Chuuk - Late Truk

in squared kilometers The islands were united under a common government in the colonial period: ’The name Chuuk means “high mountains” in the Chuukese language, one of several Malayo-Polynesian languages that are used in the islands. The Chuuk Islands, which form part of the eastern Caroline Islands, are encircled by a barrier bank composed of some 85 sand and coral islets. The bank (often referred to as a reef) encloses a lagoon 822 square miles (2,129 square km) in area and has a diameter of some 40 miles (65 km). Chief islands of the group are Weno (formerly Moen), Tonoas, Fefan, Uman, Uatschaluk (Udot), and Tol. The islands were sighted by the Spanish explorer Álvaro Saavedra in 1528. They were visited occasionally by 19th-century traders and whalers and were included in the German purchase of parts of Micronesia from Spain (1899). Annexed by Japan (1914) and strongly fortified for World War II, the islands (known as the Truk Islands until 1990) were heavily attacked, bypassed, and blockaded by the Allies during the war. The sunken hulls of Japanese ships remain there, along with ruined weapons and fortifications on land. Together with the other islands in what are now the Federated States of Micronesia, the Chuuk group was part of the U.S.-administered United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947 to 1986.’ ^[1] The islands cover a land area of 127.2 square km: ’The high islands of the Chuuk group have mangrove swamps along their coasts, as well as rainforests in the central mountainous areas. The native people are Micronesians who fish, raise pigs and poultry, and grow taro, breadfruit, yams, and bananas. Copra is the chief cash crop. The islands are popular with scuba divers, who come to explore the lagoon’s shipwrecks, many of which have become foundations for new reef growth. The largest urban area is on Weno; the rest of the population resides mostly in traditional villages scattered around the islands. Chuuk has a commercial dock and an international airport, both located on Weno. Total land area 49.1 square miles (127.2 square km). Pop. (2010) 48,654.’ ^[1]

[1]: http://www.britannica.com/place/Chuuk-Islands

people. ’In 1947 Chuuk’s population was about 9,200. By 1988 it was more than 35,000 with a density of about 385 persons per square kilometer.’ ^[1]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

levels. SCCS variable 157 ’Scale 9-Political Integration’ is coded as ‘2’ or ’Autonomous local communities’. According to Ethnographic Atlas variable 31 ’Mean Size of Local Communities’, the Trukese possess groups of ’3’ or ’100-199’, smaller than 200-399, 400-1000, any town of more than 5,000, Towns of 5,000-50,000 (one or more), and Cities of more than 50,000 (one or more).
1. Colonial Posts and Towns
2. Villages and Hamlets

levels.
1. Mediums, Diviners, and Healers as well as other Ritual Specialists
’Ritual practices were conducted by their own specialists. They included spirit mediums, breadfruit summoners, fish summoners, healers, masters of spells, masters of sorcery, builders, navigators, diviners, and most importantly the masters of magic and ritual relating to war and politics. Their knowledge was private property passed down to their children and junior lineage mates.’ ^[1] ’Major ceremonies were those associated with death, communicating with good souls of the dead, summoning breadfruit, and making food presentations to chiefs. Ritual was also associated with divination, curing, warfare, political meetings, house building, and courtship.’ ^[1] Mediums communicated with the dead: ’In traditional belief, spirit beings were widely distributed in the sky, under the sea, and on land. The important places among spirit lands in the sky were: a region under the dome of Heaven, home of the gods who could take human form; a region in the south from which came all the plant and marine life that gave people food; and a region named ’Achaw’ or ’Kachaw,’ abode of the ancestors of many Chuukese clans and particularly of the clans associated with the chiefship and the special bodies of magical lore from which chiefly power derived. Spirits could accomplish their intentions at will and were thus the source of all that was MANAMAN (mana), such as efficacious spells, medicines, and rituals. Good souls of the dead were consulted through mediums. The Chuukese also invoked in spells the spirits inhabiting the dome of Heaven, presided over by ’Great Spirit,’ and the spirits associated with particular crafts and major bodies of lore.’ ^[1] Diviners, Healers, and Mediums were involved in the treatment of illness: ’Sickness was believed to result from the ’bite’ of a malevolent spirit, or of any other spirit one had offended or that was controlled by a ritual specialist one had offended or by a sorcerer. Sickness might also result from soul loss. In all but the latter case, treatment involved the use of medicines to be applied externally, to be drunk, or to be inhaled. For soul loss, a spirit medium was consulted to help find and restore the soul. Divination was used as a diagnostic aid in cases of severe or prolonged illness. Massage was used to treat bruises, local infections, and muscle ailments.’ ^[1] Diviners accepted payments from apprentices in exchange for secret knowledge: ’There are systems of knowledge which are subject to special rules of their own. [Page 56] For example, to learn knot divination a pupil must pay the diviner ( sowupwe) even if the latter is his own father or mother’s brother. An jitag (a sort of lawyer, general, diplomat and orator all rolled into one, who occupies the most prestigeful position in Trukese society) is alleged never to teach his own children as much as he teaches his sister’s children. This contention does not, however, appear to be supported by the genealogical connections of the past jitag of Romonum Island. Despite special rules governing specific forms of incorporeal property, their over-all organization is analogous to that of corporeal property and does not require a new conceptual framework to make them intelligible.’ ^[2] Spirit mediums were an exception to this rule, as their expertise did not rely on knowledge per se: ’All religious practitioners as well as craftsmen and magicians are owners of the knowledge necessary to exercise their specialties. The Trukese make no distinction between them and other skilled personnel. There is one important exception to this rule, the spirit medium ( wäättwa or wään ëny). His (or her) position is not based on knowledge so much as on having been possessed by a spirit. This spirit is in no way classed as the medium’s property, nor can it be inherited automatically by a son or lineage mate. The position of a spirit medium, therefore, is different from that of a property holder, except as he uses his abilities to diagnose illness.’ ^[2] As a result of missionary activities, Christianity spread quickly in the 20th century: ’After 1900 Christianity became well established in most major centres in Micronesia. For the most part, traditional religions ceased being practiced in their full original form, although in Yap and some atolls of the central Carolines, traditional religion continued to be practiced until the middle of the 20th century. Missionaries and travelers recorded descriptions of certain aspects of the island religions, but there is no complete and systematic account.’ ^[3] ’The main island is Toloas. On it lie: the government station (Witetun), the main station of the Catholic ( O[unknown]omenau) and of the Protestant ( Kutua) missions. The landmark of Poloas is the legendary mountain of Tolemuan (peak of the man). The small island of Eten, on which was to be found the seat of the Jaluit Company, is also under the head chief of Toloas.’ ^[4] ’Before the Spanish Government had gained sufficient influence in the islands, the people of Truk lived under the rule of numerous petty chiefs who were constantly engaging in inter-district and inter-island warfare. In Spanish and German times, Catholic and Protestant missionaries Christianized and subdued the warlike tendencies of the population, but many of the old suspicious attitudes still show in present-day culture patterns. The numbers of Spanish and Germans who came to Truk at any one time were relatively small; they left their mark on the people in the folklore, in the religion and in the alphabet which they applied to the Trukese language, teaching the people to read and write. It was left to the Japanese to make the most impression on the native economy.’ ^[5] We have coded for native specialists rather than missionaries for the time being.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 55

[3]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

[4]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 247

[5]: Fischer, Ann M. 1950. “Role Of Trukese Mother And Its Effect On Child Training”, 7

