. The great distances between islands MRkes lo~istics of

transportation and communication difficult. The variety of

cultures and languages poses serious barriers to political unity

of the Territory, A widespread educational system is ~rovidcd b~t

nrgument~~have been waged over t~~ imnlementation of A~0~ic~~ ~u~~5culu~

i~~n island setting. Through the year~ many at~~rpts ~~VC b0-~

made to adapt courS00 and materials to the uniqu& ~i~r0nesiRn

situation. In thf' nrert of h0:\lth srarvicf'S ('nnr'!1·~H3 ~trid('s h "'~'''f'

Micronesia consists of some two thousand islands scattered

across the central Pacific, an area comparable to ' the continenta~

United States in size • . The islanders form one of the three major

Intro~uction

.-Pacific ~roups, the other two being Polynesian and Melanesian.

The Micronesians inhabit basically two types of land areas, ~igh

and low isl~nds. The hi~h islands are generally volcanic in origin

with rain forests on th~ slopes and mangrove swamps near the shore.

The low islands are atolls, coral masses which are part of a

circle of reef about a lagoon (Alkire 1972t4).

Although Micronesian culture varies from island to island a

general victure may be formed of the way of life. Traditional

arts include weaving, tattooin~, sin~ing and dancing. Dress was

commonly grass skirts for women and loincloths for men, today

Western clothes are the predominant garb (for in~ormation on arts

and skills see Alkire 1972. 7-10). Christianity has replaced re-

li~ious beliefs in nature spirits, although superstitions concerning

~hosts remain a vital part of culture throughout the islands. The

co~nlex kinship system of the past still plays an important role

in most ~icronesian lives (Mason 19681 286-289). -The traditional

chiefs hav~lost a large portion of their former pow~r, but still

wC\!..ld influence.

The islands first contact with Westerners came with the Spanish

voya~ers. Spanish colonization had its most marked effect in the

~arianas where the ancient Chamorro culture was virtually destroyed.

Germany was the next occupying rower, until the consequences of

World War I "forced her out. Under e League of ~aiions mandate

Japan held the islands. This period saw the greatest chang~ with

lnr~e co Loni nl efr'ortn brjnp:in~ raved roads, bUildi.n~s, industries,

·tne · .

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b~n~ ~ak~~ to clear Ury disease. The medic91 system is made up of

dintrict center hospitals and dispensaries on outer islands. For

the Territo~y as a whole a large budget increase beginning in the

early 1960's has brought about building programs which have added

cor.~iderably to the physical infrastructure. Headquarters policy

has chan~ed over the · years of tha Trusteeship with a shift from

centralized to de-centralized authority. This has not been w,ithout

. ~roble~s. as would be true in any government or business organi-

zation. Much attention has been nlaced on developing the infrastruc-

ture of the Ter~itory. Economically the traditional source of

ca~h other than w~~e employm~nt i~the Administration has been

copra. but the recent years have seen tourism become a major cons1-

de~ation for economic develonment.

One of the most prominent areas of development in the sixties

and seventies has been. ~be work towards settlement of the future

political status of Micronesia. The Con~ress of Micronesia has a

committ~e which has conducted negoti~tions with a team from the U.S.

~hun fqr it appears that the Marianas District will form a separate

commonwealth arrangement with the United Statesl talks have been

h~ld and an agreement reached which awaits ratification by the U.S.

Con~~ess. The Con~ress of Micronesia has opted for a free assocta-I

tic" fo~ t~e other five districts, with the U.S. sup~lying an annual

budget and having the say in defense and foreign affairs but all

internal affai~s bein~ in ~icronesian hands. A minority of Micro-

nesians have spoken out in favor of independence and this has had

an influ~nce on nroceedin~s even though not the main course followed.

Much disaereement has arisen between the five districts in the

course ofnegoti~tin~ free association. A constitutional convention

h?s h~~n ~~ld and a document has bwen written which will serve as

thp. f~unctation for the Fed~rnted States of Micr~nesia. once ratified.

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. It is hoped ·.that th~ above brtef summary of rlai~rl")nr~!:iB.'!j

geography, culture, and history will set the sta~e for cXR~in~:~on

of a specific problem. that of searching Micronesian folklore :'0~

. references pertaining to voyaging. seeking thereby to l~~pn whst:.:3 1-0 '

oral tradition says i~relation to what is historically %~o\':n of

. Micronesian seafaring. A considerable amount of canoe VOY2P~~

doubtless took place in pre-contact h1icronesi~. for even "+;~ds~\·

such feats are undertaken by the remarkable navi~a~ors and s3ilo~::

of the islands. Gladwin's study of Puluwat discusses such vcy~~ir.~

at length. for example, "With such aboundin~ enthusiasm for the se~

it is evident that taking a trip to another island beco~es in q

l~ree measure an end in itself ••• Trins of one hundred and thirtv

miles are made to Satawal and one hundred and fifty ~ miles to

Truk just to get ~pecial kinds of tobacco •• ~(Gladwin 19701 1ry).

Another study concerning navigation and sea voya~ins-; is that of

D~vid Lewis. llis work includes the voyage he made with a C~rc

linian navieator from Puluwat to Sai~an (Lewis 19?Js 32). Given

this setting of a seafaring people the task was to eXJmine the

existant recorded folklore for mention of voya~ing between islands.

The writer's knowled~e of German bein~ yet at the most ele~ent~~~y

staees it was necessary to confine the search to m~nuscrirts i~

English. A great deal of folklore material is found in the writ~~~s

of German scholars, particularly that from the South Seas Ex~ri:tt0n.

Fortunately, many authors writing in English refer to the Ger~1n

texts and even give summaries 0 f folktales found therein.

In a ppr-oacn i ng a study of folklore it is essent ial to fi r s t'.define terms. "In anthropological usage, the term folklo~e ~~S C0~~

to mean myths, legends. folktales. proverbs, r!ddles, verse, 2nd

a variety of other forms of artistic expression whose m~dium ifi : ~.e

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~ " •__' """" ."__ . " ._ .__" " __ -"-_ . ' _ ... .....:.- - .. . . c •• -. . ... . _ _ • • • ~ .. . _

s~oken word. Thus, folklore can be defined as verbal art~ (Bascom

19491 v.l). While the entire spe~trum of types contained in this

definition is to be found in Micronesia, it was observed in the course

of research that only myths, le~ends, folktales, and sometimes verse

n~~tained to voyaging.

