This is the third in a series of blog entries chronicling the modern history of the Ulithi Atoll. For background information see Part I, which covers 1529 to 1730, and Part II, which covers from 1731 to 1899.

At the conclusion of the Spanish America War the United States sought to strip Spain of any of lingering colonies or possessions that might interfere with America’s manifest destiny to reign as the primary power in the Western Hemisphere. This extended to Philippines, which provided so lucrative to its former owners, but not to the smaller and more scattered Islands of Micronesia. America also seemed eager for Spain to have available the liquid cash assets necessary for war reparations. With the consent of the United States, Germany purchased both the Carolines and the Marianas from Spain in 1899. Guam was the sole exception, being retained by the U.S., and it seems to have served the same purpose of naval and economic port of security and transit that the Spanish employed it as.

A German cruiser in Microneisa, circa 1876 Copyright Kingdom of Yap.org

The Germans, like the Spanish before them, were much more interested in Yap Proper, than the smaller islands around it. While busy redistricting and attempting to commercialize Yap, they sent only a few vessels to the outer islands in order to buy Copra (dried coconut meat). This gave the Ulithians and other outer islanders a small amount of money for the purchase of basic goods. The Germans did decree some laws, such as a restriction of the tapping of coconut sap, but these were mostly ignored. The primary impact of the Germans seems to be their decree that extended canoe voyages between islands cease. This was enforced much more thoroughly than their other legislative efforts. Both the laws restricting intoxication and travel seemed to been intended to make the locals more orderly, or at least easier to rule. Following the Great War, Japan assumed control of the islands, as it had joined the cause of the Allies late in the war with the hope of gaining additional lands to increase its regional power.

THE JAPANESE
At the conclusion of the First World War the Allied Supreme Council created a mandate system that stripped the defeated nations of their colonies, and placed them as “temporary wards of the ‘advanced’ nations until they were able, in the words of what became Article 22 of the Covenant, ‘to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world .’” The un-advanced, were passed from the advanced losers to the advanced winners. The Mandate was termed a class “C” which designated those nations on the “’lowest’ stage of development; for them independence was not seen as an optional at all .”

A Japanese observation tower on Asor, photo copyright PacificWorlds.com taken by Drury C. Lee

The Japanese set up a very small presence on Ulithi during their League of Nations Mandate and later Military occupation of Yap (and Micronesia). The location of this small group of rotating men, never more than a dozen at a time, on Asor served to up-heave the traditional power system on Mogmog in small ways. Although active prostylization did not occur on Ulithi itself the Japanese were pleased to tolerate Catholicism on Ulithi, as it seemed to promote order and subservience in the locals throughout the mandate . The Japanese relocated some Ulithians, mostly young males, in order to attend school in Yap Proper. A handful were later sent to trade schools as far way as Palau or the Marianas. Those who were in Yap at the onset of the War were to remain there until the conclusion of Pacific Theatre hostilities, and were often employed in military construction projects such as runway repair. In the years immediately leading up to the War, there was also relocation of some Ulithian men to work at the phosphate mines on Fais. Others went to Angur in Palau to work as unskilled manual labor in pursuance of the goals of the Greater East Asian Co-prosperity Sphere. Not as much interested with (or concerned by) the fact that Japan was able to create conditions for net exportation of goods such as rice and sugar in the region as a whole most contemporary Ulithians note only that it was a period characterized by strict order and development.

As well as locals, some American observers have painted a very glossy version of events during the period. A reporter for the Saturday Evening Post noted in early 1964 that “by the mid-1930s energetic Japanese had colonized extensively, building sugar mills and pearl centers, mines, fisheries, and a thriving copra trade. The major islands, bustling centers for commerce became progressive modern in their way of life.” Indeed there were a few sites hosting great leaps in development, but on the whole this is a rather simplified take on a mercantilist / colonial system, that was for a time directly controlled through a military apparatus, and included a limited use of coerced labor as the War came to an end and the Japanese were under greater attack .