levels.
1. District and Head-Chiefs;
2. Local Headmen and Sub-Chiefs;3. Groups of Armed Men or Citizen-Soldiers
There were no troops or police forces : ’There were no police. A chief’s brothers or sons might act on his behalf to intimidate or attack someone who had offended him. But it was control of magical power, either by the chief or one his brothers or sons, that made improper conduct liable to punishment. Major craft specialists could also make ill those who violated the taboos of their craft. Finally, members of chiefly lineages and their close associates were likely to have knowledge of sorcery. All such knowledge gave punitive power to chiefs and important specialists. People stressed maintaining the appearance of propriety in behavior so as not to give just cause for offense.’ ^[1] Prior to ’pacification’, violent conflict played out in raids and battles between rival groups of armed men: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’ ^[1] Competition between rival chiefs over the control of land and people was a major factor: ’Traditional Micronesian life was characterized by a belief in the stability of society and culture. People suffered occasional natural disasters, such as cyclones or droughts, but their goal after encountering one of these was to reconstitute the previous state of affairs. Wars occurred in most areas from time to time, mainly at the instigation of competing chiefs. At stake was the control of land—a limited resource—and followers, but there were usually few casualties. Living in small communities on small territories, Micronesians learned to adjust to their neighbours, to remain on good terms with most of them most of the time, and to develop techniques of reconciliation when fights did break out. Micronesians traditionally depended on the cultivation of plant crops and on fishing in shallow reef waters. Because arable land was in short supply for the relatively dense population, Micronesians had a strong practical basis for their attachment to locality and lands. Land rights were usually held through lineages or extended family groups, often backed up by traditions of ancestral origins on the land.’ ^[2] Conflict among chiefs and their followers did not terminate entirely with ’pacification’, although the population was disarmed in the early 20th century: ’In 1904 the disarming of the Truk people was undertaken by the “Kondor.” There were 436 guns and 2,531 cartridges confiscated. For better control the government appointed six head-chiefs, banished some swashbucklers who did not want to submit, and turned out the Japanese. With this a peaceful development was initiated. The missions (Protestant mission since 1879, Catholic mission since 1912) were able to work undisturbed. Unfortunately, the German government took little notice of Truk, since it was too preoccupied with the other islands. Yet many things were accomplished. Under the last director of the station, A. Überhorst, the lagoon was given new impetus in every respect. The relationship between officials and the population was usually a good one, under Mr. Überhorst even a cordial one. Anyone who was on Truk in those years certainly did not see any bad treatment of the natives. Much was done also with regard to health; in particular Dr. Mayer and his wife traveled from island to island without rest in order to take care of the sick. If during the Japanese occupation a young naval officer was not ashamed to assert that the Germans had done nothing for the islands, anyone who lived on the islands during the Japanese period can only say from the heart: “God protect the poor Truk people under the Japanese.”’ ^[3] ’On the main islands the German government introduced head chiefs (somol lap) who carried the flag. There were six of them, one each on Poloas, Uman, Fefan, Wöla, Udot, and Pol /Pul/. The smaller islands likewise belonged to the sphere of power of the head chiefs. But even this institution could not link the tribes together within themselves or with one another. Some of the lower chiefs sympathize with the head chief for egotistical reasons; others fight against him violently for the same reasons. One who is with him today might be against him tomorrow because he somehow stepped on his toes. It is often enough for the subchief to fight the head chief if his neighboring chief supports him. Thus the picture is constantly changing. [Page 125] There is a continuous, sometimes quiet, sometimes open, warfare of the subchiefs against the head chiefs, the lower chiefs among themselves, the common people against the chiefs. The main reason for this disagreeable phenomenon is the limitless egotism of the Truk people. Everyone strives more or less to be something of a chief also. Strong families who do not like the chief attempt to isolate themselves and choose one from their midst. In addition to this, there are also old family enmities and disputes about land. It is obvious that the islands will never be able to achieve peaceful development in this manner. It is difficult to say who is most to blame for it. In any case the chiefs are not to be pitied, because they behave themselves accordingly. They are to be blamed mostly for the exploitation of the people, their corruptibility, and partiality. Many of them unhesitatingly accept money and objects and help the giver, no matter how many times he is in the wrong.’ ^[4] The colonial governments stationed troops on the island, but it appears that natives were not recruited into the Japanese military: ’Despite the large immigration of Okinawan fishermen under the Japanese, all of whom have been repatriated, and despite the presence of 35,000 troops and laborers during the war, the native social structure remains fundamentally unchanged from aboriginal times. This is probably due in no small part to the fact that Truk has been spared the ravages of depopulation. It has also been helped by the Japanese prohibition, continued by the United States, against purchase of land from natives by foreigners. Aside from the small area on which the administrative garrison is presently housed, the Trukese continue to use all the lands which they traditionally exploited. Every native community that existed in 1900 appears still to be intact. Despite the discontinuance of warfare, an almost complete conversion to Christianity, a high proportion of literacy, and considerable modification in technology, Trukese society is still a vigorously going concern, its pattern of organization little changed by the events of the past 50 years.’ ^[5] ’During World War II, many Micronesian islands were heavily contested; major military engagements took place between Japanese and American forces in Palau, Guam, the northern Marianas, Chuuk (then known as Truk), the Marshalls, and parts of the Gilberts. The war inflicted great suffering and left the regional economy in shambles. Infrastructure and property had been destroyed, food shortages were widespread, and many people had been displaced. As recently as the early 21st century, reminders of the war remained omnipresent. Chuuk’s lagoon, for instance, holds an entire Japanese fleet that sank in 1944. Complete with human skeletons, dishes, and even fighter planes and tanks that had been tied on deck, the fleet has been declared an underwater museum and has become a popular tourist destination.’ ^[2] This remains in need of further confirmation. We have provisionally coded for ’native’ military organization rather than colonial troops.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

[3]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 253

[4]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 124

[5]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 26

levels. (2) Overall community headmen (1) Segmentary community leader. SCCS variable 76 ’Community Leadership’ is coded as ‘4’ or ’Dual/plural headmen’. SCCS variable 237 ’Jurisdictional Hierarchy Beyond Local Community’ is coded as ‘1’ or ’No levels (no political authority beyond community)’. According to the Ethnographic Atlas’ variable 33 ’Jurisdictional Hierarchy Beyond Local Community’ was ‘1’ or ’No levels (no political authority beyond community) (.0)’.
1. Colonial Administration
2. Head-Chiefs or Island Chiefs and native Petty Officials3. District Chiefs4. Village and Lineage Headmen
The Chuukese/Trukese were divided into multiple clans and lineages: ’Chuuk’s population is divided into a number of dispersed, matrilineal clans. Within any one district the several lineages are usually but not always of different clans. There are also personal kindreds. As a principle of clan and lineage membership, descent is matrilineal, but otherwise kinship is reckoned bilaterally.’ ^[1] ’The domestic unit was an extended family, based on the women of a lineage or sublineage. It consisted of at least one experienced older woman and two more younger women of childbearing age together with their husbands. Unmarried sons and brothers slept apart in their lineage’s meeting house. Extended family households continued through the periods of foreign administration.’ ^[1] District chiefs were chosen from the dominant lineage of an area: ’In each district the lineage with title to its space held the chiefship. The several lineages with full or residual title to plots of soil had full residential rights. Lineages with only provisional titles to plots of soil in grant from other lineages had only conditional residential rights. Lineages with full residential rights maintained symbolic hearths where, with their client lineages, they prepared food to present to the chief in recognition of his lineage’s ownership of the space.’ ^[1] ’A district chiefship was divided between the oldest man in the senior female line in the chiefly lineage and the oldest man in the lineage generally. The latter was executive chief, or "chief of talk," and the former symbolic chief, or "chief of food." Food presentations were made to the symbolic chief. Sometimes the symbolic and executive functions fell to the same individual; often they did not. The symbolic chief was surrounded by his lineage brothers and by his sons, who acted as his agents. These followers and his sisters and daughters were of chiefly rank, distinct from commoners. Through conquest, a lineage might gain the chiefship in more than one district and establish a junior branch as the chiefly lineage in the conquered district. The now subordinate district rendered food presentations to the superordinate one. Most districts were linked in two rival leagues based on competing schools of magic and ritual relating to war, politics, and rhetoric. A chief’s authority derived from two things. His lineage’s ownership of the district’s space entitled him to presentations of first fruits at stated times of the year. More importantly, it gave him authority over the conservation and use of the district’s food resources. His authority also derived from his connection with the sky world, its gods, and their superhuman power to accomplish purposes. There was, therefore, a degree of sacredness associated with chiefs.’ ^[1] Traditionally, authority did not extend beyond the atoll and was shared among multiple chiefs on one island. Chuuk was somewhat more fragmented than other Micronesian societies: ’Throughout most of Micronesia the maximum independent autonomous political unit was the high island or the atoll, often subdivided into more than one polity. At the time of European contact, Satawan Atoll in the Mortlocks had four separate communities, each with its own leader, which sometimes fought one another. Palau had two confederations of villages or districts, each independent of the other, and the villages themselves had considerable autonomy. Pohnpei had five petty states, although traditions of a unified rule for the whole island are apparent from an earlier period. Chuuk was extremely fragmented politically, with several independent communities on each of the six larger high islands. The Marshalls and the Gilberts had larger polities and integrated groups of separate atolls under a high chief; these expansionist states achieved their fullest development after the introduction of firearms by Europeans.’ ^[2] There was a degree of differentiation between chiefs and ritual specialists: ’No regular religious duties were attached to the chief’s office. They were performed, instead, by various specialists. A chief was concerned, however, that the proper specialists [Page 144] engage in their respective activities at appropriate times, at least when the welfare of the entire district was involved. He also used to set the times for dances, which were a popular form of entertainment before the missionaries banned them.’ ^[3] The colonial governments appointed a number of head-chiefs and superimposed a colonial administration onto the native system: ’In 1904 the disarming of the Truk people was undertaken by the “Kondor.” There were 436 guns and 2,531 cartridges confiscated. For better control the government appointed six head-chiefs, banished some swashbucklers who did not want to submit, and turned out the Japanese. With this a peaceful development was initiated. The missions (Protestant mission since 1879, Catholic mission since 1912) were able to work undisturbed. Unfortunately, the German government took little notice of Truk, since it was too preoccupied with the other islands. Yet many things were accomplished. Under the last director of the station, A. Überhorst, the lagoon was given new impetus in every respect. The relationship between officials and the population was usually a good one, under Mr. Überhorst even a cordial one. Anyone who was on Truk in those years certainly did not see any bad treatment of the natives. Much was done also with regard to health; in particular Dr. Mayer and his wife traveled from island to island without rest in order to take care of the sick. If during the Japanese occupation a young naval officer was not ashamed to assert that the Germans had done nothing for the islands, anyone who lived on the islands during the Japanese period can only say from the heart: “God protect the poor Truk people under the Japanese.”’ ^[4] ’On the main islands the German government introduced head chiefs (somol lap) who carried the flag. There were six of them, one each on Poloas, Uman, Fefan, Wöla, Udot, and Pol /Pul/. The smaller islands likewise belonged to the sphere of power of the head chiefs. But even this institution could not link the tribes together within themselves or with one another. Some of the lower chiefs sympathize with the head chief for egotistical reasons; others fight against him violently for the same reasons. One who is with him today might be against him tomorrow because he somehow stepped on his toes. It is often enough for the subchief to fight the head chief if his neighboring chief supports him. Thus the picture is constantly changing. [Page 125] There is a continuous, sometimes quiet, sometimes open, warfare of the subchiefs against the head chiefs, the lower chiefs among themselves, the common people against the chiefs. The main reason for this disagreeable phenomenon is the limitless egotism of the Truk people. Everyone strives more or less to be something of a chief also. Strong families who do not like the chief attempt to isolate themselves and choose one from their midst. In addition to this, there are also old family enmities and disputes about land. It is obvious that the islands will never be able to achieve peaceful development in this manner. It is difficult to say who is most to blame for it. In any case the chiefs are not to be pitied, because they behave themselves accordingly. They are to be blamed mostly for the exploitation of the people, their corruptibility, and partiality. Many of them unhesitatingly accept money and objects and help the giver, no matter how many times he is in the wrong.’ ^[5] Head-chiefs or island-chiefs resolved disputes that could not be settled on the village level: ’The Germans set up a single chief over each island, or in Truk proper, over each large island with its satellites. One of the functions of this single chief was to settle such land disputes as could not be settled at the village level in order to prevent the outbreak of intra-island warfare.’ ^[6] The colonial administration established itself on Toloas: ’The main island is Toloas. On it lie: the government station (Witetun), the main station of the Catholic ( O[unknown]omenau) and of the Protestant ( Kutua) missions. The landmark of Poloas is the legendary mountain of Tolemuan (peak of the man). The small island of Eten, on which was to be found the seat of the Jaluit Company, is also under the head chief of Toloas.’ ^[7] ’The Japanese, like the Germans, divided the Carolines into administrative districts governed from centers located on some of the more populous high islands. Under the Japanese, Truk—more specifically Dublon or Tolowas Island—was established as an administrative center. (Previously, under the Spanish and Germans Truk had been governed, rather nominally, from Ponape, 380 miles to the east).’ ^[8] In the Japanese period, schooling was introduced, producing a small Chuukese elite of petty officials: ’The purpose of the schools for natives, judging from both reported policies and the Japanese school regulations was to civilize the natives and make them into loyal and economically useful citizens of the Japanese empire. While there was theoretically no limit to the higher education which the native child with sufficient ability and financial support might obtain, in actual fact only a minority of Trukese children attended the fourth and fifth grades, and only a minority of those completing fifth grade obtained further education at the vocational schools. Apparently no Trukese native obtained any academic education beyond fifth grade, except incidentally along with vocational training. The system was geared in effect to produce a supply of general laborers and domestic servants who understood the Japanese language, plus a small elite of skilled laborers and petty officials.’ ^[8] Fischer also speaks of ’magistrates’ and village chiefs, although their relationship to the above categories is somewhat unclear: ’The chiefs who receive these food presentations and feasts may not be the elected magistrates. If the magistrates happen to be also hereditary village chiefs, they receive such presentations, but only from their own village and not from the whole island. Most islands, even the outer islands, have at least two villages, and the larger island of Truk has a dozen or so each. Usually the village chief is a member of the chiefly clan who has been chosen for personal ability and not for seniority. This tendency is by no means universal.’ ^[9] Expert feedback on this is needed.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