The various theories advanced in the study of folklore are many

and detailed examinationof each would encompass a lengthy paper.in

itself. To make ,mention · of them shall suffice here. The most

, common theories advanced are as foilowsl historical-geographical,

historical-reconstructional, ideological, ~unctional, psychoanalytical,

oral-formulaic, cross-oultural. folk-cultural, mass-culturai. hemis-

pheric, and contextual. The theory advanced in this paper is that of

th~ historical reconstructional folklore. In attempting to use oral

traditions as a basis for historical fact the main'problem is establishing\

the de~ree of trust which &ne can place in folklore's nistorical and

ethnological content. Arguments have raged over this point and while

so~e anthropologists reject any use of folklore, others, like the

Chadwicks, feel th~t in all great folk epics there is a possibility

of a foundation in historical fact. Regarding this question the well~

known folklorist Richard Dorson comments,

The resolution of this thorny problem liesln an analysis of eachindividual tradition accordin~ to certain criterids have the tra-diti~ncarriers resided continuously in the same locality, so thatvisible In~dmarks reinforce the story line? does the culture insti-tuticn~lize oral historians? are the tribal traditions supnortedby other kinds of evidence - lin~uistic, ethnological, documentary -and by external traditions? If such questions can be answeredaffirmatively, the preseumotionpr historical trustworthiness in-creases u (Dorsan 1972. 14). .

Another field which might seek to use folklore in examining Micro-

nesia's past is that of the ethnohistorian. Ethnohistory has become

~o~ylar in recent years and has come to refer to study of non-European

neonl es , ," Ut i lizin~ documentary, oral and archaeolop:ical sources and

the c0nceptual framework and insi~hts of cultural and soci~l anthro-

polo~, these studies a t t em ot to reconstruct th~ ;1', s t or: o~' in~L--:·:·~~ ~~ 'J:'-:

peoples befure and after European contact" (Cohen 1968: 440). Such

research is most easily made in a society where centralized colitic~l

institutions exist and often there is an actual r0le of oral hi~t )~ia~.

However, Aven when specific care is taken by a people to cres~rve ~he5~

folkloric past one finds that accounts will differ, even within SJ S~ : ~ .1

a unit as a village. Part of the difficulty lies in t r:~ f~~t th :~"'..

oral tradition is continually subject to change even as the society

it is part of changes. This very difficulty can be beneficia1 to

the researcher however, in that these aoantations refl~ct th~ C0~lii

tiona of the society under study. ' One author in this field, Vansina,

has shown that sacred formulas, names, uaetry, eeneDlo~ieg, fclk~~~p~,

myths, and le~al precendents can oe used by the ethnohi2torian. Aninvaluable aid in such work is the existence of recordin~~ of oral

tradition over a sperl of time, as is the case with the ~aori reo~le of

u ew Zealand; unfortunately, such situations ·ar e more the exceptic~ than

the rule. as is the case with Micronesia. Even those s cho l ars '~'!: :~ 5't2. ;; -

firmly i~support of ethnohistory's use of folklore would hasten to add

that it is necessary to combine this with written docum~nts. arch~e

olo~ical evidence, and lin~uistics.

The above discussion portrays the difficulties of examinin~ fol!-:lo:

with an e~e to ~leanin~ fragments of history. Let us turn to th-:: r":')-

terial for Micronesia to view the connection to voya~in~. It sho~ld

be noted in surveying the island grou~s the Marianas will be o~i:tf-j

beeau ae 0 f the His Delni c natureo f the Cham0 r rocu1 t ur E.\n 0 w i!'\ (l x i ~~ t r..nC'e ~

. !apin~amaran~i. as a Polynesian island, is also excluded from this

paper.

The first area to examine is the Gilbert Islands. fhis is o~c of

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bp.st documented island areas, thanks to the extensive work of Sir

Arthu~ Grimble incollecting Gilbertese folklore over the years. It

is possible to have a ~ore com~lete view of folklore for the Gilberts

than in most other oarts of Micronesia. The relationship between

tr.e Gilberts end Samoa is traced in the creation myths of the Gilberts.

GriMbl~discusses ~a Arean who created the ancestral tree of Samoa

~r.d went on to create Tarawa, people . it, and then create Beru ~nd

popul.at e that atoll as well. In the text of, this myth Grimble :.. I .• ~

commpnts.

Here in the native text, follows a genealogy, interpolated withhistoric comments, w:\ich traces the 11ne of Te I ...Matang down tothose descendants who migrated to the Gilbert Islands from .Samoa, and gives an ~xcellant. though short, account of thelrarrival in Micronesia' (Grimble 19221 97).

This provides an examnle of amyth which actually retains theknowledge of early mi~ration from Samoa to the Gilberts, a movement

which iriall probability took place. Another text of this same legend

is offered by a missionary who terms the main character~ Nareau,

who, " ••• made heaven a~d earth whilst still in Samoa••• When he left

Sa~o~ h~ had counted seventeen generations •• uareau lived in Tarawa

for seventy-seven generations, and then returned to Samoa with his

children~ (!1ewell 1895- 231). In the author's notes he describps

the myth as one of m~ny nroving the connection between Samoa andI

thcGilberts. In yet another of the tales of Nareau h~ and his sons

return to Samoa (from the Gilberts) and are not given their proper

share of land rightfully theirs. They thus abandon the islands and

depart for Eurooe, thus explaining the origin of the white men.

This myth is used to account for the "cleverness" of the Europeans,

in that they are descendants of Nareau (Chambers 19121 124-125).

T~e ~rav~ dan~er of taking the words of a myth literally is well--

illustrated in the case just cited. Obviously the Euro~ean venture

is a nost~contact addendum.

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In another Gilbertese myth of origin the ~ods m~~e ~e0n1~ f~0~

the dust of canoe parts. A canoe is constructed wi-th the ' aid of t ne

humans and later voya~es are made from Samoa to the Gilberts and the~~e

to Mill in the southern MarshallR. Or this myth Ch~Mb~rs says, "Tni~

tale is one of the few indications that there was more th~n c?su~l

contact between the northern Gilberts and the s out herri ···ar~~h~11 J"

(Ibid. I 219). Chambers also c1 t es Lewis' mont i on 0 f s ea-nar-k s :'fn t r.e~o...

Gilberts that point the course to Mili and Jalui t inthe Marsh~I l s , :::. n · ~

concludes that while there is no positive proof, the evidence c~rt9inlv

suggests purposeful two-way contacts (Ibid.1 220).

