Download or read book Traditional Micronesian Societies written by Glenn Petersen and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2009-06-30 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traditional Micronesian Societies explores the extraordinary successes of the ancient voyaging peoples who first settled the Central Pacific islands some two thousand years ago. They and their descendants devised social and cultural adaptations that have enabled them to survive—and thrive—under the most demanding environmental conditions. The dispersed matrilineal clans so typical of Micronesian societies ensure that every individual, every local family and lineage, and every community maintain close relations with the peoples of many other islands. When hurricanes and droughts or political struggles force a group to move, they are sure of being taken in by kin residing elsewhere. Out of this common theme, shared patterns of land tenure, political rule, philosophy, and even personal character have flowed. To describe and explain Micronesian societies, the author begins with an overview of the region, including a brief consideration of the scholarly debate about whether Micronesia actually exists as a genuine and meaningful region. This is followed by an account of how Micronesia was originally settled, how its peoples adapted to conditions there, and how several basic adaptations diffused throughout the islands. He then considers the fundamental matters of descent (ideas about how individuals and groups are bound together through ties of kinship) and descent groups and the closely interlinked subjects of households, families, land, and labor. Because women form the core of the clans, their roles are particularly respected and their contributions to social life honored. Socio-political life, art, religion, and values are discussed in detail. Finally, the author examines a number of exceptions to these common Micronesian patterns of social life. Traditional Micronesian Societies illustrates the idiosyncrasies of individual Micronesian communities and celebrates the Micronesians’ shared ability to adapt, survive, and thrive over millennia. At a time when global climate change has seized our imaginations, the Micronesians’ historical ability to cope with their watery environment is of the greatest relevance.
Download or read book The Federated States of Micronesia s Engagement with the Outside World written by Gonzaga Puas and published by ANU Press. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study addresses the neglected history of the people of the Federated States of Micronesia’s (FSM) engagement with the outside world. Situated in the northwest Pacific, FSM’s strategic location has led to four colonial rulers. Histories of FSM to date have been largely written by sympathetic outsiders. Indigenous perspectives of FSM history have been largely absent from the main corpus of historical literature. A new generation of Micronesian scholars are starting to write their own history from Micronesian perspectives and using Micronesian forms of history. This book argues that Micronesians have been dealing successfully with the outside world throughout the colonial era in ways colonial authorities were often unaware of. This argument is sustained by examination of oral histories, secondary sources, interviews, field research and the personal experience of a person raised in the Mortlock Islands of Chuuk State. It reconstructs how Micronesian internal processes for social stability and mutual support endured, rather than succumbing to the different waves of colonisation. This study argues that colonisation did not destroy Micronesian cultures and identities, but that Micronesians recontextualised the changing conditions to suit their own circumstances. Their success rested on the indigenous doctrines of adaptation, assimilation and accommodation deeply rooted in the kinship doctrine of eaea fengen (sharing) and alilis fengen (assisting each other). These values pervade the Constitution of the FSM, which formally defines the modern identity of its indigenous peoples, reasserting and perpetuating Micronesian values and future continuity.
Download or read book Summoning the Powers Beyond written by Jay Dobbin and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2011-09-30 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summoning the Powers Beyond collects and reconstructs the old religions of preindustrial Micronesia. It draws mostly from written sources from the turn of the nineteenth century and the period immediately after World War II: reports of the Hamburg South Sea Expedition of 1908–1910, articles by German Roman Catholic missionaries in Micronesia included in the journal Anthropos, and reports by the Coordinated Investigation of Micronesian Anthropology (CIMA) and the American Board of Commissioners of the Foreign Missions (ABCFM). A detailed introduction and an overview of Micronesian religion are followed by separate chapters detailing religion in the Chuukic-speaking islands, Pohnpei, Kosrae, the Marshall Islands, Yap, Palau, Kiribati, and Nauru. The Chamorro-speaking group of the Marianas is omitted because lengthy periods of intense military and missionary activity eradicated most of the local religion. The Polynesian outliers Nukuoro and Kapingamarangi are discussed at the end primarily to underscore the contrasts between Polynesian and Micronesian religion. In a concluding chapter, the author highlights the similarities and differences between the areas within Micronesia and then attempts an appreciation or evaluation of Micronesia religion. Finally, he addresses the evidence of a tentative hypothesis that Micronesian religion is sufficiently different from that of Polynesia and Melanesia to justify the continued claim of a separate Micronesian religion.
