Yap Definition History

Yap is known for its stone coinage, known as rai or fei: large carved discs in the shape of a calcite fritter (usually), up to 4 m (12 ft) in diameter (most are much smaller). The smallest can be as small as 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters) in diameter. [3] Many of them were brought from other islands as far away as New Guinea, but most came from Palau in ancient times. Their value is based on both the size of the stone and its history. Historically, the Yapese cherished discs because the material resembled quartz, and they were the brightest objects available. Eventually, the stones became legal tender and were even mandatory for some payments. [4] 1919 A secret treaty between Japan and Great Britain, guaranteeing Japanese control over all Pacific islands north of the equator, is announced to the world in the Treaty of Versailles. 1500 BC Yap is populated by migrants from eastern Indonesia or the Philippines. Archaeologists are still studying the issue of migration and have not conclusively clarified when or how the Yap Islands were colonized. The arrival of the settlers could have taken place as early as two to three thousand BC.

In 1969, the Congress of Micronesia and the United States began the first round of negotiations on the future political status of the districts of the Trust Territory. Until the arrival of the German colonizers, the caste rank system was fluid and the ranks of villages and families changed in response to intrigues and clashes between villages. In the early twentieth century, however, the German colonial administration pacified Yap and imposed a ban on violent conflict. The classification of the castes of each village in the modern Yap therefore remains the same as when the system was frozen by the Germans. In pre-European times, Yap was the center of a cultural space that stretched from Palau in the west to the surroundings of the Chuuk Islands in the east. From this period date vast ruins and the famous use of silver in stone slab by the islanders. Yap was probably sighted by Portuguese sailors in 1526. It was nominally controlled by Spain after its rediscovery in 1686 by Spanish galleon captain Francisco Lazeano. In 1899 it fell to Germany. Meanwhile, David O`Keefe, an American, founded a business empire based on supplying the Yapese with traditional stone (which he imported from Palau) in exchange for copra. German authorities have turned Yap into a cable underwater communications center.

After the islands came under Japanese control in 1919, they became a point of conflict until the United States and Japan reached an agreement (1921) on the use of cable installations. Yap was a Japanese air and naval base during World War II. It became part of the United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in 1947 and part of the newly formed Federated States of Micronesia in 1986. From the 17th century until 1899, Yap was a Spanish colony within the Captaincy General of the Philippines of Spanish India. The Spanish used Yap Island as a prison for those captured during the Philippine Revolution. [16]: 204–212 After the defeat by the United States in 1898 and the subsequent loss of the Philippines, Spain sold these islands and its other smaller Pacific possessions to Germany. Yap was an island of villages that were at war with each other. After each war, the strongest village ruled over the weakest village. As a result, a sophisticated caste system developed. Other high villages in Gagil Municipality such as Gachpar and Wanyan had a very strong influence on the outer islands of Yap, which became known as the Yapese Empire. The German trading post brought little change to Yap. The trading post also had little success, as they failed to convince the Yapese to produce large quantities of dried copra.

This was left to a shipwrecked American sailor, David Dean O`Keefe, to develop the copra trade and perhaps bring about most of the changes in Yap`s way of life. Yap, the largest island, has a central chain of hills that rises to Taabiywol, 568 feet (173 meters), and is densely forested. Temperatures are fairly constant throughout the year. The average monthly temperature is about 80 °F (28 °C) and the average annual precipitation is about 3,000 mm (120 inches). Colonia, the capital of Yap State, is located on the east coast of Yap Island. The Yapese and the nearby island of Yapese were among the most famous sailors in the Pacific. Yapese sailors traveled phenomenal distances in outrigger canoes, without the aid of a compass, navigating the stars and patterns of ocean waves using Micronesian and Polynesian navigation techniques. During the pre-colonial period, the people of Yap established an island kingdom and domination over the present-day neighboring islands of Yap State. From the 19th century, Yap was successively colonized by the Spanish, Germans and Japanese. The “faluw” is the “house of men”; Such buildings were built on the coast with easy access to the sea. Before the First World War, women were kidnapped and taken to Faluw. Today, this practice no longer takes place.

Women considered it an honor to be selected for the Faluw because only the most beautiful women were brought there. One of these women was called the “mispil” (resident woman) of Faluw. As the island`s culture became increasingly influenced by the rest of the world`s views on prostitution, this practice came to an end. [9] Yap Islands, formerly Guap, West Carolina Islands, Federated States of Micronesia. The archipelago includes the islands of Gagil-Tamil, Maap, Rumung and Yap (also called Rull, Uap or Yapa) in a coral reef. Raising the German flag1885 The Spanish-German quarrel reaches its peak. On August 21, two Spanish ships arrived with a governor, two priests, soldiers, condemned laborers, horses, water buffalo, cattle and stones for a governor`s house and a mission. Four days later, the German gunboat Litis dropped anchor and a small group rushed ashore to hoist a German flag and claim the island – just before the official colonization ceremony the Spanish were planning.

And like many companies, the people at Yap took what they had, what was pretty – their version of gold – and decided it was money. 1902 The Germans choose a boy from each municipality to train as a military doctor and create municipal medical posts.