A different account of contact between Samoa ana the Uilberts is

that of a tale which recites the adventures of a Samoan castaway'~

children. In this tale a fire causes ,the Samoans to take to s~a i~

their canoes. A woman is ~Q..arated from the g r ouo and drifts to ~~~;j

ouit! in the Gilberts where she makes her home. later her children

travel to other islands of the Gilberts (Ibid.l.l80-181). Drift

voya~es are known even to the Micronesians of presen~ ti~es; Wfien

typhoons catch sailors in their grip they have been known to ~~ke l ~nct

fall as far off as Oki.nawa and the Philippines. It is hardly s'.1rpri~:~!·:~

that the tale makes use of this means of discovery of island ~r0U~S.

Chambers uses the catagory "historical tales" in th~ c,llection h 0

hRS made and in this section one finds p Gl1bertese tale of tro~ic

b\rds flying from Samoa to the Gilberts. The birds' owner CO~0S f~~~

Samoa to th~ Gilbert~ to instruct the neo~le 'in h~w to kill the rp~ti

cular bird devour-Ing villagers. This done the hi rd is f,lnced in a,

f!:'rave and frot coconut planted thereon cernes 'J giant whose desc endar-t s

rule d.n the manoaba , A man who refu~ed to submi t to these l~ad~r~ f'lf'n

and fro;hiS descendants come the import3r.t ~olitical faction~ ~~ 3e~~

and Tarawa (Ibid., 205). With the symbolic el~~~nt ~f the tr~=i~ bir~~

taken ' into account there is :Iet root0': historical veraei tv intI :is

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would doubtles~ apply to the following story of the ori~in of navi~atlon.

"'anv years azo two men from the west drifted ashore at ?Namorik. ~ide a lar~e jibukbuk (barrel? or other ~ter crafto). Adooted~~~Litarmelu: a wom~n of Kwajel~in, and ano~hero woma~'ofrom ,i.a.~orik. the men t aurtht t hes e women the nav~l!,atlonnl system basedon 'deflecte~ WRve ptterns. Becpusc the famIly of t~e.wom~n ofi'lmnorik mistreated the men, the~lOman re,jected her fa,"~ly und resolved

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~cco~nt ~f the formation of ~olitical fact:ons centering around

outsiee~s who aSS'Jme a p~i~ary role in the maneaba, which is central

in Gilbertese noli tics.

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Th~ ~ext groun to be examined is that in ~eopraphic proximity to

th~ G~l~n~ts, the atoll islands of the oMarshalls. In the myth of the

oripin of the sailin~ canoe and th~ acquisition of seamanship,'in-

terestin~ details are recordeds

In Bikini two men mRde the first paddlin~ canoe, which wasp~wered by a fish. The fish was killed and they drifted andpaddled to Ailinglaplap. On Ailln~laplap the 10 (12, 5) sonsof Liktanur, a chiefcss (or woman from heaven) made pa~dlin~c~roes (copvin~ the Bikini m~n) to race to the East, w~th thewi~ner to beco~e king. As each canoe set o':!t Liktanur as~ed tobe taken aboard with a largebundle she carried. E~ch son 1n ~u~nrefused, - but the youn~est. J~br? cons:-nted.to take her. The' :bundle contained sails and rlg~lng, WhiCh Llktan~r showed Jabrohow to as~~~ble. Sailin!':, they soon caup.;ht UP with and passed the~ther C2noes. but the oldest br0ther, Ti~ur, d~rnanded to be takenaboard. Takin~ a vital part of the ri ;~glng. Llktanu: and Jabroswam away, reachin~·the e~stern land. (je or Rear 1 flrst.Adorned b:1 h·s mother Jabro showed hlm~elf, and.to th~ con)sterna-tion of hls brother, Timur, was proclalmed •• (Ibld.1 94-95 •

(This might be an appropriate time to note that many of the tales

Chambers relays are from the German ethnographers, as is the case of

whi ch 1°s a vers i on collected by Kramer i,{1938.the one quoted above, --,

vlOt a l to the Marshalls and 'to all of Micronesia,The sailin~ canoe, so

i~ described in the tale. In discussion (in the seminar group) of

L d ~ n pointed out that the wom~n may stand aRthis myth, Dr. eonar ,aso

a symbol for the matrilineal clan throu~h which the knowledt'e of the

· ld be l"nheirited USA.. of the 6raft would be by men~aillngcanoe wou .-

only, as was comm~n throu~hout Micronesia. The same princiole .,., 0" .~ t .~, 0" .

with Litarmelu of Kwajelein. to keen the knowle~~e of naVi~at:~~secret. Today the peonle of northern Ral i k {l~,ar:lll to oi}l:ini F.!'Pnavi ae t or-s , while those of s outhern Halik (Ailin o~ l a :)l (:. p t') ::: ;~)~:,including Namorik) are not. Litarmelu later lived on ~ctho, ~ ~~taught navigation to a few neo~le. All nav i va t i ona l k~owLe~(; i nthe north derives from her (Chambers 1972: 220).

Chambers feels that the references above concerning navi~aticn ~~!

possibly be to actual historical fact, "although a~~y ~tte~p: to re-

construct this using 'ethnohistorical' methods bas~d on historic~l

tradti ons would need a much fi rrner base in the r ecor'ec tra~.i en : nanto be

. seems~available" . (Ibid •• 220).

A~other category of tales common in folklore throughout ~he werld

is that of the trickster, S~lch a fi~ure is Etao of the hiarshalls.

This character is constantly performing acts of malicicus mischief

and escapinR his avengers through.c~ever trick~ry. Etao's anc~stry is.

of interest in the context of this paper for it is said that h i s ~~:nt,

a turtle, came from the Gilbert Islands. This aunt, ~ijebake, in e

constant as all the different sources a~ree that she ca~e fro~ tr.e

Gilberts. ~ Indeed~the name Riven her in the Gilberts (Tabekea) and

Nauru (Dabage) are cognates of Lijebake (Ibid.s 22). Ava'" we are

presented with the connections between these isl?nd 0rou~~. Etao r~-

celves his power from this Gilbertese aunt, a fact symb~lic, n~rh~~~

of the power of the Gilbertese homeland. Indeed, it is in thp. G~lhe~t~

~hat Etao supposedly died. Chambers feels that uareau tand E-.ao r.:2.~;

have originally been one and the same, with their similar phonetic

root of au and ao, which he comnares to that well-kn~wn trickste~ of, \1\

Oceania, 1fiaui. Chambers' studies show thnt.\the !'Iar~~nalls f'oLkl orc he

surveyed, sixty-nine percent of all references to th~Gi lbert.s ·nkr . ~ l ~. (\

in Eato tales (Ibid •• 22~). Etao's many exploits include a .'tars!:H~lE'fi(l. 0tale drivin~ people away from Tarawa, perhaps a reference to batt~0s

won by the ooarshallese. Many of the Etao adventures sr~ak of trnvpls

. to other lands. For instance, Etao l?oinf~ to Pi.nr~p.lap, in Pcna ne

...hsPt, j;£Hih be ."'( : .• #

The myth of Isoh-Kelekel's son is regarded by the ~ c nR~r a n s ss atrue descriotion of hi~torical even~s, I am inclin~d to ~ cl~£~pthat some probably historical facts are c0ntRined i~' t . ~ ~ ~y ~h:that historical personages corres~ondin~ to t~~~e~c a~~ his r~~~~ts