[3]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 143

[4]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 253

[5]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 124

[6]: Fischer, John L. 1958. “Native Land Tenure In The Truk District”, 205

[7]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 247

[8]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

[9]: Fischer, John L. 1958. “Native Land Tenure In The Truk District”, 209

Prior to ’pacification’, violent conflict played out in raids and battles between rival groups of armed men: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the losing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principal weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’ ^[1] Competition between rival chiefs over the control of land and people was a major factor: ’Traditional Micronesian life was characterized by a belief in the stability of society and culture. People suffered occasional natural disasters, such as cyclones or droughts, but their goal after encountering one of these was to reconstitute the previous state of affairs. Wars occurred in most areas from time to time, mainly at the instigation of competing chiefs. At stake was the control of land—a limited resource—and followers, but there were usually few casualties. Living in small communities on small territories, Micronesians learned to adjust to their neighbours, to remain on good terms with most of them most of the time, and to develop techniques of reconciliation when fights did break out. Micronesians traditionally depended on the cultivation of plant crops and on fishing in shallow reef waters. Because arable land was in short supply for the relatively dense population, Micronesians had a strong practical basis for their attachment to locality and lands. Land rights were usually held through lineages or extended family groups, often backed up by traditions of ancestral origins on the land.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward and Skoggard 1999) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E.

[2]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

’Ritual practices were conducted by their own specialists. They included spirit mediums, breadfruit summoners, fish summoners, healers, masters of spells, masters of sorcery, builders, navigators, diviners, and most importantly the masters of magic and ritual relating to war and politics. Their knowledge was private property passed down to their children and junior lineage mates.’ ^[1] S’All religious practitioners as well as craftsmen and magicians are owners of the knowledge necessary to exercise their specialties. The Trukese make no distinction between them and other skilled personnel. There is one important exception to this rule, the spirit medium ( wäättwa or wään ëny). His (or her) position is not based on knowledge so much as on having been possessed by a spirit. This spirit is in no way classed as the medium’s property, nor can it be inherited automatically by a son or lineage mate. The position of a spirit medium, therefore, is different from that of a property holder, except as he uses his abilities to diagnose illness.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward and Skoggard 1999) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E.

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 55

Prior to ’pacification’, violent conflict played out in raids and battles between rival groups of armed men: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the losing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principal weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’ ^[1] Competition between rival chiefs over the control of land and people was a major factor: ’Traditional Micronesian life was characterized by a belief in the stability of society and culture. People suffered occasional natural disasters, such as cyclones or droughts, but their goal after encountering one of these was to reconstitute the previous state of affairs. Wars occurred in most areas from time to time, mainly at the instigation of competing chiefs. At stake was the control of land—a limited resource—and followers, but there were usually few casualties. Living in small communities on small territories, Micronesians learned to adjust to their neighbours, to remain on good terms with most of them most of the time, and to develop techniques of reconciliation when fights did break out. Micronesians traditionally depended on the cultivation of plant crops and on fishing in shallow reef waters. Because arable land was in short supply for the relatively dense population, Micronesians had a strong practical basis for their attachment to locality and lands. Land rights were usually held through lineages or extended family groups, often backed up by traditions of ancestral origins on the land.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward and Skoggard 1999) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/5IETI75E.

[2]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

In some districts, events pertaining to local governance continued to be held in meeting-houses in the colonial period: ’All the old lineage meeting houses of Romonum are gone today. All over Truk, however, every district still maintains at least one meeting house. Women enter them more freely now than they used to, because the unmarried men no longer sleep there. The latter now go to sleep in the houses of non-taboo relatives. Several unmarried men may together occupy a small hut for sleeping purposes, the hut being built in the style of an jimw rather than of an wuut. The district meeting house is still the place where the men sleep before a ball game or track meet. Guests are still entertained there, and it still is the place for feasts and district meetings. All local governmental functions are carried on in the district wuut.’ ^[1]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 68

In the colonial period, some islanders were recruited by the colonial administration as petty officials: ’The purpose of the schools for natives, judging from both reported policies and the Japanese school regulations was to civilize the natives and make them into loyal and economically useful citizens of the Japanese empire. While there was theoretically no limit to the higher education which the native child with sufficient ability and financial support might obtain, in actual fact only a minority of Trukese children attended the fourth and fifth grades, and only a minority of those completing fifth grade obtained further education at the vocational schools. Apparently no Trukese native obtained any academic education beyond fifth grade, except incidentally along with vocational training. The system was geared in effect to produce a supply of general laborers and domestic servants who understood the Japanese language, plus a small elite of skilled laborers and petty officials.’ ^[1] It is unclear from this description whether native officals were employed on a part-time or full-time basis. We have assumed full-time for the time being.

