POLITICS OF FAITH: INVESTIGATING ETHNOGRAPHIES ABOUT MODEKNGEI A THESIS SUBMITIED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN PACIFIC ISLANDS STUDIES MAY 1998 By Kazumi Nishihara Thesis Committee: David Hanlon, Chairperson Suzanne Falgout Karen Peacock We certify that we have read this thesis and that, in our opinion, it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a thesis for the degree of Master of Arts in Pacific Islands Studies. THESIS COMMITTEE CJ~2~ Chariperson ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many people provided me with generous support, constructive criticisms and valuable information. Dr. Arthur J. Vidich and Dr. Machiko Aoyagi, despite their busy schedules and the nature of my thesis, kindly responded to my numerous questions through their correspondence. Without their cooperation, I would have had no access to their rich experiences during their fieldwork in Palau. I would like to express my particular appreciation to Dr. Vidich who shared with me his personal memories in a twenty-two-page hand-written letter and also in several additional letters and copies of his personal writings. Dr. Kiyonori Kanasaka, a professor at Kyoto University, was extremely generous in providing me with a large amount of Japanese material, which otherwise I would have been unable to obtain. He also offered me invaluable information, acquired through his wide network with other Japanese scholars. Throughout the course of my research, members of my thesis committee, Dr. Suzanne Falgout, Dr. David Hanlon and Dr. Karen Peacock, indicated their warm support for my project and provided me with valuable criticisms and information. My teachers at the Center for the Pacific Islands Studies, Dr. Vilsoni Hereniko, Dr. Robert C. Kiste and Dr. Terence Wesley-Smith insipred me to engage in this project. Without their support, my thesis would have never materialized. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments iii List of Maps vi Place Names of Palau viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1: A History of Histories about Modekngei 15 I. Introduction 15 II. The Witnesses 17 1. A Precursor 18 2. The Sugiura-Ishikawa Discourse 26 m. CIMA or Cacophony ofinformation from Modekngei Allegations 33 1. Lieutenant Useem 34 2. Doctor Bamett. 36 3. Author Vidich 42 IV. The Vidich Discourse and Its Offshoots 53 1. The 70's 54 2. The 80's 61 3. The 90's 67 V. A Non-Violent Resistance Movement.. 70 1. A Prophet of Rebellion 70 2. The Aoyagi Discourse 93 VI. A Palauan Voice............................................................................. 97 VII. A Summary and Notes 104 Chapter 2: Fieldwork: A Theater of Power, Politics and Emotion Arthur J. Vidich: January-July 1948 111 I. Introduction 111 II. World War II and Its Aftermath 115 1. Palauan Experiences of the War 115 2. First Encounters with Americans 118 3. Reconstruction of Palau......... 121 m. Early American Administration in Palau 127 1. American Administrative Policies and Their Effects 129 A. Modekngei under the American Administration 129 B. Palauan Reactions to the American Administration 132 C. Relationships Between Palauans and American Personnel 135 2. An Analysis of Vidich's Fieldwork in Palau 142 A. Coordinated Investigation of Micronesian Anthropology 142 B. Vidich's Sentiments Toward Japanese 143 C. The Setting 145 D. Difficulties in Modekngei Research 148 IV. A Summary and Notes 156 iv Chapter 3: Fieldwork: A Theater of Power, Politics and Emotion Machiko Aoyagi: 1973-1984 160 I. Introduction 160 n. War Damage Claims 164 m. The Negotiation for the Future Political Status Between Palau and the United States 171 IV. Aoyagi's First Encounters with the People of Palau and Their Influence on Her Research Motive 178 v. The Superport 181 VI. The "Japanese Times:" 1914-1945 199 vn. Anti-Nuclearism and Self-Determination 220 1. A Palauan Perception of Nuclearism and Its Influence on the Palauan Political Processes 221 2. Palauan Ethnic Pride Runs High: Secession or Unity? 223 3. People of Palau Construct and Defend the World's First Nuclear-Free Constitution for the Republic of Palau 228 vm. The Japanese Proposal for Nuclear Dumping in the Micronesian Ocean 236 IX. Compact Money vs. Nuclear-Free Constitution 244 X. A Summary and Notes 249 Chapter 4: The Strategic Fronts: Selected Truths and Reflected Selves in Ethnographies 252 I. Introduction 252 n. Arthur J. Vidich 253 m. Machiko Aoyagi 277 IV. Comments on Both Works 327 Chapter 5: Epilogue 332 Works Cited 347 v LIST OF MAPS 1. Map of Palau vii vi Kayangel Atoll a 5 10 15 20 :-.') I I,I I .. : Statute Miles '\t~~r \. \ Reef \~~ "';. r -t .... \...;. J.... ,...~ \ '..:_...~~ ~ ~ ..")' ') \ V . 