Download or read book Making Sense of Micronesia written by Francis X. Hezel and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2013-04-30 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why are islanders so lavishly generous with food and material possessions but so guarded with information? Why do these people, unfailingly polite for the most part, laugh openly when others embarrass themselves? What does a smile mean to an islander? What might a sudden lapse into silence signify? These questions are common in encounters with an unfamiliar Pacific Island culture. Making Sense of Micronesia is intended for westerners who find themselves in contact with Micronesians—as teachers, social workers, health-care providers, or simply as friends—and are puzzled by their island ways. It is for anyone struggling to make sense of cultural exchanges they don’t quite understand. The author focuses on the guts of island culture: the importance of the social map, the tension between the individual and social identity, the ways in which wealth and knowledge are used, the huge importance of respect, emotional expression and its restraints, island ways of handling both conflict and intimacy, the real but indirect power of women. Far from a theoretical exposition, the book begins and ends with the real-life behavior of islanders. Each section of every chapter is introduced by a vignette that illustrates the theme discussed. The book attempts to explain island behavior, as curious as it may seem to outsiders at times, against the over-riding pattern of values and attitudes that have always guided island life. Even as the author maps the cultural terrain of Micronesia, he identifies those areas where island logic and the demands of the modern world conflict: the “dilemmas of development.” In some cases, changes are being made; in others, the very features of island culture that were highly functional in the past may remain so even today. Overall, he advocates restraint—in our judgments on island practices, in our assumption that many of these are dysfunctional, and in leading the charge for “development” before understanding the broader context of the culture we are trying to convert.
Download or read book Micronesia at the Crossroads written by Carl Heine and published by Honolulu : University Press of Hawaii. This book was released on 1974 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book An Introduction to the Peoples and Cultures of Micronesia written by William H. Alkire and published by Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company. This book was released on 1977 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book provides the first overall survey of the peoples and cultures of Micronesia since the anthropological information explosion on the area began in the 1950s. It attempts to summarize these studies in a logical and coherent fashion. Ten island societies of Micronesia have been selected and discussed in some detail; these societies reflect a range of cultural adaptations to the varying microenvironments of the region. An attempt is made throughout to emphasize similarities in organizational patterns, where such exist, without losing sight of individuality."--Preface.
Download or read book Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia written by Evelyn Flores and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2019-04-30 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the first time, poetry, short stories, critical and creative essays, chants, and excerpts of plays by Indigenous Micronesian authors have been brought together to form a resounding—and distinctly Micronesian—voice. With over two thousand islands spread across almost three million square miles of the Pacific Ocean, Micronesia and its peoples have too often been rendered invisible and insignificant both in and out of academia. This long-awaited anthology of contemporary indigenous literature will reshape Micronesia’s historical and literary landscape. Presenting over seventy authors and one hundred pieces, Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia features nine of the thirteen basic language groups, including Palauan, Chamorro, Chuukese, I-Kiribati, Kosraean, Marshallese, Nauruan, Pohnpeian, and Yapese. The volume editors, from Micronesia themselves, have selected representative works from throughout the region—from Palau in the west, to Kiribati in the east, to the global diaspora. They have reached back for historically groundbreaking work and scouted the present for some of the most cited and provocative of published pieces and for the most promising new authors. Richly diverse, the stories of Micronesia’s resilient peoples are as vast as the sea and as deep as the Mariana Trench. Challenging centuries-old reductive representations, writers passionately explore seven complex themes: “Origins” explores creation, foundational, and ancestral stories; “Resistance” responds to colonialism and militarism; “Remembering” captures diverse memories and experiences; “Identities” articulates the nuances of culture; “Voyages” maps migration and diaspora; “Family” delves into interpersonal and community relationships; and “New Micronesia” gathers experimental, liminal, and cutting-edge voices. This anthology reflects a worldview unique to the islands of Micronesia, yet it also connects to broader issues facing Pacific Islanders and indigenous peoples throughout the world. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Pacific, indigenous, diasporic, postcolonial, and environmental studies and literatures.