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

SCCS variable 89 ’Judiciary’ is coded as ‘1’ or ’absent’. Chiefs served as primary judicial authorities on the local level, but Goodenough mentions colonial courts that dealt with issues that could not be resolved on the local level: ’As soon as courts were re-established, they were deluged with property disputes. The Japanese had treated grants of corporation land to the children of one of its men as if they were an inheritance by a man’s children of his individually owned land. The result was that many disputes coming before the American high court were between the members of a corporation and the children of its men. The latter were disputing the residual title of the former and claiming full title for themselves, and the former were asserting their confiscatory and reversionary rights under traditional residual title. The court undertook seriously to follow local custom, but some witnesses presented the rulings of the Japanese courts as representing local custom whereas others presented the traditional system as local custom, depending on which representation was to their immediate advantage.The high court, I am told, chose to follow the precedent set by the Japanese and ruled that if it could be established that a corporation grant to the children of one of its men had been made with the consent of the corporation’s members, then the children had [Page 80] the same rights as if it had been their father’s personal property.’ ^[1] We have assumed that colonial courts employed professional judges.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1974. “Changing Social Organization On Romónum, Truk, 1947-1965”, 79

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’. According to Bollig, tribal laws were fluid rather than fixed, although the colonial administration increasingly sought to impose its own regulations: ’The main task of the chief is the laying down and execution of the bu[unknown]un fanu, that is, the tribal laws. In practice the bu[unknown] is usually illusory, since nobody wants to follow it. Not for nothing do the Truk people say sarcastically about the conditions on their islands: “ en sob me bu[unknown]un, each district has its own laws,” or what is even worse: “ en me bu[unknown]un,” freely translated: “So many heads, so many meanings.” Moreover, it is a duty of the chief to communicate to the people the regulations of the government, to see that they are carried out, and to collect the head tax.’ ^[1] Apparently, many customary regulations were no longer enforced under foreign administration: The effect of this ruling was to deprive the granting corporation of its residual title; once the grant was made, the grantee had full title. The grantee need not now render first fruits or obtain the grantor’s approval for transactions he wished to arrange. The head of the granting corporation could no longer claim to be sowuppwún; this title now belonged to the head of the recipient corporation if he wished to claim it. Some people on Romónum continue to follow traditional practice and continue to render gifts of first fruits to the traditional sowuppwún as a matter of courtesy, and there are some who still try to assert their right to first fruits under the traditional system. No one is compelled to follow traditional practice and a number of people no longer do so. It is my impression that scarcely anyone would do so if he felt that he would be seriously inconvenienced by it.’ ^[2]

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 126

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1974. “Changing Social Organization On Romónum, Truk, 1947-1965”, 80

Goodenough mentions colonial courts that dealt with issues that could not be resolved on the local level: ’As soon as courts were re-established, they were deluged with property disputes. The Japanese had treated grants of corporation land to the children of one of its men as if they were an inheritance by a man’s children of his individually owned land. The result was that many disputes coming before the American high court were between the members of a corporation and the children of its men. The latter were disputing the residual title of the former and claiming full title for themselves, and the former were asserting their confiscatory and reversionary rights under traditional residual title. The court undertook seriously to follow local custom, but some witnesses presented the rulings of the Japanese courts as representing local custom whereas others presented the traditional system as local custom, depending on which representation was to their immediate advantage.The high court, I am told, chose to follow the precedent set by the Japanese and ruled that if it could be established that a corporation grant to the children of one of its men had been made with the consent of the corporation’s members, then the children had [Page 80] the same rights as if it had been their father’s personal property.’ ^[1]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1974. “Changing Social Organization On Romónum, Truk, 1947-1965”, 79

Traditionally, swidden farming was the norm: ’In the past, swidden gardens with dry taro, turmeric, and sugar cane were few and small. Breadfruit, supplemented by wet taro, was the staple. Being seasonal, breadfruit was preserved by fermenting in pits. Copra has become the only export. Fishing was important.’ ^[1] The following seems to suggest that plantations were more common on other islands: ’Some of the more capable and ambitious students eventually came to recognize these advantages of a Japanese education for themselves. In addition, some of the more adventurous boys in the higher elementary school cherished the hope of getting to visit distant places by their school work. They hoped good studying might lead to their acceptance in the Carpentry School at Palau, or to a job as labor foreman in a mine or plantation on some far island.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 86

According to SCCS variable 20 ’Food Storage’ ’Individual households’, not ’Communal facilities’, ’Political agent controlled repositories’, or ’Economic agent controlled repositories’ were present, coded in the SCCS as ‘2’.

Islanders used rainwater and freshwater springs rather than drinking water supply systems: ’A supply of drinking water is kept in every house. At the present time a converted gasoline drum, with the lid removed by cutting with a cold chisel, is placed just outside the house to catch rainwater from the corrugated iron roof; or else water is carried from springs and kept in glass bottles. In former times, fresh water springs located on high ground inland constituted the chief source of supply and water was carried from these springs in coconut shell containers. In former times also, short breadfruit logs were occasionally dubbed out and placed beneath the eaves to catch rainwater.’ ^[1] The supply pipes that Goodenough describes in the following paragraph seem to have been the exception rather than the rule: ’Anything that has acquired a productive or practical value as the result of human labor is owned as property, whereas ownership is less likely with things directly consumable from nature. Thus there are fishing rights in water areas, but water itself is the property of no one, especially fresh water. The main source of drinking water on Romonum is a spring in the center of the island. The land on which it is located is owned, but the spring itself is free to all, and in the old days before the introduction of rain barrels was used by everyone on the island. When the native storekeeper recently ran a pipe from this spring to his house some distance away, he incurred no obligations toward the people owning the land from which the water is piped. Similarly, medicinal herbs, dried coconut fronds for kindling, wild cooking herbs, and leaves for wrapping food bundles may be freely gathered by anyone, anywhere, without first speaking to the owner of the land on which they are found.’ ^[2]

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk”, 223

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 30

According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ ’2’ or ’improved trails, for porters or animal carriers’ were present. Gladwin relates a story that implies road construction in the colonial period: ’Later Paul went to Susan, whom he says he really wanted to marry. He says that three other men were trying to marry her but she consistently rejected them. Of Paul, however, she approved. He approached her family but found her father’s “brother,” with whom she was living at the time, opposed. Thwarted, Paul went to four Japanese who were living on the island supervising road work; Paul had already told them of his intention of marrying Susan. They offered to help and the next day told her father’s “brother” that if he did not permit the marriage he would get all the dirty jobs from then on. He was, however, adamant and Paul had to give it up. Having had intercourse twice in one night during the negotiations “because we did not know how it would work out later” this time they had intercourse three times and he left.’ ^[1] Bollig also refers to road construction undertaken by colonial authorities: ’The number of the Truk people, taken together, will not exceed 12,000. They live together for the most part in small villages on the seashore. Isolated families also live scattered in the mountains on their plantings. Thanks to the German government, there are good roads around the island. On the mountain slopes, on the other hand, one finds only narrow Kanaka paths, which lead from hut to hut, from planting to planting. They are usually in such a condition that only a native can venture to walk on them.’ ^[2]

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 334

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 249

According to SCCS variable 15 ’Water Transport’ ’5’ or ’Sail powered craft’ were present. Islanders traditionally used canoes for sea travel: ’All Micronesians relied heavily on water travel, although the high islanders used canoes principally in the sheltered coastal waters of their home islands. Micronesian canoes had a single hull with one outrigger. Canoes used in protected waters were often simple dugouts, but the oceangoing vessels, found especially in the central Carolinian atolls, the Marshalls, and the Gilberts, had sides built up of irregular planks that were caulked and sewn together with cord made from coconut-husk fibre.’ ^[1] Ports were established in the colonial period: ’The high islands of the Chuuk group have mangrove swamps along their coasts, as well as rainforests in the central mountainous areas. The native people are Micronesians who fish, raise pigs and poultry, and grow taro, breadfruit, yams, and bananas. Copra is the chief cash crop. The islands are popular with scuba divers, who come to explore the lagoon’s shipwrecks, many of which have become foundations for new reef growth. The largest urban area is on Weno; the rest of the population resides mostly in traditional villages scattered around the islands. Chuuk has a commercial dock and an international airport, both located on Weno. Total land area 49.1 square miles (127.2 square km). Pop. (2010) 48,654.’ ^[2] One author mentions small piers attached to some colonial-era villages: ’There is an excellent pier in Chorong, a lesser one in Winisi, and adequate stands of breadfruit, coconuts and other trees; in addition there are taro swamps, good gardening land, springs, wells, a baseball field, meeting houses, and the other things we have described as necessary to an adequate economic and social life on Truk.’ ^[3]

[1]: (Kahn, Fischer and Kiste 2017) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/XHZTEDKE.

[2]: http://www.britannica.com/place/Chuuk-Islands

[3]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 70

Not applicable to such small islands.