1\' , /_ i l Ngerchelong .r""· ~ Chol ~.l ..... ,A ,.....,.. Ngaraard Ngardmau : j Ngiwal / Melekeok Ngatpang 7°30' N Ngchesar Aimeliik t North Ajrai Koror Peleliu Island Angaur Island ,f;1 Map 1. Map of Palau vii PLACE NAMES OF PALAU There are several spellings for Palauan place names. I below listed state names in Palau. Several village names which I employed in this thesis are also listed under the state names. More than one spelling of a place appear in the thesis, because of various spellings used by authors whom I cited. Belau I Palau Ngerchelong I Ngarchelong I Ngerechelong Ngcheangell Kayangel Ngebei Ngeriungs Ollei Orak Ngerard I Ngaraard I Ngarard Choll Choll Ngebuked Ngeklau Ulimang Ngerdemau I Ngardemau Ngiuall Ngiwal Ngeremlengui Melekeok Ngetbang I Ngatpang Ibobang Ngchesar Imeliik I Aimeliik Irrai I Airai Oreor I Koror Beliliou I Peleliu Ngerchol Ngerdelolek Ngeaur I Angaur Sungesoll Sonsorol Hatachobei I Hatahobei viii Introduction "Even the best ethnographic texts---serious. true fictions--are systems, or economies, of truth. Power and history work through them. in ways their authors cannot fully control" (James Clifford). 1 My first encounter with Modekngei was in the summer of 1995 when I was introduced by my professor at the Center for the Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i. to an ethnographic monograph. written by a Japanese anthropologist. Machiko Aoyagi. 2 Being a Japanese woman, and a student who is interested in Belau/Palau,:9 it was an exciting invitation for me to learn about Japanese ethnographic work, which, until then, I had not had a chance to study closely. In her book, Aoyagi describes Modekngei as a new religion, started by a shaman name Temedad from Chol village in Palau, that emerged around 1914 when the Japanese naval forces occupied the islands, formerly under the German adiministration. She mentions that there is an alternative interpretation 1 James Clifford. "Introduction: Partial Truths," in Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, ed. by James Clifford and George E. Marcus, (Berkeley, Los Angeles & London: University of California Press, 1986),7. 2 Machiko Aoyagi, MOdekugei: Mikuronesbia Parao no Shin-Sh'iikvO [Modeknge;: New Religion in Palau. Micronesia], (Tokyo: Shinsensha, 1985). This book is in a process of translation from Japanese to English. The best summary of her work, currently available in English, is id., "Gods of the Modekngei Religion in Belau," in Cultural Uniformity and Diversity in Micronesia, ed. by Iwao Ushijima and Kenichi Sudo, Senri Ethnological Studies, no. 21, (Osaka: National Museum of Ethnology, 1987). :9 Both Belau and Palau are used as names of the nation. Following the official employment of "Palau" in the English version of the Constitution of the Republic of Palau, I choose to use Palau, not Belau, in this thesis. 1 made by an American anthropologist, Arthur J. Vidich, who characterizes Modekngei as an anti-Japanese political movement. 4 Her discussion of Vidich's account is brief (about five pages in Chapter 8: Teikou Undo to Shite no Modekugei [Modekngei as a Resistant Movement]),5 but it comes quite clear that she strongly disagrees with Vidich's perspective on Modekngei. Aoyagi argues that Vidich's research was conducted right after World War II, in an atmosphere where all Japanese were considered as criminals of war. 6 She speculates, therefore, that Palauan people provided the American ethnographer with what he wanted to hear and that Vidich himself could have selectively emphasized the anti-Japanese aspects of the movement. 7 With this criticism in mind, Aoyagi began her eleven-year research on Modekngei in 1973. From 1973 to 1984, she conducted her fieldwork in Palau with seven visits ranging in time from one to four months. e She points out that during her fieldwork, all her informants, both Modekngei followers and former policemen 4 Arthur J. Vidich, Political Factionalism in Palau: Its Rise and Deyelopment. CIMA Report, no.23, (Washington: Pacific Science Board, National Research Council, 1949); and id., "The Political Impact of Colonial Administration," Thesis (Ph.D.), Harvard University, 1952. Microfilm 1650, in Hamilton Library, University of Hawai'i. 5 Translation by Aoyagi, Aoyagi, Modekugei. Appendix (2). 6 Vidich worked as a researcher for the CIMA (Coordinated Investigation of Micronesian Anthropology) in 1948. See Chapter 2 for more information. 7 Aoyagi, Modekugei, 219-220. e Ibid., 6. There are discrepancies in information concerning Aoyagi's first entry in Palau. Although Aoyagi in her monograph states that her first visit to Palau was in 1973, the introduction of a book, Mikuronesia no Bunks Jinruigakutek; KenkyU [Cultural Anthropological Research in Micronesia], in which one of Aoyagi's article is compiled, reports that she was in Palau in 1972 for about four months. I choose to stay with the information provided by Aoyagi herself. 2 during the Japanese administration, testified to her that Modekngei was never an anti-Japanese movement. 9 By contrasting the statements of these Palauan people, she refutes Vidich's argument about the anti-Japanese nature of Modekngei. Aoyagi's account was intriguing to me in two ways; I sensed "something" strongly appealing to me about the nature of Modekngei, and at the same time, the discrepancies in interpretations and representations of a history of a social phenomenon, made by two scholars from two different nations, grabbed my interest.