'·did exist and the hero was the first "king" on 'U. wr:icn w~stherefore accounted to be R junior district to ~atole~iM, w~ichhis father's matrilineal heirs continue to h'ld t~ thi~ d~However, I do not I rrt end to ent er her e into t he cori r l C'~ ~ : 'J t : r nof how much of the narrative consists of traditional to l kt (1motifs and how much consists of' histori~~:i1 me~()r.'l (Finch~r ~6t1: l25-"

. 'b i

•• was called Isohkelekel •• 'l'he chi 10 became C:'i t~;::~!" 3!1d ·"!'~A·.." ~ r , n.?~athered mcnv youths about him. 1'hey nad e rr.~r:'! conoes a:... i ...... ~:i.~ c~;~on the sea in order to undertake the a cia t or :'is~in:-:' ex::od: t i on ,Then they sailed on the h i ch seas un t i 1 t~tr::y fou!:j ::,:;~?!''? . " '~:'''' : .'anchored off Pona ne until they wo r e know l eo rreaal e abcu t t~:(~ ~ ··i' ~>~r' ~~.Then they returned home a ~a in, and J. soh k e 1ek e 1 0 ~Cr?r '? C 7,:: ~~ ~. '~'t '~build a great canoe , but they were all i.~~or,~rt n'" i ~s ~1J~,:,::r~C'••since Isohkelekcl did not tell them what h~ h~~ ir min!. :~ ~i~~tdays they had finished construction. When the C2~1:)e W '~S d:~·.e, .,they traveled outs th~re were 333 men in t~~t ca~ne. T~ey ~ ~ J~n ~ ~ e ~until they carne to Pona pe , Here 'th~y f'our-n t wi t.I: th~ 3 '3.:1 r)r-~lc:';:'",captured him, and o~cuoi~d Wadolenihmw. After th1s tere wa: nolonger a Sau Deleur. The d es cendant s of 130hkp.l~r~1. v:~c :','J11 ~Df pw en Pahnmwei then became the ahnmwark i s c f !'l2..d 01 en i nm','/(Trust Territory Dept. of ~ducation 197)= 126).

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is not done and the child grows up. Wahn Lepenien, the sc~, C G ~~its

incest with his father's sister. The child of the incestuou~ union

and the son remaining as head of Madolenihmw. Th~ an~hroDolo .-ist.

John Fischer, who has studied this myth in detail, co~rnents:

grows up to challenge his father's authority and this results i!1 a

division of power, the father going off to become ~ahnmwarki of U

A tale about Isohkelekel relates a Ponapean Ordi PJS var-i ant f:Jr' Ln

it the commander's wife is told to kill her baby if it isa bey. ·:'his

cronesian navigators. The political control, if once centraliz~ct at

Han Madol, has since ~arly contact times been a fragmpnted seri~s of

ch~eftainships. The Nahnmwarkis of today clai~ d0scent fro~ l~ch~ele~el.

Geographically this adventure is ce~tainly ~o~sible for Kusaie :i~s

some :310 miles from Pona pe and Lonae r voyates havr- been mr.de b y j l , ~ -

man rescued him. Throu~h the hel~ of sea animals the we3k~r.pd

Nahnsapwe reached KURaie, where he caused a woman or/his fsmily :~

become pre~nant magically. fhis son was to seek reve~~e. ~h~ sc~

. ,t •. , '•..... -.."t" "'"

District. Observing this and other voya~es of the trickster one might

easily be led to think of certain indication of Marshallese voyages

until one happens unon the interesting story of Etao's trio to Oklahoma:

From the island of Ponape comes a curious legend of dwarfs,

••• they c~ne fro~ Yap in olden times and no one saw them. but weheard that the dwarfs settled down in the stat~ of Kitti afterc~~in~ from abroad ••• they were like men, but tHey were smaller andshorter. Their lep:s were fully tattooed I they ,had beautiful voicesand celebr~ted loudly ••• They always 1i~~d undc~ the earth (TrustTerritory Dept. of EducRtion 19731 101).

A~ain the influence of modern times is felt and recorded by the ever-

ch~~~in~ and adapt~11e folktale.

11

Since other trad~ions of voya~es cnmin~ from as far off as Yap are

known this reference may not be as outlandish'as it first apuears. On

tr.~ nature of these dwarfs this paper shall remain silent. Such creatures

are a common feature of m~ny Oceanic folktales and some r~ther outr~

theories ;have arisen to answer this nuzzle. The matter would require

extensive study before any remarks could be made.

une central point for folklore i~ Ponape is the site of the ruins

of Han &11adol . Sometimes referred to as the VenIce of the Pacific, ;.:. '

f;an ii1adol contains the ruins of a ci ty built up on artifical islands.

The buildinF,s, cour.iyards, and temPleS?f this ruined structure were

constructed with basalt rock crystals. These megalithic creations are

iM~osin~ even today; they have been the source of much speculation and

study by amateurs and experts alike. Pona pean legend has much to say

in rel~tion to the ruins. According to tradition the rulers of Nan

~~d 01 were thA Sau Deleurs. Th~ir lon~ .l i ne met its d~mtse through

defeat at the hands of an invader. This came about in the following. "-

manner. The thu~der god. Nahnsapwe traveled to the rJrt of ~an Madol

call~d Pahnkedira, and there he was seized by the evil Sau Deleur and

13

The im~ortance of Kusaie in the tale of the fall of ~Rn madol

discusses above is interesting in light of traditions of the role of

that island in an ancient Micronesian empire. Kachau is said to have

bpen the name of Kusaie, once the center of ~n empire stretching to

T~uk, Yan, ar.d the southwest islands of ~alau, including perhaps the

"ar-Lanas , 1l he founders of tb i s empire are identified by chants as

beir.~ Poluelap and Soukachau, these names possibly servin~ as titles

for a line of rulers. Poluelapwas a great navigator (see the section

on the Central Carolines concerning this figure) while Soukachau ruled

the empire. from Kachau. "The administrative center was Moen Island in

the Truk Lagoon •• The chief on Ponape. was Soufonape ••• Most informants

identified Soufonape a~~noth~r title for the Ponapean chiefs called

'S~udeleur' w~o ruled "an Madol" (Nakayama 1974: 73-74). Insuffjcient

~aterial is available to determine the accuracy of attempting to re-

constru~t the boundaries of this empire, if it existed, but the folklore

re~arding such matters from the various islands of Micronesia would

m~ke interesting study.