According to SCCS variable 14 ’Routes of Land Transport’ ’2’ or ’improved trails, for porters or animal carriers’ were present. Bollig mentions bridges: ’The Truk natives have the reputation of being the laziest and dirtiest people of the South Seas. /220/ Actually they do not hurt themselves with work. Most of them work only as much as they have to. Eating and sleeping, and eating again, fill up their time. And their uncleanliness is indescribable. It is almost as if they had no feeling at all for any order and cleanliness. Around the house filth, rags, food remains; in it, the same. To be sure, they have a word for broom ( böbö), but rarely use it. They also bathe, even several times a day, and yet are never clean. If a tree falls across the path, it remains there. Everybody who takes the path has to climb over it. If a bridge collapses, it remains for months and years, until it is replaced. [Page 243] Training the islanders in orderly activity, punctuality, and cleanliness will take much time and effort.’ ^[1]

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 242

The following seems to imply that mines were more common on other islands: ’Some of the more capable and ambitious students eventually came to recognize these advantages of a Japanese education for themselves. In addition, some of the more adventurous boys in the higher elementary school cherished the hope of getting to visit distant places by their school work. They hoped good studying might lead to their acceptance in the Carpentry School at Palau, or to a job as labor foreman in a mine or plantation on some far island.’ ^[1]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 86

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ The Japanese administration introduced schooling in the Japanese language: ’The chief subject in the prescribed elementary school curriculum was the Japanese language, spoken and written. Officially language work was supposed to occupy half of the teaching time; arithmetic about a quarter; and miscellaneous subjects, such as gymnastic exercises, singing, handicraft, ethics, and geography, the remainder. According to reports of students the actual emphasis on the Japanese language was if anything even greater than this. While the official curriculum prescribed the teaching of the more common Chinese ideographs as well as the Japanese Kana syllabary, [Page 85] few, if any, native students could be said to be literate in Japanese to the extent of being able to read a newspaper by the end of fifth grade. Certainly none could read the regulations promulgated by the South Seas Government Office; and these regulations were not translated, except sometimes orally and in summary by rather confused native interpreters.’ ^[1] Christian missionaries taught writing in the native language: ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[2]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

[2]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ The Japanese administration introduced schooling in the Japanese language: ’The chief subject in the prescribed elementary school curriculum was the Japanese language, spoken and written. Officially language work was supposed to occupy half of the teaching time; arithmetic about a quarter; and miscellaneous subjects, such as gymnastic exercises, singing, handicraft, ethics, and geography, the remainder. According to reports of students the actual emphasis on the Japanese language was if anything even greater than this. While the official curriculum prescribed the teaching of the more common Chinese ideographs as well as the Japanese Kana syllabary, [Page 85] few, if any, native students could be said to be literate in Japanese to the extent of being able to read a newspaper by the end of fifth grade. Certainly none could read the regulations promulgated by the South Seas Government Office; and these regulations were not translated, except sometimes orally and in summary by rather confused native interpreters.’ ^[1] Christian missionaries taught writing in the native language: ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[2]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

[2]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Christian missionaries taught reading and writing in the native language: ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[1] ’Before the Spanish Government had gained sufficient influence in the islands, the people of Truk lived under the rule of numerous petty chiefs who were constantly engaging in inter-district and inter-island warfare. In Spanish and German times, Catholic and Protestant missionaries Christianized and subdued the warlike tendencies of the population, but many of the old suspicious attitudes still show in present-day culture patterns. The numbers of Spanish and Germans who came to Truk at any one time were relatively small; they left their mark on the people in the folklore, in the religion and in the alphabet which they applied to the Trukese language, teaching the people to read and write. It was left to the Japanese to make the most impression on the native economy.’ ^[2]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

[2]: Fischer, Ann M. 1950. “Role Of Trukese Mother And Its Effect On Child Training”, 7

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Orally transmitted tribal laws were fluid rather than fixed: ’The main task of the chief is the laying down and execution of the bu[unknown]un fanu, that is, the tribal laws. In practice the bu[unknown] is usually illusory, since nobody wants to follow it. Not for nothing do the Truk people say sarcastically about the conditions on their islands: “ en sob me bu[unknown]un, each district has its own laws,” or what is even worse: “ en me bu[unknown]un,” freely translated: “So many heads, so many meanings.” Moreover, it is a duty of the chief to communicate to the people the regulations of the government, to see that they are carried out, and to collect the head tax.’ ^[1] Islanders performed poetry and storytelling: ’Performing arts included dancing, storytelling, playing the noseflute and bamboo Jew’s harp (in courtship serenading), singing, and poetry and rhetoric. Other arts were associated with tattooing, woodworking, weaving, and warfare.’ ^[2] These may have been rather fluid as well. But Goodenough describes oral traditions that cover myth and past migrations (see also ’general variables’ in the FmTrukE sheet (pre-colonial Chuuk) for material about Chuukese prehistory): ’IN THE ORAL HISTORY OF TRUK AND PONAPE in the Caroline Islands of Micronesia (see Figure 1), a place called Kachaw is the source of some clan ancestors and, especially, of politically important immigrants. Kachaw also appears as a place in Carolinian navigational lore. Until very recently, at least, most Micronesian scholars have accepted as fact that Kachaw is the island of Kosrae (Kusaie), situated about 560 km east southeast of Ponape. This identification has led to historical inferences about the role of Kosrae in Ponapean and Trukese prehistory. Critical examination of the linguistic and contextual evidence, however, indicates that in traditional Micronesian lore Kachaw referred to something quite different, namely the sky or a region of sky. It is as such that Kachaw was important in Trukese and Ponapean cosmology, religion, and legends of origin. Before I develop this argument, let me summarize how Kachaw is talked about in Trukese and Ponapean lore.’ ^[3] We have identified oral traditions with nonwritten records for the time being.

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 126

[2]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[3]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1986. “Sky World And This World: The Place Of Kachaw In Micronesian Cosmology”, 551

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ In Japanese schools, reading and writing was taught in Japanese rather than the native language: ’The chief subject in the prescribed elementary school curriculum was the Japanese language, spoken and written. Officially language work was supposed to occupy half of the teaching time; arithmetic about a quarter; and miscellaneous subjects, such as gymnastic exercises, singing, handicraft, ethics, and geography, the remainder. According to reports of students the actual emphasis on the Japanese language was if anything even greater than this. While the official curriculum prescribed the teaching of the more common Chinese ideographs as well as the Japanese Kana syllabary, [Page 85] few, if any, native students could be said to be literate in Japanese to the extent of being able to read a newspaper by the end of fifth grade. Certainly none could read the regulations promulgated by the South Seas Government Office; and these regulations were not translated, except sometimes orally and in summary by rather confused native interpreters.’ ^[1] ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[2] The Japanese administration was established in 1914, which we have adopted as a provisional date of transition.

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

[2]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ In Japanese schools, reading and writing was taught in Japanese rather than the native language: ’The chief subject in the prescribed elementary school curriculum was the Japanese language, spoken and written. Officially language work was supposed to occupy half of the teaching time; arithmetic about a quarter; and miscellaneous subjects, such as gymnastic exercises, singing, handicraft, ethics, and geography, the remainder. According to reports of students the actual emphasis on the Japanese language was if anything even greater than this. While the official curriculum prescribed the teaching of the more common Chinese ideographs as well as the Japanese Kana syllabary, [Page 85] few, if any, native students could be said to be literate in Japanese to the extent of being able to read a newspaper by the end of fifth grade. Certainly none could read the regulations promulgated by the South Seas Government Office; and these regulations were not translated, except sometimes orally and in summary by rather confused native interpreters.’ ^[1] ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[2] The Japanese administration was established in 1914, which we have adopted as a provisional date of transition.

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 84

[2]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Bollig mentions shell signals and spears, but no mnemonic devices per se: ’A custom destroying marital fidelity in a really systematic fashion is the mosou. That is, on a shell signal all the men must gather in the men’s house, so that their wives are alone at home. Anyone can go to them at night without being punished, since, indeed, his wife too is abandoned.’ ^[1] ’Closely bound up with the war history of the Truk people is the mateu; the word means ray spine or spear with ray spines. The mateu is the symbol of war. One who was experienced in military affairs received the name wasen mateu, bearer of the mateu. On the Truk Islands there were two large war parties, which usually stayed together except for minor internal quarrels. These war parties were called mateulap, large spear, and mateutun, small spear. The mateulap included the kin group of the Sapulupi with all the related kin groups. Mateutun included the kin group of the Soufar with the affiliated kin groups. Distributed by islands, Polvas /Poloas/, Wöla, Uman, and Paituk /Faituk/ were [Page 122] adherents of the mateulap; Pefan /Fefan/ with its little secondary islands, mateutun. These two mateu were continually contesting as to which of them was the more important. Numerically mateulap was considerably superior to the mateutun. The division into the two parts is connected with the kin-group system and the ida[unknown] institution, since even today they say ida[unknown]en mateulap, ida[unknown]en mateutun. I am not venturing to decide whether the institution is to be ascribed to the original inhabitants or to immigrants.’ ^[2] Goodenough mentions ’mnemonic exercises’, but does not mention any techniques or devices used in the process: ’The first ethnographer to work in Truk, J. Kubary, equated Achaw (Kachaw) with Kosrae (Kubary 1880:295). With one notable exception (Finsch 1893:450), subsequent scholars, myself included (Goodenough and Sugita 1980:19), have accepted this equation and sought to understand events in the oral tradition and to interpret the archeological record accordingly (Bollig 1927; Krämer 1932; Hambruch 1932-36; Fischer, Riesenberg, and Whiting 1977; Lessa 1980). Indeed, in the translations of native texts, they regularly render Kachaw as Kosrae or Kusaie. In his accounts of Carolinian navigators’ lore, Riesenberg (1972) does the same thing when the name Kachaw (Achaw, Araw) appears in the mnenomic exercises he recorded (see also Damm and Sarfert 1935:102-103). The effect for the reader is to make it appear as a matter of fact that Kosrae is the place designated. But the texts say nothing of Kosrae; they speak of Kachaw.’ ^[3]

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 106

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 121

[3]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1986. “Sky World And This World: The Place Of Kachaw In Micronesian Cosmology”, 553

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Christian missionaries translated the Bible and other religious texts into the native language: ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[1]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ Christian missionaries translated the Bible and other religious texts into the native language: ’The Japanese schools did not try to teach reading or writing in the native language, although some Trukese learned these skills from the Western Protestant and Catholic missionaries. Starting even before German rule, the missionaries had translated parts of the Bible and prepared hymns and other religious materials in Trukese, and continued to teach reading and writing in the native tongue to such children as would come to them.’ ^[1]

[1]: Fischer, John L. 1961. “Japanese Schools For The Natives Of Truk, Caroline Islands”, 85

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’ We have assumed there that native petty officials would have handled lists and classifications when working with the colonial administration.