We might do well to question the degree of direct impact the Japanese had on Ulithi itself. In his Pacific Islands Douglas L. Oliver illustrates a juxtaposition of the larger islands (contemporary state capitals) where “native life was transformed, sometimes beyond recognition” and those “out-islands” including Ulithi Atoll where the foreign influence was less direct and significant . He argues that with “no immediate Japanese need for their lands or persons they were left for the next batch of foreign masters to transform.” These next “masters” were the Americans who brought with them many shifts in life and thought.


Part IV will cover from 1944 through to the 1960s.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based non profit organization dedicated to promoting educational opportunities and accomplishments in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands.

This is the second in a series of blog entries chronicling the modern history of the Ulithi Atoll. For background information see Part I which covers 1529 to 1730.

Fathers Contova and Walter, as well as a small contingent of Spanish soldiers, sailors, and alter boys arrived in on Ulithi in 1731. They remained on Mogmog a short while, but chose to set up shop on Falalop due to the greater space and more ready availability of fresh water. They had brought within them a young man from Ulithi, who had arrived on Guam when his canoe veered far off course. He had taught the Fathers his tongue, and was assumed to be an essential component of their conversion efforts. In fact he spoke to the Ulithians fearfully of the things he had seen in Guam, of the manner in which the Chamorro were oppressed by their captors. When the bulk of the Spanish had left to secure additional supplies from Guam, those remaining behind, including Father Cantova, were killed by the Ulithians.

Father Cantova's Map of the Outer Islands. Reproduced in History of Micronesia: A Collection of Source Documents, Volume 13, complied and edited by Rodrique Lévesque, Lévesque Publications, 1992.

Father Spilimbemgo, who authored a contemporary biography of Walter explained how after stabbing and then accusing the Jesuit of destroying their customs, the “barbarians attacked him with two more spears, to finish him off: one pierced him in the chest and the other one went through his left side again.” Spilimbemgo, who likely heard a third hand tale, goes on to point out the symbolic value of three (recalling the trinity) sheddings of blood demonstrating his “charity” , and then explains that all this occurred on the shore of Mogmog, with the rest of the Spanish contingent on Falalop being killed later in the same day.

Although the Spanish may have reached Yap Proper as early as 1527 (Alvardo di Saaverdra Ceron), and most certainly did by 1542 (Ruy Lopez de Villalobos), they did not come to remain in a formal capacity or create a permanent presence until 1885. During this period the Germans were increasingly active in the region, primarily interested in the Copra trade, and they attempted to make a claim on Yap as well. Pope Leo XII settled the dispute by assigning the Marianas and Carolines to Spain, while allowing the Germans control of the Marshall Islands to the east . Although they created a station in Yap Proper, the Spanish did not construct any significant or permanent presence in the outer islands.

Chiefs and leaders on the Island of Mogmog. Photographer unknown. Reproduced in Lessa, Willam A. Ulithi: A Micronesian Design for Living, Holt, Rhinehart and Winston Inc. New York, 1966.

Dave Bird, in his Yap Regains Its Sovereignty explains how Yap State (meaning Yap Proper itself as well as all the outlying atolls and islands which collectively make up the contemporary political state – see map section) as a whole, and Yap Proper in particular, saw “relatively few changes” during the period of Spanish rule. The Spaniards introduced Catholicism (this time it held foot) as well as literacy to a limited degree by teaching Spanish as well as creating a Yapese Orthography. Changes on the Outer Islands were even less significant, and Bird outlines his account of the “outer island link in the old ‘Yap Empire’” which the Spanish did not alter .

Part III will cover the period from 1899 (when the Germans took possession of the Caroline Islands) through to the Japanese acquisition (after WW 1) and then loss (in WW2) of the islands.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based non profit organization dedicated to promoting educational opportunities and accomplishments in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands.

In response to requests from our volunteers and donors Habele will be writing a series of blog entires dealing with the modern history of the Ulithi Atoll. Particular attention will be paid to how contact with outsiders has influenced social, political, and economic changes on the Atoll.