Central Carolines

Thus it is that today when peo nle of I f& lUK 'tr~ ·.'r:} to ',~ 1 o:'I ~~ 1 O~

~amotrek they have relatives living there. The t~lfS l~k€~~se ~x-

plain why the rank of Ifaluk people is hirrher; theirs we,re the ori~i:,·.~ i.

clans. Burrows found a victory song commorRtin~ t~~ fiaht wi~~ L~~ct~~~:

Comine UP from behind on the fu~itives,As they fled from the lagoon s uor e ,w~ will close i~on them from both sidpsAt the P u-cl-Ifalu (Burrows 1963: 77).

The nl.ae e name included is thought by the collector to !'E'fer ~tc' t r.e

Ifaluk taro swamp,a name still given to an area in the interi ~~ o~

Lamo tr-ek , While to t exts c onc e r-ni ng the battles d.., r'f't s nca k cf \'') ~·2 ..~~: S

of ~reat length this docr 1nd i ca t e the r'~ob:1ble nat'!!"e '·,f vC'yc1£: ,~~':F : :.;

Micronesia - the W!1r parties sent b:.f ~8!10~ fr0~ or o ". ~:r."_: '>':' ~; ; ~ ~ "". r ::" .

Trading would have br-en a ma j or r-eason 'f or se2fr"'~~:,:; U,'J. ttle ano t r or ,

Many song~ or ch~nts ha~e been recorded frc~ ~f~luk wh~ch cJn~rn

seafaring. On the small atolls the sea rlRY~ n m~jJr r~le in d~~:y li~0

and this is reflt:!cted in the folklore. uavie;ators are ta'J zht th ~

lore of the sea, Inc Iud i nr; inc~~ati oris such as th~3e to keep a ::··.~r~oe

from leakin~t or to ward off bad weatherl

Gnd of sea captains, come to me,Giv~ me seamanshin.Make me a wise captain.A true captain, I ... (lbid.1 100) •

Come now, Werien~,Quickly, comd to my canoe.Come fast, come ri~ht away.Take away the rain (Ibid.1 9?).

A prayer for knowledRe is tau~ht to students of navi~ation ~n w~i~~ :~p

sUDT\licanf asks,

. .Tl)is same chant cont inues and in 1ts text makes mention of the isln~'~

of Pineelap, another indication of the far-flung voyaein~ of the

CarolinianfJ. Chants have also been rp.corde(i wnit'h !~ivp ~!lili:'1~'" '·P~ 0- '-' ··~ "'~, : ;

Others are worlt songs • . Often the seafaring s ongs a~0 C 'J~7'r)~t?r1 by ...• ~ ... ,' ~..

who f'ear- for their' men' s safety on the voyar'!e and pray for the! r r e t u:. ."':.

.•.• .•, ~ t .~••: •

These islands lie between Truk and Yap Districts. For the purpose

of this paper two of the many will be examine. The greatest amount of

collected folklore available is for lfaluk and Ulithi. Turning firstI

to the island of Ifaluk cne looks to the work of Bur-rows, an anthropologist

w ·~o collected folklore on Ifaluk. Burrow's informant gave him two

stori~s of con~uests of other islands in the Centra.l Carnlinns, tre

t,p.les of the conquest of Woleai ann~r Lamotrek. Both involve canoe

voya~es from Ifaluk to each of the above places. Woleai is quite close

~y, about thirty miles away from Ifaluk, while Lamotrek is approxim~tely

150 Miles away , The tales explain that after victories w)\ich included

to~al deciMation of the ori~inal populations people from ·faluk re-

settled these islands, some going frOM each clan(Burrows 196)1 72-77).

'""W ft-;

15

S~ch a laMe~t concerni~~ a trip to lao is given below.

I told him, "If you p0, be strong.Put iron in your entrails.If you ~ust go, I'll not object,N~ matter how far it is.Some canoes thgt put out for Y~n were lost!S-:i11, if you c~n't rest he!'e. you must go" (Ibid •• 109).

This an~ient usa~e of folklorei~ in~ornorated in the needs of moder~

life as in one son~ a wo~an sin~s for a wandering son 'who hqs taken,the steaMer and gone to the Philippines and to Guam (Ibid •• 112-114).

Scannin~ the seafaring songs in Burrows one finds the following reference~

?inselap once, Wole~i three times, Elata twice, P~iRU once, Valipir on~e,

Far-aul ep four timQs. Satawn once. Ya p four "times, Phi1i ppines twice,

Gu~~ once. Truk once, Ngulu once, Aurupik once, Fais twice, Ulihti twice.

Asi.de from the Fhilipnines and G1'\:lm occurences which are trips by steamer,

~ll other is~ands mentioned ift are in the context of canoe voyagine.

These saMe songs will often name stars by which the voyage is charted.

Also frequently mentioned' are the sea marks a nav l catot- may ~t o ok for in

seer.ih~ his way:

The wind was from the north.In the o~~n sea he snw a fish,T~o · t ~ P' '' th~~ , ;Vt)~ ~,..,')~O" the reefs,A si~n that Elato was due s6uth.Hi~h 's eas were bre?kin~ ov~f the reef'Rut a ~olrlen plover flp.w by,?h~wing he was not far from land (Ibid •• 121).

Songs are also sung which celebrate the skills of~he canoe builder.

Such son~s make reference tn the workmanshiq6r the builder, to the talents

he learned from his father, to the god who first brought such skills to

men. The people of Ifaluk have myths which tell of thebrigins of the II .'. ' \4 . ~ t It ·· '.,

art of canoe bui1dinf;. A man named Galet had his wife abducted. A brother . -c ••

p~rsuaded Galgt to seek out the woman. To do this Galet needed a canoe.

The first two types made did not please him but th,special new kind with

a different forked end pleased him. Galet recovered his wife and after

th~t succe5sfull voya~e the canoemaker, Seimeligarara)taught Seilangi

the use of the measur i.nrt-d Lne and how to s na pe tfl~ c~no·: hnt~.'~~. .,,; •..'., ....

the ~ods knew how to do t~is the people on ~arth a5k~d ~o

were taught by th~~OdS to bui Id canoes' Burrows and .s ni ro: 71-?4).