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’

SCCS variable 149 ’Writing and Records’ is coded as ‘1’ or ‘None’, not ‘Mnemonic devices’, or ‘Nonwritten records’, or ’True writing, no records’, or ‘True writing; records’

Islanders traditionally did not use a written calendar: ’The calendar of the Truk people has two annual seasons, räs, the breadfruit season, and äfän, the curcuma season, the northern trade season, which, of course, varies greatly. The names of the seasons are also used as designations for the entire year. Instead of saying, “I am 10 years old,” the Truk native says, “ e[unknown]ol ai räs” or “e[unknown]ol ai äfän,” that is, “I am 10 räs” or “I am 10 äfän old.” They also indeed have a name for year, namely, ir, the English /207/ word year. Similarly the word wik is of English origin (week) = Woche /“week” in German/.’ ^[1] ’The year of the Truk people is a lunar year and has 12 months ( maram). Some old pölu also say 13. But the 13th one is then only a substitute month for another one which is left out, so that in practice there are always only 12. The months are reckoned from the first quarter to the next first quarter. They regard as lying in between 30 moonlight nights ( puinin maram), the names of which are taken from the phases of the moon. The names of the months themselves are star names.’ ^[1] ’They are: 1. Oromai (Arcturus); 2. Täu; 3. Pumur (Scorpio); 4. Man (animal = large dog); 5. Mälap (the Great = Aquila); 6. Soda (the one lying toward sunrise = Equuleus); 7. Na (Pegasus); 8. Ku (Dolphin = Aries); 9. Un (Aldebaran); 10. Elimada; 11. Mörgör (Pleiades); 12. Elidau.’ ^[2] ’Another factor apparently of psychological importance in some case of isolation of Causcasians is the time dimension. For some reason, many people appear to cling with desperation to some ingeniously contrived means of estimating the time of day and the date, a last contact with reality or basis for hope which, when lost, marks their real breakdown. For the Trukese this is a matter of little or no concern. Aboriginally they were equipped to reckon the seasons, and to divide the day into morning, daytime, afternoon, evening, and night, but these were means for relating oneself to the realities of nature, not an arbitrary system for bounding one’s activities. In response to the demands of foreigners they have learned to tėll time and the date, but when not [Page 898] in a foreign context they pay little attention to either. A man who has acquired a watch and wears it as a sign of status is concerned if it does not run, but may not even bother to set it if he discovers it is an hour or two off. We may therefore conclude that losing track of the time, which so dismays Western castaways, matters little or not at all to the Trukese.’ ^[3] Nevertheless, we have assumed that Christian missionaries also spread the use of calendars when they taught reading and writing.

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 227

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 228

[3]: Gladwin, Thomas 1958. “Canoe Travel In The Truk Area: Technology And Its Psychological Correlates”, 897

According to SCCS variable 17 ’Money (Media of Exchange) and Credit’, ’4’ Foreign coinage or paper currency was present, not ‘1’ ’No media of exchange or money’, ’Domestically used articles as media of exchange’ or ’Tokens of conventional value as media of exchange’ or ’Indigenous coinage or paper currency’. There may have been shell money in use, but further information is needed. Goodenough mentions turmeric: ’Perhaps the closest thing to a standard medium of exchange was processed turmeric. Turmeric was usually grown by a corporation as a cooperative undertaking, and when processed became corporate property under the mwääniici’s control. Individuals presumably were allotted shares for personal use.’ ^[1] More information on turmeric as a possible medium of exchange is needed. The variable was coded absent for the time being.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 57

According to SCCS variable 17 ’Money (Media of Exchange) and Credit’, ’4’ Foreign coinage or paper currency was present, not ‘1’ ’No media of exchange or money’, ’Domestically used articles as media of exchange’ or ’Tokens of conventional value as media of exchange’ or ’Indigenous coinage or paper currency’. Money was introduced by the colonial administration: ’The impact of these economic changes upon the Trukese was great. Just as under the Germans law and order were made the province of the administration, a step which can be reversed (without chaos) only by a long and intelligently directed course of evolution, so under the Japanese the step to a money economy and dependence upon some categories of imported goods was carried far enough beyond the German beginnings so that it too has become irreversible. While the Trukese were not indoctrinated in the more skilled techniques, such as deep-sea fishing and boat-building, there were many jobs available at manual labor, an ever-increasing flow of trade goods upon which to spend the earnings thereof, and head taxes to assure that those who did not work cut copra. The Trukese began to travel more and more on Japanese boats (many of which they have now taken over and operate), to use a wider variety of Japanese tools, to eat (although not depend upon) rice and canned fish, and to wear clothese exclusively of foreign material.’ ^[1] Barter was not displaced entirely.

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 43

According to SCCS variable 17 ’Money (Media of Exchange) and Credit’, ’4’ Foreign coinage or paper currency was present, not ‘1’ ’No media of exchange or money’, ’Domestically used articles as media of exchange’ or ’Tokens of conventional value as media of exchange’ or ’Indigenous coinage or paper currency’.

According to SCCS variable 17 ’Money (Media of Exchange) and Credit’, ’4’ Foreign coinage or paper currency was present, not ‘1’ ’No media of exchange or money’, ’Domestically used articles as media of exchange’ or ’Tokens of conventional value as media of exchange’ or ’Indigenous coinage or paper currency’. Money was introduced by the colonial administration: ’The impact of these economic changes upon the Trukese was great. Just as under the Germans law and order were made the province of the administration, a step which can be reversed (without chaos) only by a long and intelligently directed course of evolution, so under the Japanese the step to a money economy and dependence upon some categories of imported goods was carried far enough beyond the German beginnings so that it too has become irreversible. While the Trukese were not indoctrinated in the more skilled techniques, such as deep-sea fishing and boat-building, there were many jobs available at manual labor, an ever-increasing flow of trade goods upon which to spend the earnings thereof, and head taxes to assure that those who did not work cut copra. The Trukese began to travel more and more on Japanese boats (many of which they have now taken over and operate), to use a wider variety of Japanese tools, to eat (although not depend upon) rice and canned fish, and to wear clothese exclusively of foreign material.’ ^[1] Barter was not displaced entirely.

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 43

According to SCCS variable 17 ’Money (Media of Exchange) and Credit’, ’4’ Foreign coinage or paper currency was present, not ‘1’ ’No media of exchange or money’, ’Domestically used articles as media of exchange’ or ’Tokens of conventional value as media of exchange’ or ’Indigenous coinage or paper currency’. Islanders traditionally engaged in trading expeditions and barter trade: ’At the present time, sailing canoes suitable for long trips remain in use only in the small islands of the Caroline group scattered widely over the ocean from Truk westward. The language and culture found on these islands relate them clearly to Truk, whereas most of them fell historically under the hegemony of Yap to the west—a tie which Lessa (1956) has demonstrated is by no means completely extinct. Both Truk and Yap possess volcanic soils which can support crops impossible of cultivation on the sandy coral islets which lie between. Trade therefore provided the impetus for travel to and from the high islands, and there was in addition considerable social visiting back and forth between all the islands. Some voyages, apparently of exploration, have also been recorded extending over hundreds of miles to Guam and even remoter islands. Trips of up to 200 miles or so are still made, although with reduced frequency. Canoes are also used on a few islands other than those mentioned above for interisland, but essentially local, travel to Truk and Ponape.’ ^[1] ’The acquisition of property on Truk is usually done by means of barter. Lands, houses, and canoes are bartered. Smaller units of exchange are sebi (wooden bowls), deig (curcuma), faupar (red shell disks), hip mats, modesty bands, fishing nets, aromatic oils, coconut cord, home-grown tobacco, and sleeping mats. These products of native industry are not present in like quantity or in like quality on all the islands. Thus, Sapesis on Fefan is famous for its fine bowls, Pol for curcuma and oils, Iluk for its fine hip mats.’ ^[2] ’Weaving generally takes place at certain times, especially when the canoes from the low islands are expected, the inhabitants of which barter for things. In former times not very nice [Page 186] customs were associated with weaving. When the women had completed their work, they put on the new mats and gathered on the shore.’ ^[3] Money was introduced by the colonial administration, but barter continued into the colonial period: ’As a result of the German, Japanese, and American administrations, the natives have become thoroughly aware of the value of money in relation to specific situations. It is needed to pay taxes and is required for the purchase of goods from local retail outlets. Money is in fairly wide use in native transactions, though barter continues as the more practical form of exchange. Two informants, for example, had no trouble in estimating the cash price of a coconut tree (if not old) at $2.00 and that of a breadfruit tree at $5.00, a big one fetching perhaps as much as $10.00. Sales of trees are, however, fairly rare. If they should become more common, one might predict that the price would rise to accord with their economic importance. As the present prices suggest, money plays no part in the domestic food economy. It is needed to purchase food by only a handful of natives. Except for them, money is treated simply as an important sort of movable property ( pisek). One may make a niffag of money, trade it for goods or for labor, and have it appropriated by one’s wife’s brothers as a kiis.’ ^[4]

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas 1958. “Canoe Travel In The Truk Area: Technology And Its Psychological Correlates”, 893

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 135

[3]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 185

[4]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 57

Gladwin’s comments are somewhat unclear when it comes to the establishment of postal systems: ’Prior to the introduction and spread of writing other devices had to be used, many of which are in use in some form today but have taken second place to the letter. The chance encounter, or a message carried by a go-between, were of course useful; as the houses were then widely scattered through the interior of the island, instead of being concentrated as they are today along the shore, the opportunities for meeting in momentary privacy along a path were far greater.’ ^[1] The eHRAF material on the Chuuks islands is not coded for ’mail’.