Download or read book Memories of War written by Suzanne Falgout and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2016-06-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Micronesians often liken the Pacific War to a typhoon, one that swept away their former lives and brought dramatic changes to their understandings of the world and their places in it. Whether they spent the war in bomb shelters, in sweet potato fields under the guns of Japanese soldiers, or in their homes on atolls sheltered from the war, Micronesians who survived those years know that their peoples passed through a major historical transformation. Yet Pacific War histories scarcely mention the Islanders across whose lands and seas the fighting waged. Memories of War sets out to the fill that historical gap by presenting the missing voices of Micronesians and by viewing those years from their perspectives. The focus is on Micronesian remembrances—the ritual commemorations, features of the landscape, stories, dances, and songs that keep their memories of the conflict alive. The inclusion of numerous and extensive interviews and songs is an important feature of this book, allowing Micronesians to speak for themselves about their experiences. In addition, they also reveal distinctively Micronesian cultural memories of war. Memories of War preserves powerful and poignant memories for Micronesians; it also demonstrates to students of history and culture the extent to which cultural practices and values shape the remembrance of personal experience.
Download or read book Some Things of Value written by Community College of Micronesia and published by Nicholson. This book was released on 1983 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Micronesian Legends written by Bo Flood and published by Bess Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Retells sixty-eight traditional legends of the islands, including creation myths and tales of duhendes, dancing trickster elves of the jungle.
Download or read book Understanding Law in Micronesia written by Brian Z. Tamanaha and published by BRILL. This book was released on 1993 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines law in Micronesia through a focus on the meaningful actions and understandings of legal actors and non-legal actors. It addresses subjects which range from the nature of legal thinking to the autonomy of law.
Download or read book Ethnology of Polynesia and Micronesia written by Ralph Linton and published by . This book was released on 1926 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The New Shape of Old Island Cultures written by Francis X. Hezel and published by University of Hawaii Press. This book was released on 2001-05-01 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The years since World War II have brought unprecedented social change to Micronesia. Now, drawing on more than four decades of experience living and working in the region, Francis X. Hezel assesses the most striking changes to have swept over the islands in the past fifty years. His careful and comprehensive reading of Micronesian anthropology and history allows him to present insights into patterns of change touching the lives of not only Micronesians but people in other parts of the Pacific as well. The broad range of topics covered include family structure, land, gender roles, cultural treatment of life events (birth, marriage, death), sexuality, political authority, and demography and migration. Hezel argues that the primary engine of social change in Micronesia has been the dramatic shift from subsistence fishing and gardening to salaried employment in a cash economy. He makes the case that this fundamental change has fragmented the extended family, changed the way land is viewed, revolutionized gender roles, and paved the way for an ethics of individualism.
Download or read book Micronesians on the Move written by Francis X. Hezel and published by . This book was released on 2013 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Is rising emigration proof of a Pacific Island nation's failure to fulfill its economic promise and provide the jobs that its citizens seek in a modernized society? Or is it a legitimate alternative development strategy that depends on the export of surplus labor in lieu of the more conventional methods recommended by donor nations and international financial institutions? In this report, Francis X. Hezel, SJ, sheds light on these questions by reviewing the 30-year history of migration from one Pacific Island nation, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and examining the current status of its migrants. Hezel reports that although out-migration from the FSM began in small numbers in 1980, the outflow intensified when the Compact of Free Association went into effect in 1986. In return for exclusive strategic access by the United States, the Compact granted FSM citizens free entry into the United States and its territories to establish residence and work. This report traces the growth of the early Micronesian communities on Guam and Saipan, and the subsequent migration eastward to Hawaiʻi and the continental United States. Today, one-third of all people born in the FSM live outside their island nation. Hezel presents the results of a groundbreaking 2012 survey of Micronesian migrants, showing that an ever-increasing segment of the migrant population is putting down roots in the US mainland. There, despite difficulties they encounter, these individuals and families are able to find more plentiful jobs, a reduced cost of living, and an environment without some of the negative stereotypes that grip fellow migrants in Guam and Hawaiʻi. Hezel tracks the changes in their living conditions and shows that even if Micronesian migration continues at the same pace as in the past, it is clear that the living conditions of these FSM citizens are improving, as are their potential contributions to American society and to their friends and family back home.
Download or read book Micronesian Resources Study written by Patricia Lee Parker and published by . This book was released on 1994 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Americanization of Micronesia written by Roger W. Gale and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Micronesian Reporter written by and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