Ifaluk myth explains the cominfl; of n&vi"gation skill~ also as 2i!t~

of the gods, in this case in the farm of a chart ~ive~ in gratitude

for an inexhaustible coconut. Aluluei passed th~ch~rt en to ~alu~lar,

the ~reat navigator, who spread the knowl edae amona the reo~:~:~ . (I~'i ~. : ~ (;; _ . ;~. ;11-0 '

Ifaluk's history contains recent history as well as fTlyths "of (;.~:c:~,~t:

times. In 1907 a terrible typhoon struk the island and a so~~ rec?1 :3

the famine which followed the storm's devastation. rwo other histo~'i~~~

tales recollect events from the Gennan era. ~faluk men were t~ke~ R S

laborers to Samoa and a son~ describes the return nf sl?e of thes0

one with a bride from the foreign place, who is vety homesick.

another instance, less happy, is a song of the raid by blackbiri0~s.

taking ~faluk men off to Angaur to work in the phonphate mines.

A ship comC9 to the pass •••Men Ret into a raftThey come ashore.They come tn the men's h~useWhere the people are assembled.And seize men tn take them away.

I bur~t out cryine.Sorrowing for my husband ••.Thicoconut leaf t'cr-e t e l l R a Long voyap,e for t hcm, ••

They feel the arms of the cantivesAnd chuckle with ~lee,BecRuse they are so stron~ (Bur~ows 19631 411-412).

These poign~nt lines form a vivid scene of the captured is]2n~e~s 2n~

the Gerrn~~ '1fficials. It is to be hope that more work will be dorie t o-;'~rtl\la('

collect~ folklore from other parts of Micronefir"t. Al th0!:f:h we h ·~'..·t:

doculrl~nted history of Micronesia for t ne twentl ct." century such pi eces

provide insight into the feelin~s of the indi~enous ~orulation at t~e

time.

Turnin~ to another island of the Central Carolines, we nex~ er~~~~r

. - , I ' .

- -~~ - - , ;; t,

17

h~ and his wife assume the names andidentities of palUlop and

t k t h t be The, couDle havehis wife, which the mortals a e em o.

six S0ns and~a daughter, and the boys are tau~ht canoe and hou~e

Ulithi. Here exte~give and detailed work has been done by Lessa (1961).

A cOMolex myth records the story of the patro1~od of navip,ation, I~lulwe,

F~ltllop is a god of the sky world who has seven sons. One of the sons

cn~es into conflict wit~ the others and must go to live on earth,This is the story of t~? l~~j

In an act of rcv~n~~the rat ate without sharin~.

graohic distribution which it enjoys.

The other tale of' Les sa vs collection cnos en f'or ir.cl ~lsi()!"": '. ;':'.'

deals with the sea but is of most interest because of tn e w:de :: ,:"0-

is also found in di.fferp,nt variants in r..le l ane s i a a nd Pol:Jn~:'1ia a .: 'r'/ 01.'!

as throughout Micronesia. This Lerxds ~es~a to th ~ nk that t~~~ t;..·>~ 5~ ~

old and derived from Malaysia (Ibid •• 446). Such research lead~ t c

19611 245) •. This tale'is of the trickster tyne and the vari~~ts ~re

widesnread. Malaysia claims the lar~est number of Oceanic vari?~ts ~! :

- - this tale as ovp.r two-thilds occur there (Ibid.: 262). The tr-.1e

rat to sea and puts a hole in the canoe. The c~ab walks to ~h:~~

while the rat dr-owns , Al.on > comes a turtle who saves the. ~::~t.

ungrateful rat, upon reachin~ shore, kills and eats t~e tu~t!p

crab and the rat wherein the two quarrel over s orno breadfrui t W '-, ~ cn

Lnteres tlng speculation as to possible ties between t ne ar ea s c:'" "'~l~':~<

and Micronesia i~rehistoriC times resulting in tale diffusi0~.

Lessa does not state what his study would seem to oo i nt t o, C'Jt ~\ .: ~ -, ,~ :~

mention that "'icronesian folklore does not suos t ant Iat s s e t t l era;e~~t ..,, "

P~~~ynesian drift voyage or purposefull voyages.

The vextng/problem of the routes of migration t ak en by the c c l ,)!1i~~sof the Pacific has not been rendered less t r'oub l es one bv o',a' s trcv twhich has donA little more than show distributions ~nd ~enc:lc ~n_lationships rather than moveMent. Some na;th~ are sU~~Asted fc~spocific tales and motifs but it is almost imnos~ib]~ to say ifthey are recent or early. In many instances these paths m,~ beqUite independent of themi~ratory journeys taken by the colo~i=0~ 's( I bid.: 447).

The daughter be~tns to menstruate and is cast adrift by

I~lu1we overhears navi~ational 19re while yet in the womb· and

is correct.

building.

. He r~J·ects two. types of ennoes andis born full ~rown andprecoclouS.

accepts . a t ira and sails away to create an island. L~ter in the

h b th Furabwa l· ,nredi~ts a typhoon and's ignored.s t orv one of t e ro er-s , T

Wi t h ' hi s children'althouRh he knows FurabwaiP~lOloo ~oes on the voya~e

her father, to save her from the typhoon. All but one man are lost

in the "storm and when Fur~bwai comes searching for survivors he strikes

id f th canoe Lessa foundthe Man for climbin~ in the wron~ s e 0 e •

thre~ co~nates for this tale i~~icronesia, two from lap and one from

Lamotrek. In one of the Yapese v~rsions "Pelo6lop does not drown •• He

saves himself •• drifts to ~eanoi (New Uuinea?). where is is eaten by

L ~ OJ) Lessa reports that this tale type hascannibals"( essa '199ls 1. .

b~en found only for the areas mentioned abovel Yap, Ulithi, and Lamotrek.

seem to have this myth althou~h 'it is .one of the major'Eonape does not

settin~ is three of the four versiDns. The curious absence from the

rest of :'!icronesia of 'f;his myth 1s yet more puzzlin~ in that it deals

with two well-known gods of the CRrolines. Lessa points out thata

Althou~h the myth itself has a rQstricte~a diBtrib~tlon, it con-tains three motifs widespread thr?ughout t~e Paciflci earth fromob;pct thrown on primeval water, lnexhaustlble oject, and super-n~~~ra1~g~owth. None of these are vital or diagnostic.com~onentsof the piot and have been incorporated merely.seco~darllY. Certainly,they cannot be used to help establish affinitles wlth othp.r myths(Ibid.t 105).

As regards the use of myth and legends as discussed in thi S p-=t !~er' I.(l~~;a

feels that "There are myths with historicity, but mOAt xyths a~e

ce~~ainly not historically true" (Ibid •• 454).