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 104

Gladwin’s comments are somewhat unclear when it comes to the establishment of postal systems: ’Prior to the introduction and spread of writing other devices had to be used, many of which are in use in some form today but have taken second place to the letter. The chance encounter, or a message carried by a go-between, were of course useful; as the houses were then widely scattered through the interior of the island, instead of being concentrated as they are today along the shore, the opportunities for meeting in momentary privacy along a path were far greater.’ ^[1] The eHRAF material on the Chuuks islands is not coded for ’mail’.

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 104

Traditionally, messages were communicated through shell signals rather than couriers: ’A custom destroying marital fidelity in a really systematic fashion is the mosou. That is, on a shell signal all the men must gather in the men’s house, so that their wives are alone at home. Anyone can go to them at night without being punished, since, indeed, his wife too is abandoned.’ ^[1] ’The chief does all these duties in the kobu[unknown], the public meeting. Men as well as women are invited to this kobu[unknown]. All the participants are called together by the blowing of the large shell from the chief’s house. The kobu[unknown] takes place in the udd, the large men’s house. All the dealings of the tribe are discussed in it, marital matters, land matters, quarrels, in short, all the linen, whether clean or dirty, is spread out before all eyes. Everybody is allowed to talk and present his complaints. Of course there is no lack of amusing scenes too. Sometimes the people become so excited that the parties insult each other, grab each other, and come to blows, so that the meeting has to be dissolved.’ ^[2] ’It is said of the old chiefs that they always had the blow shell beside them. When the puk, puk of the shell resounded from the chief’s house, the people knew its meaning immediately. They quickly came running in order to /117/ learn the wishes of the tyrant. At one time he would desire kon (pounded breadfruit), at another time fish, then [Page 128] bananas, then coconuts to drink. The chiefs today no longer dare commit these outrages but they still have sufficient means to obtain some things on the side. They announce a dance, for example, or hold an efilul (celebration in connection with house-building, held when the frame is erected). They certainly do not come out short at the feast connected with this. As a matter of fact, most chiefs understand very well how to entice from their people whatever they might like to have.’ ^[3] ’The risks of nocturnal trysts are increased by a curfew, instituted under the Japanese to curb such behavior, and continued to the present by the island chiefs. A conch is blown at about nine o’clock by the island policeman or secretary as a signal for all who are not fishing or otherwise legitimately occupied to remain in their houses. Anyone who is seen and recognized thereafter at any distance from his own house is called before the chief and is usually at a loss to explain himself. This does not, however, involve the girl whom he intended to meet or met (unless he has just escaped from the house amid hue and cry and is thus identified), and the worst consequence is usually a few days of enforced labor on the island’s paths, to which little stigma is attached.’ ^[4] ’In former times an important item in a chief’s equipment was the conch-shell trumpet ( sewi). It could be blown only by the chief, himself, and was not used except to summon his people to an important meeting on an emergency matter. Nowadays the conch is used to call the people to routine meetings, to community work, and to Protestant [Page 145] church services. The prohibition against unauthorized persons blowing it has been relaxed.’ ^[5] Islanders also used special calls when communicating with each other over a larger distance: ’The hearing, like the eyes of the natives, is also acute. They call to one another over long distances and make them-selves understood. The caller puts his hands trumpet-like to his mouth and shouts through them. If the one called has understood, [Page 239] he answers in the same way. When calling, the first syllables are uttered quickly, whereas the latter ones are stressed slowly and strongly.’ ^[6]

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 106

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 126

[3]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 127

[4]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 108

[5]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 144

[6]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 238

Settlements were sometimes surrounded with stone walls for better protection: ’War! That is a word that made every Truk heart beat faster in olden times. Truk was one big battlefield. Island fought against island, tribe against tribe. On one day two villages were co-operating; on the next day they were fighting each other. There was constant killing in an ever changing situation. The entire population lived on the mountains in order to be protected against attacks by the enemy. Still today one sees on the mountains, along the mountain slopes, long stone walls, or indeed complete fortifications with entrances. Sad relics of that peaceless and lawless time. The wirasen moun (battlefield) was readied at the boundary of the enemy tribe and the bush cut down so that one could have a good view. Here the opponents often came together in order to measure each other. The islanders’ main method of fighting, however, was surprise attack and stealing up in the night. [Page 114] Woe to the one who /105/ fell into the hands of such who were sneaking about. Whether man, woman, or child, his throat was cut without mercy. It is told about one warrior that while on an expedition he encountered on the way a child from the enemy tribe. He took it by the legs and struck its head against a tree so that blood and brains spurted about. Houses were set afire, trees cut down, animals killed; in short, each side sought to do as much harm to the other one as possible. Spies were sent out to discover the mood and location of the enemy. Sometimes the enemy was left in peace for a time in order to lull him into feeling secure. Then when the women of the enemy tribe unsuspectingly went fishing at night they were attacked and slaughtered in the water. Or at night the people secretly traveled past the enemy island to another one and then came back in the morning. The enemy was deceived by the direction from which the vessels came and calmly let the crew land to destroy them.’ ^[1] ’All lineage buildings normally stand on land to whose soil the lineage, or some member of it, holds provisional or full title. If this is not feasible, the jimw may be built by the husbands of the lineage women on land held by one of them. In such a case his children acquire provisional title to the house and land on which it stands, receiving them as a niffag from their father. With the mwääniici of their lineage acting as guardian, the house and its site became a part of the property of the lineage whose women live there. Dwelling sites used to be shifted about once in a generation’s time, if the lineage had sufficient lands at its disposal. The purpose was to keep its house near breadfruit trees which were bearing well, so that a good supply of this staple food would always be near at hand. In the old days an jimw was sometimes surrounded by a stone wall for defensive purposes.’ ^[2] We have assumed non-mortared walls for the time being.

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 113

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 69

See above.

Settlements were constructed in the mountains: ’War! That is a word that made every Truk heart beat faster in olden times. Truk was one big battlefield. Island fought against island, tribe against tribe. On one day two villages were co-operating; on the next day they were fighting each other. There was constant killing in an ever changing situation. The entire population lived on the mountains in order to be protected against attacks by the enemy. Still today one sees on the mountains, along the mountain slopes, long stone walls, or indeed complete fortifications with entrances. Sad relics of that peaceless and lawless time. The wirasen moun (battlefield) was readied at the boundary of the enemy tribe and the bush cut down so that one could have a good view. Here the opponents often came together in order to measure each other. The islanders’ main method of fighting, however, was surprise attack and stealing up in the night. [Page 114] Woe to the one who /105/ fell into the hands of such who were sneaking about. Whether man, woman, or child, his throat was cut without mercy. It is told about one warrior that while on an expedition he encountered on the way a child from the enemy tribe. He took it by the legs and struck its head against a tree so that blood and brains spurted about. Houses were set afire, trees cut down, animals killed; in short, each side sought to do as much harm to the other one as possible. Spies were sent out to discover the mood and location of the enemy. Sometimes the enemy was left in peace for a time in order to lull him into feeling secure. Then when the women of the enemy tribe unsuspectingly went fishing at night they were attacked and slaughtered in the water. Or at night the people secretly traveled past the enemy island to another one and then came back in the morning. The enemy was deceived by the direction from which the vessels came and calmly let the crew land to destroy them.’ ^[1]

[1]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 113

Stone walls surrounded settlements rather than military camps on the move (see above).

We have provisionally assumed that stone walls around settlements were built in one row only.

LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’ ^[1] However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19

LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’ ^[1] However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19

LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’ ^[1] However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19

LeBar claims early evidence for the use of iron and steel tools acquired through trade with other islands: ’It appears that during this early period, and for some time thereafter, the Trukese were in contact with Guam and other islands in the Marianas due to the fact that atoll islanders to the west of Truk regularly voyaged to Guam and back, taking with them items for trade in return for which they brought back iron and steel implements. The Trukese were thus in possession of iron tools at a very early date.’ ^[1] However, it isn’t clear if this metal was used in warfare.

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 19

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

Islanders used slings, spears and clubs: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’ ^[1] ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53

Not mentioned in the literature.

Not mentioned in the literature.