Westerners first visited the Ulithians in 1525. From this point until the formal Spanish annexation of Yap and it’s surrounding areas in 1885, the Ulithians received infrequent outside visitors, as well as having occasional contact with the Spanish and Chamorro on Guam through canoe voyages (initially by accident, later by design). The latter post-contact period of Ulithian history is most easily categorized by the foreign occupying powers that formally controlled Micronesia. The Spanish (1885-1899), the Germans (1899 - 1914), the Japanese (1914 – 1944), and finally United States (Navy 1945-1951, Trust Territory 1952-1986).

Map of the Atoll of Ulithi, Copyright Habele.

To a great degree the changes and developments on Yap Proper influenced the Ulithians, though it was not until the American period that the Ulithians hosted a significant, and deeply influential, outsider’s presence on their Atoll.

Dioga da Rocha, a Portuguese Captain was blown off course (he was headed for the Philippines) and came upon Ulithi on the first of October in 1525. He termed the Atoll “Islas de Sequeira” and remained until the twentieth of January 1526, in order to make repairs and refurbish supplies. Limited trading occurred and the two sides seemed fascinated with one another, the Portuguese taking special note of the complex local canoes skillfully created without the use of metal.

The next recorded Ulithian contact with outsiders did not go as smoothly. In 1712 Bernard de Egui, a Spaniard, was heading west from Guam in the hope of relocating Palau. Knowing that there was once a Spanish priest on Sonsorol, an outer island of Palau, Eugi came to Ulithi with the intention of taking captive a Ulithian to serve as a translator. Things got “confused” and as they were to depart from Ulithi, the Spanish fired a canon, killing three natives. The Ulithians in turn killed a Spaniard aboard one of their canoes, after which the Egui quickly set off, with a Ulithian trapped aboard his vessel to serve as the intended translator.

Two centuries prior Magellan had passed through the Central Pacific on his way to the Philippines (where he was killed) during his 1519 – 1521 voyage. In 1668 the Spanish created a small outpost in the Marianas, located on Guam. It was initially considered a branch of their Manila presence, which was overextended. The primary function of a Spanish presence in the Central Pacific was to ensure a safe route for the Spanish Galleons, carrying their loot from the Philippine Islands to Spanish Settlements in South America. The Spanish Jesuits on Guam were cognizant of the islands to the south of Guam, as a number of canoes from the Outer Islands of Yap had strayed off course, depositing their crews on Guam. Other canoes from the Outer Islands had reached as far as the Philippines in much the same manner. In the late 1720s the fathers began a campaign to secure funding and material from the Spanish Throne in order to set out on a mission of discovery and conversion.

A traditional sailing canoe seen from the shore of Falalop, Ulithi. Copyright Habele.

Part II will cover the period from 1731 (when Fathers Contova and Walter landed on Ulithi) through to the end of the Spanish period in 1899.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based non profit organization dedicated to promoting educational opportunities and accomplishments in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands.

Habele volunteers sent off instructional materials to Head Start centers on the Ulithi Atoll late this week. The shipment, the third this year to Head Start, was organized by a retired couple who visited the Outer Islands of Yap in 2004.

My husband and I had a wonderful time when we visited Ulithi in the course of our mid-Pacific travels. I was struck by the natural beauty of the islands and the warmth of the people. That said, it was frustrating to see how under-resourced the schools were. I knew there was an imperative to help, and I am glad that I can work through Habele to do just that!

Information on previous Head Start donations can be found here and here.

In other Habele news, volunteers and donors will be pleased to see that the United States Postal Service plans to reassign domestic address status to the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau. This will allow Habele to spend more money on scholarships and the purchase of supplies, and less on postage.

Volunteers are encouraged to check out the September 2007 edition of National geographic Traveler magazine (review here) for a ten-page article written by P.F. Kluge. Kluge’s The Edge of Paradise featured prominently in Habele’s Ten Great Books About Micronesia list released earlier this year.

The Habele Outer Island Education Fund is a US-based non profit organization dedicated to the advancement of educational opportunity and accomplishment in Micronesia's remote Outer Islands.