Yan and PRlau

Yap's past indicates much voyaRin~. 'l'his · was the arne of tho G~:-l ~

"emn1re. It Gagl1 is a district on the island of l;:\!' wh ch h~ll1 ~' (ll ~ t ! c .t L

,~..-.,;,l""''''''------- .------ -'-' . \e ..

19

domina~ce ove~ islands in the east. such as Lamotrek. Puluwat. Woleni,

Ulit~i. and Fais. amon~ others. The subject islands paid annual tribute

to Yan, and ere held to be of lower caste (Lessa 19561 67). Three

myths exnlain the ori~i~ of this relationship. One of this number is

the story of Motikitik. "Th~s is a Carolinian version of the famous

;';3.ui cvc l e of Polynesia. and has been renorted for several islands:

Pula Anna, Falau,lap, Ulithi, Fais. La~otrek; and Truk" (Ibid~: 67).

Loren brin€s food to her sons and one of the, Motikitik. finds out the

sources - her use of a magic formula by which she can descend into the

sea. [ie is able to follow her, 'but as a result she must die, and"

Motikitik faithfully carries out her burial instructions. While fishing

with his hrothers he raises an island from the sea to which hi! brothers

lay claim. They aopeal t~ their mother, wh~ decides in favor of Mo-

tikitik. Fais i~ said to be the island fished up by the hero and the

hook which did the trick~s held by Yap. If anythin~ should hapoen to

the hook, Fais would once more sink. into the ocean (Ibid. I 67-68).

Other Myths tie other islands into the pattern. Lessa feels that it

lS the use of sorcery ~nd the nressure of economics 1n trade needs

which keeps the tributes goin~ from th~ outer islands to Yap, not the

use of myth as blackmail (Ibid.: 70). .r'or the purpose of 'this study

note once "a1a i n the exist~ce of voyaging, well-verifIed in this case.

Th~ t~ib~te is, of course, brought to Yap by canoe, an ,annual trip for

Central C~rolinians.

The Yapese are well known, for their stone money. These round discs,

often six feet or more in heip:ht are · used in such cultural exchanges'.~ ...."'~ II;:'.•: ':.

as dowries andland purchases. They resemble a dOU~hut somewhat, havine

in the cente~ a hole. probably used in carrying them about. The origins

of this m~ney are told ,in a Yapese tale, wherein an old wise man takes

some men and canoes and goes orf to Palau where he finds a stone 'which

he conceives of using as a medium of exchange. He settled on the shape

full moon, bored holes in the pieces and the crew returned tn ': ~ ~

with the money. This introduced~arfare to lap. a~ all coveted :~e r ~wI

currency. ··~ny voyages to ,L.-'alau were made but often lives we 'e lo~;:

due to stormy weather or from overloaded cargoes of 'the stone c i ~C ~, ( · :::

capsizing canoes. The Pa Iauans f'ourth't with t~e Yanes e a t t h i s :~~t~~l;):~:'~ ~

but eventually settled the 'ma t t er throup:h trade wi t h t~H~ Ya~~;:r

(Christian 18981 300). Christian says that at the t~Me'of h~s ~~i :~~~

the '('a l auans Ie:]' Yapese s t ay and nua··'ry the stone, which \,,'3,3 ..t ~~ ,~ ~;

sent ' by trading schooners to Yap.(Ibid.1 300). The story of the Yar ~~~

money points to the voyagin~ undertaken by these pea ~·1.e, in a cas e

which is verified by the quarries to be seen in falau. The Mor ~ : is

still in use. it miRht be added.

Palau has always been a distinct entity without much con~act W ~~·~

other islands. "Th~ir navigation system was so~ewhat less so~hist ic~tc~

than that of other areas, and PaLauans traveled less extensive>,'. T! .~~!' i

bountiful high islands permitted them to be a more provincial reo~~€:"

(Nakayama 19741 65). This is reflected in the lack' of vof~~e~c0.s tc

voyaging in Pa Lauan folklore. An i nt er-es t i nz are? of o i scuc s i cn , ~ ':':'::0';:':"

is the topic of Palauan money. This consists of oolychro~0 bpq1~ ~ ~~n

around the neck. Pa l auan Lezenda c lai ""~he m"nev came as ~ :,,:i ft frc'~,~ lS

the gods, Aranciful illustrat ions of th is, SUCh ~s the le~p.hd fr-.".'~~

Mclekeok in w~ich a visitinR god empties th~ money fron h~s test~c~~s

(Ritzenthalerl J). One story quite possibly historicnl tells ~~ t~~

wreck of two Portugese ships and the' use of t"E' C''''l,jr. decor~iti('n r,'" : ~.:~~."

for trade by th'e survi vor-s , While such an Lnc t de nt ~,;'lY a c tua l t v

" t hAve taken place the ori~ln 9f most Palau beads i~ probably el~e~hrr~.

FOT,ce has written on this, takin~ into account th~ work d(\n~ 11" ~!'"'~'r~-

translucent crescentic prisms w !~ich form one of th~ varieti~~ o~

, , - - , ~~---

22,. '21.-----------r-----:-----------------.~---- -----..- .... ..--.-----~-.- ---.............._WAollo_....~lRss bracelets who~e nresence in southern Philippine sites with 12th

-:~ 16th cent')!".'" Asian ~~o~cpl::d.ng is well estahlished" (Force 1959: 44).

Force ~oes on to conclude that future investigation would be decessary

to rev~al the ultimate so~rce of the materials and explain the route by

which thp.y c~me to Aalau. Unfortunately this has not yet been attemoted.'1~

Folklore is sadlylackine in any aid at ~ll in this matter but th~ugh

othe~ t001s t~p. ~nthropolo~igt ~;"hT yet establish the path of COMmerce

which may he the source of the leads.

ya~ also knows these beads and there folklore is a bit more plausible

at . o r i ~ i ns . Besides tales of the beads co~ine as heavenly eifts the YapesG

~1~o tell of Yapese canoes being driven off course on a return·trip from

SaiPRn. The ty~hoon is said to have caused the canoes to reach kiwan

(~aiwan) whe~e the tapese fou~ht off attackers and returned to their

h~~c~ with the beads as booty. (de Beauclair 196Bt 3). ·et another tale

says that a canoe with o~e-high end and a rectangular sail came to Yap

and ~ave the chief be~ds in return for ~eing allowed ashore. These

beads were used by the chief as trade items whenever Y~pese canoes set

out to sea. on long; voyaaes . (Ibid. I 4).· ~ "T h e Yapese are even said to

have used the beads in tra4e with the Palauans. , De Beauclair ar~ues

f0r a source throu~h inter-island barter, from early Chinese settlers

in the Phillnnines to Yap and Palau. If ·the beads did indeed travel in

this fashion yet another cate~ory of voyaging and geographic knowledge

could be added to the prehistoric seafaring world of the Yapese.