Firearms were introduced in the colonial period: ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’ ^[1] The population was disarmed in the early 20th century: ’In 1904 the disarming of the Truk people was undertaken by the “Kondor.” There were 436 guns and 2,531 cartridges confiscated. For better control the government appointed six head-chiefs, banished some swashbucklers who did not want to submit, and turned out the Japanese. With this a peaceful development was initiated. The missions (Protestant mission since 1879, Catholic mission since 1912) were able to work undisturbed. Unfortunately, the German government took little notice of Truk, since it was too preoccupied with the other islands. Yet many things were accomplished. Under the last director of the station, A. Überhorst, the lagoon was given new impetus in every respect. The relationship between officials and the population was usually a good one, under Mr. Überhorst even a cordial one. Anyone who was on Truk in those years certainly did not see any bad treatment of the natives. Much was done also with regard to health; in particular Dr. Mayer and his wife traveled from island to island without rest in order to take care of the sick. If during the Japanese occupation a young naval officer was not ashamed to assert that the Germans had done nothing for the islands, anyone who lived on the islands during the Japanese period can only say from the heart: “God protect the poor Truk people under the Japanese.”’ ^[2] We are unsure as to how thorough the disarming of native islanders was. We have adopted a provisional date of transition. The code may need changing if Chuukese men were recruited into colonial troops later on.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53p

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 253

Firearms were introduced in the colonial period: ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’ ^[1] The population was disarmed in the early 20th century: ’In 1904 the disarming of the Truk people was undertaken by the “Kondor.” There were 436 guns and 2,531 cartridges confiscated. For better control the government appointed six head-chiefs, banished some swashbucklers who did not want to submit, and turned out the Japanese. With this a peaceful development was initiated. The missions (Protestant mission since 1879, Catholic mission since 1912) were able to work undisturbed. Unfortunately, the German government took little notice of Truk, since it was too preoccupied with the other islands. Yet many things were accomplished. Under the last director of the station, A. Überhorst, the lagoon was given new impetus in every respect. The relationship between officials and the population was usually a good one, under Mr. Überhorst even a cordial one. Anyone who was on Truk in those years certainly did not see any bad treatment of the natives. Much was done also with regard to health; in particular Dr. Mayer and his wife traveled from island to island without rest in order to take care of the sick. If during the Japanese occupation a young naval officer was not ashamed to assert that the Germans had done nothing for the islands, anyone who lived on the islands during the Japanese period can only say from the heart: “God protect the poor Truk people under the Japanese.”’ ^[2] We are unsure as to how thorough the disarming of native islanders was. We have adopted a provisional date of transition. The code may need changing if Chuukese men were recruited into colonial troops later on.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53p

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 253

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

Not mentioned in the literature.

Not mentioned in the literature.

Islanders used slings, spears, and clubs: ’Within districts, conflict arose over land, succession to chiefship, theft, adultery, and avenging homicide. Between districts, it arose over attentions to local women by outside men, the status of one district as subordinate to another, and rights of access to fishing areas. Formal procedures for terminating conflict between districts involved payments of valuables and land by the loosing to the winning side. Fighting involved surprise raids and prearranged meetings on a field of battle. Principle weapons were slings, spears, and clubs. Firearms, introduced late in the nineteenth century, were confiscated by German authorities in 1903. Martial arts included an elaborate system of throws and holds by which an unarmed man could kill, maim or disarm an armed opponent.’ ^[1] ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward H. and Skoggard, Ian: eHRAF Cultural Summary for the Chuuk

[2]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

Gladwin relates an incident in which spears were used in combat. His material appear to refer to the colonial period: ’When the men got close, they saw there were a lot of people brandishing weapons, and they conferred. They decided they would just go on in, fend off the weapons as best they could, but not say anything until they were recognized, for they realized what had happened. The old man asked who would go first, and the young men said they would go first and the old man afterwards so he would not get hurt; he was to remain behind them. So they went in the door of the house. The chief said, “Spear them!” So they stabbed with their spears, but the young men warded them all off; they grabbed the spears and hurled them away. Then they slashed with the knives, but the two men got them too, tucked them under their arms and then plowed in. Then the chief told them to stop, to wait a minute, for these were remarkable people. He asked, “Who are you?” “We.” “Who?”, and they told him their names. Then they threw their arms around them and greeted them and were very happy. They asked them where they had come from, and they told them, and they were still happier. Then they got out food, and they and all their relatives sat down to eat. They feasted that night and on and on. For a whole week they did nothing but feast because they were so happy. That is all.’ ^[1]

[1]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 624

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

According to Goodenough, knifes were introduced in the colonial period: ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. To acquire these skills required considerable practice. In aboriginal times the various lineages used to hold periodic month-long training course in their respective meeting houses. Although each political district fought engagements as a united military group, training was given independently by the various lineages. Those present were the men of the lineage, the husbands of its women, and the sons of its men, in conformance with the pattern of confining the transmission of knowledge to one’s children and one’s lineage mates. It is said that by no means everyone knew all of the various weapons nor all of the tricks of hand-to-hand fighting. Knowledge of the proper magic was required in the manufacture of the several weapons and also to increase the effectiveness of their use thereafter. It is not surprising, therefore, that fighting skills were treated in the same way as other types of incorporeal property.’ ^[1] Gladwin relates a episode in which knives were used in combat: ’When the men got close, they saw there were a lot of people brandishing weapons, and they conferred. They decided they would just go on in, fend off the weapons as best they could, but not say anything until they were recognized, for they realized what had happened. The old man asked who would go first, and the young men said they would go first and the old man afterwards so he would not get hurt; he was to remain behind them. So they went in the door of the house. The chief said, “Spear them!” So they stabbed with their spears, but the young men warded them all off; they grabbed the spears and hurled them away. Then they slashed with the knives, but the two men got them too, tucked them under their arms and then plowed in. Then the chief told them to stop, to wait a minute, for these were remarkable people. He asked, “Who are you?” “We.” “Who?”, and they told him their names. Then they threw their arms around them and greeted them and were very happy. They asked them where they had come from, and they told them, and they were still happier. Then they got out food, and they and all their relatives sat down to eat. They feasted that night and on and on. For a whole week they did nothing but feast because they were so happy. That is all.’ ^[2] We have assumed that the incident refers to the colonial period.

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53

[2]: Gladwin, Thomas, and Seymour Bernard Sarason 1953. “Truk: Man In Paradise”, 624

Not mentioned in the literature.

Not native to region.

Not native to region.

Not native to region.

So far, no evidence on animals used in warfare has been found.

Not native to region.

Not mentioned in the literature.

Not mentioned in the literature.

Not mentioned in the literature. This is interpreted as evidence of absence because this is a culture of low complexity for warfare technology.

LeBar describes head-bands, but no helmets: ’Man’s head band The man’s head band (nakasäka) was one of the most valued of ornaments, and according to the literature it evidenced perhaps the finest workmanship of any item of ornamentation. The piece was made by men and worn by men at dances and also, according to Romonum informants, when going out as a war party. The nakasäka was rubbed thoroughly with yellow turmeric powder, wrapped in pandanus leaves, and stored in a wooden chest when not in use.’ ^[1]

[1]: LeBar, Frank M. {nd}-/. “Material Culture Of Truk", 351

Islanders engaged in canoe-fighting: ’Fighting skills in aboriginal times included knowledge of the manufacture as well [Page 54] as of the use of the various weapons: the club, spear, sling, knuckle-duster, and in more recent time the knife and rifle. Of great importance, too, was a knowledge of the various holds in a system of hand-to-hand encounter remotely reminiscent of Japanese jiujitsu. This system, known as jëëmmwënëëw, is highly developed, including ways to disarm opponents equipped with various weapons, ways of knocking them overboard in canoe fighting, etc. It appears to be completely native in origin.’ ^[1] Bollig’s material on strategy and divinations also implies that canoes were used in warfare: ’The ida[unknown] spear, the ida[unknown] fire, and the ida[unknown] blow-shell are sacred. Woe to one who touches them; the ida[unknown] will bite him, and as a result his throat will swell. The shell rests on a bed consisting of sacred herbs. Nobody is allowed to pass the side of the house where it is found. If the ida[unknown] is to blow the shell, he strokes it beforehand, while murmuring his texts. Besides the ikenida[unknown], the ibar (a species of banana) and woubar (red sugar-cane) are also reserved for the ida[unknown]. Only he and, with his permission, his pupils are allowed to eat them. This is strictly forbidden for the atö. Besides this ibar there are still other ida[unknown] bananas, since each ida[unknown] movement has more or less its own food laws. The principal activity /49/ of the ida[unknown] takes place in wartime. Aside from the fact that for the most part their intrigues and mischief-making caused the war as soon as it broke out they became leaders and all. [Page 54] They made the war plans during the so-called otout (banana eating). That is, the ida[unknown] took his bananas and put the individual fruits on a mat. Then he explained the campaign plan to his pupils and the other warriors. One banana signified a reef, another one a canoe, and so on. By moving the bananas back and forth, he made the situation clear and indicated to them how the enemy might possibly be attacked or how his attack could be repulsed. At the end the töbou ate the bananas together, certainly an excellent staff-map, which has the advantage that one can eat it without difficulty.’ ^[2]

[1]: Goodenough, Ward Hunt 1951. “Property, Kin, And Community On Truk”, 53

[2]: Bollig, Laurentius 1927. “Inhabitants Of The Truk Islands: Religion, Life And A Short Grammar Of A Micronesian People”, 53p