I Ll8ra~V POSTCOLONIAL TRANSFORMATION in YAP
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~- UNIVERSITY OF H.~:NA!'I Ll8RA~V POSTCOLONIAL TRANSFORMATION IN YAP: TRADITION, BALLOT BOXES AND A CONSTITUTION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DMSION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I IN PARTIAL FULLFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PlflLOSOPHY IN POLITICAL SCIENCE MAY 2008 By Suzanne A. Acord Dissertation Committee: Neal Milner, Chairperson Bruce Barnes Kathy Ferguson Ira Rohter James Skouge We certify that we have read this dissertation and that, in our opinion. it is satisfactory in scope and quality as a dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. DISSERTATION COMMITIEE ~~ ~~.~ :B ~ t:-]3f.lJvcY' ~ Q:;k§;:---- ff<~r=== ii ©, 2008, Suzanne A. Acord iii ABSTRACT Numerous cultures, traditions and languages can be found in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), but all of the FSM states have undergone similar changes in culture and island life due to foreign occupations. In Yap, specifically, political structures are steeped in oral tradition and chants, some of which outline the beginnings of Yap's caste and village hierarchies. Eventually, imperialism affected these structures and remnants of the imperial powers continue to influence Yap today. The FSM states modeled their governments after Western governments, but they incorporated stipulations meant to protect tradition. Each constitution protects tradition to a different degree. As a new FSM state, Yap created a constitution that integrates traditional practices into a new democratic structure. The Yapese created a fourth branch of government that consists of two councils of chiefs. These councils review all legislation to ensure that it coincides with tradition. They are ultimately tasked with protecting Yapese tradition within a democratic framework. The Yap State Constitution recognizes traditional leaders while providing leadership roles to groups who have not historically been given leadership roles including women and lower castes. Interviews with Yapese chiefs, villagers and legislators, along with an analysis ofFSM and Yap constitutional convention minutes illustrate Yap's efforts to combine democracy with tradition. These hybrid compromises were a break from tradition and may have initially been created out of historical necessity, but they did indeed provide new rights to groups who wouldn't otherwise have them. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract. ....................................................................................... .iv Chapter 1: The Ins and Outs of Research on yap ......................................... 1 Chapter 2: Foreign Encroachment in Micronesia ........................................ 22 A brief history ........................... '" ...................................24 The Spanish take controL ...................................................25 German influence ........................ " ...................................27 The Japanese take control.. .................................................29 The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands is formed ....................34 Chapter 3: Culture and Constitutionalism in the FSM .................................. .45 The land debate ..............................................................51 US involvement in the convention ........................................ 55 We can't forget the Marshallese .......................................... 58 Tradition in the constitution ................................................62 The Compact of Free Association .........................................67 Chapter 4: Pacific Island Hybridity ......................................................... 74 Chapter 5: Yapese Politics Old and New.................................................. 85 Yap's blend of tradition and democracy .................................. 94 Yap's constitutional convention .......................................... 101 Politics, culture and women ............................................... 11 0 Yap's fourth branch of government. ..................................... 125 Further attempts to maintain culture ..................................... 134 Chapter 6: Conclusion: What is Yapese Tradition? .............................................. 138 Menstruation practices ..................................................... 140 Respect ...................................................................... 145 Bibliography .................................................................................. 152 v Chapter 1. The Ins and Outs of Research on Yap I spent hundreds of days sitting in a thatched roofkoyeng staring at the sea and pondering Yap's system oflaw between 1998-2000. As a Peace Corps volunteer, I chewed countless betelnuts while trying to pry Yapese culture out of my host mothers, aunts, uncles and colleagues. Sometimes they would voluntarily share customs and traditions, but usually this was during relevant activities such as gardening or walking to school. I lived with two host families in Maap, Yap, a ruraI municipality in northeast Yap. Throughout my two years of service I helped to open a school library and I taught 7th and 8th grade English at Maap Community School. My job and living situation allowed me to regularly converse with villagers, chiefs and lawmakers. One host family was directly related to the chief ofMaap municipality, which allowed me to gain insight I probably wouldn't have gained otherwise. I often conversed with village chiefs and the municipal chief during school board meetings and school trips. On one occasion, I accompanied our 8th graders, parents, teachers and two municipal chiefs to Palau for a cultural exchange trip. These experiences helped me to forge relationships with the community, which proved to be useful during my interviews that would take place years later. I frequently heard the Yapese refer to traditional councils of chiefs who apparently held quite a bit of political power. These councils always sparked my interest and I was constantly seeking out more information about them. Upon first hearing of the councils, I was honestly just plain interested in them because they are unlike anything I had heard of in the US. Over time, I began to understand their purpose and their significance to Yapese culture and politics. Now, ten years later, I 1 aim to make a significant contribution to literature on Yap through research and more importantly through the facilitation and analysis of interviews with Yapese about Yapese culture, politics and more specifically, the councils of chiefs. These interviews create a substantial and meaningful portion of my dissertation. I used experiences learned from past ethnographers along with archival research, personal experiences, observations, a literature review and interviews with numerous Yapese to formulate my research approach and agenda My research agenda soon centered around the question I often pondered while living in Yap: How and why does Yap combine Western and traditional. law? This is now my guiding question. Lynn Wilson, author of Speaking to Power, performed ethnographic research in the Republic of Palau. In Speaking to Power, she states that "she [conducted] research with people living in a group of islands that the government of [her] own country had held hostage both politically and economically ... " (41). Because of our similar research situation (I being an American performing research in Yap), I've remained sensitive to the fact that I, too, interviewed people who have experienced American imperialism first hand. Hence, I might embody imperialism to some of my interviewees. I may represent imperialism to those I spoke with, however unlike Lynn Wilson, I have prior experience living in Yap with Yapese host families. In Yap, I tended the taro patch with the women, I gardened around the house, I scaled the fish, and I attempted to cook traditional Yapese foods, although usually unsuccessfully. I believe my experience living with villagers created a connection between those I later interviewed and myself. I lived in Yap from 1998-2000 and returned in 2001 and 2 2006 to carry out research. Although these experiences undoubtedly allowed me access to people and information that are not usually accessible to outsiders, I certainIy didn't feel like an insider while living in Yap. Merton sums up my experiences well through the statement, ''we are all, of course, both Insiders and Outsiders ..... (Naples, 22). For most of my two years in Yap, I felt awkward and unsure of myself. I was never exactly sure if! was dressed appropriately, if I was eating correctly or if I was just downright offensive. I was constantly aware of my lack of cultural skills. I can only blame myself for these feeIings of insecurity as my families and coIleagues were nothing but supportive, accepting and caring. On the other hand, when I returned to Yap for research, my interactions with my in-laws and host families gave me the sense that I was indeed an insider, for research purposes at least. Sally Merry, author of Colonizing Hawaii, also incorporated ethnography into her research analysis on the transformation oflaw in Hawaii. Unlike Wilson, Merry seems to have relied more on legal documents and used an "archival" approach during her research. But Merry did interview many people who were involved in the events she discusses in her book. She interviewed attorneys, plantation managers, descendents oflunas and members of the Native Hawaiian resistance movement (Merry, 10-11). I initially believed that I would use my interviews