Conclusion

The ~icronesian heritage of voyaging is evident in the folklore of

the islands. This has been shown. However, the traces of this travel

in the tales of Micronesia is scattered. It appears in the mention of

i~land names in the travels of mythic figures. The natural island concern

w~th the sea and canoes i~ seen in story after story, with the ocean

as a waterway of commerce and a source of adv~nt'.;;~. , 8 r.r ov i r> :~:'.~; ';.

of manhood. These Micronesian p:leanin~s do not c orrcar-e to ~hp. . ".~ . ~ .: .. :.! ~ : : ! ',

le~end sources. Akerhlom's examiniation of astroncmy and navi~~ti-n

utilized folklore and with re~ard to ~icronesia's sources he gE~S:

There is no Micronesian equivalent of the rich Polynesi~n t~~dit~ c ~~and myths, this means that it is not possible to rresen: a r:c:~~eof the orieinal beliefs concerninp the universe an~ t he ht? ~.V i"~: vbodi~s, as was the case wi th Polynes in. In add i t i cn , th'.'~,~ ~:"-e- ' r~(dota i l ed voyagin~ t r xadt t ons which can ur-ov i de a ba s i s fC'f ·· ~.~ ~ ~ s cussion of nav i.rrat Lona I methods and of the extent 81" t ho ~~,, :~ v ...,:..~~. >.~(Akerblom 1968, 101).

This lack of enic tra~ltions such as those found in Folyn~sie j ~~ 3

indeed make the work difficult. yet even in thi~ ~rief survey att ~~~~ ed

by an amateur much material has been discovered. It requires a sc~ ~ l ~r

of folklore to turn his attention to the matter.

Attempts have been made to use the oral tradi tlons of liEcror.€'s~:;. in

historical reconstruction. The e xamnl e referred to is that of 1':~ ·.1 de· ~

work on the Gil~~)ertese boti (1963). fle points out the h i snor t ca) s ons e •

held by the GilbertesT, a necessity in a society whe~e oral traditi~n3det~rmine one's place in social and economic life (~aude 1963. 5).

While Maude acknowledges the diffic~lties in usin~ traditional ~~teri21

to reconstruct the remote past he points to the value of narratives

within the last hundr~d years or so to the ethnohistorian (lbict.~· 5).

This material can often be checked wit}) documentary eVidenc~, and thus

rendered the more valuable. In most of Micronesia little h~s been d :)~e

with the m0re recent folklore. Collections ten~ to be focused O~ ~yt~01~~

and deed of early ancestors. Yet legends do exist re~ard inG ,..-f'-~.._.,...i~~ ,... ~~.....:.-; -'" I

the events of this century, such as tne Ponapean rebellion R ~ainst

.: -t he Germans. Earl.:!ier in this naper reference was made to such an ex-

amnla in the case of the Ifaluk islanders recollections of .b l a ~ k 'J i rd i r:?'

by the Germans. It i~ not 'known to what extent "recent" f~lklc~e ex~s!s

concernln~ canoes and voyaging. Further study ~u~t be att~ rrtA~. ~0

do know already that navi~ation lore, .much of it in folkloric rff~re~~r f5

.wr' . .- .'- __ , _._ .. _ __ ._ _-_ _._.- ----_ _------_._.--;- --_.__ ._.__.-------- ----.~ _.- ' .._-2J

.._..- ..- ..-_....._ . _ ..........-............-.1-...._

s uc ceeded irf'_J.ldi':1_~ nav i va t or-s to distant shores.. ~r.·..-'

This was shown inAtrip

't' ....,..\t .~~.: •

..LJp.wis took fr~m Pu l uwat to Sai nan. This sparked a "renaissance" in

voya~ing. with the Satawalese making trips to Saipan (McCoy 197JI 356-

357). Even now folklor~ may be arising concerning this rebirth of the

old voya~in~ tradtion.

Ro~~~ Mitchell makes the point that in dealing with the history of

a nonliterate neople. such as the Micronesians, the scholar cann9t afford

to bynass a~y source of ·i nf or ma t i on . Mitchell looks to the short-term -

hLst orv , or mi cr-ch is t orv , as he calls it!tv1itchell 1970135). He proposes

e~a~i~ing histories of small grouns and moving up the chain of relatlonshif~

unti ~ approachin~ islRnd to island affairs. ~thnographic works rich in

tr~ditional lore, such as Kramer's study ., could be used for historical

research. "The situation requires only the awakening of interest and

the ch~nneling of ener~y to develop from tradition and the scattered

docu~~ents the still imnort~nt story of the at times painful transformation

of tr.ese societies as their contacts with conlony-seeking countries grew

from the s~or&dic to the sustained" (~bid.1 41).

It is difficult to assess just what can be said regarding the extent

of the relation between Micronesian seafaring and the oral traditions

which speak of this voyaging. However, the need for continued research

is presslnp. Already the Conp.-ress of Micronesia has had occasion tof

search the recorded lore, lo~kin~ for material to use in, the matter of

law of the sea. The navigational methods, voyages undertaken, trade

contacts, island emoires - all these and the legends referring to them

were used in comoilin~ a committee report on the basis for Micronesian

claiMS to ocean areas. In this regard folklore has entered into a dispute

of international proportions (wittness the United Nations involvement

in this question). The formation now in process of the creation of the

Federated States of ~icroncsia is an attemnt to hold to~cther in 'a

c~n~ederacy the districts of Micronesia tWith the exception of the Mariana~)

new and revived interest in folklore. One of the ~ro~dest ~~~ts

of the Micronesian herita~e is that of the nRvi~2tors and sailo~~

of her wide seas. ~It i~ time tfiftt scholirs~concern~dwith t~e i~l~n~s

turned to the oral traditions to assess what h i s t or-Lci t y is, ,''.:~:er·~,

for voyag'Ming and trade in days ~one by and for t l.e m:,'rn.id~~!O·f C~ : . . : ~'

matters covered in folklore. What ca~ be used mIst be garnered, f ~r

.t he day of oral tradition is near~ing its end z . ~ in many r•.Lcr-ones i a n....\.,. -,

islands, and the time for collectin~ is drawing to a fir-ish.

t,

, ' . . ' . • ~ _ . :. , J , I

• I q •

·- te-··25

References Cited

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Karen M. Peac ockPacific VoyagingDecember 9, 1975

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