Monday, May 13, 2013

Yap – The Land of Stone Money

Traditional Dress
Yap, it is not the sound a small annoying dog makes; it is an island in the southwest Pacific.  Located just over 800 miles due east of the Philippine Islands, Yap is one four island states that make up the Federated States of Micronesia.  Spread out over one million square miles of ocean these small islands total only 271 square miles of land.  Getting here is not easy but well worth it.  The trip started in Seattle with an afternoon flight to LAX where I met up with my Helena Scuba friends.  We stayed overnight and caught an early flight to Honolulu.  After a short layover we boarded a 7.5 hour flight to Guam.  While in Guam we had enough time to take a short jaunt out of the airport to walk along the beach at Tumon Bay.  Back at the airport we caught a 3 hour flight to Yap arriving just after 1 am local time.  It was a 26 hour trip from LA!

As we came out of customs we were greeted by a lady dressed in a lava lava (traditional colorful grass skirt) and something like a lei that is woven from thick strips of palm leaves with small red flowers woven in.  She was topless but I did not realize that until later because the lei covered her very well.  She gave each of us a smaller version of her lei as we came out of customs.   Just like most tropical airports this one was completely open to the warm humid night air.
We were on Yap to scuba dive which I have already written about but we also discovered a very rich and traditional culture.  Part of the joy of travel is the research you do ahead of time but I have to admit I did absolutely no research on Yap before this trip.  In my mind, Yap was just a minor stop to see the Manta Rays so I spent my time reading about Palau. 
Men's House
I underestimated Yap!!  Populated well before the birth of Christ by sailors from Indonesia and the Philippines the Yapese have always been known for their great navigation skills.  When you live in a place that is less than .03% land and GPS has not been invented yet, you better know how to navigate by reading the sea, clouds and stars.  While the modern world has invaded Yap with mini-marts, cell phones and Wi-Fi many people still live a very traditional life.  The social structure is a caste system with a strict social rank and each area is led by a chief.  The men never change their social rank but women can change by marriage.  They still meet in community houses built out of palm leaves, coconut rope, tree trunks, and bamboo with low eves to keep out the sun but open sides to allow air flow.  They are very cool inside on a hot day.  Built the same, but a bit smaller is the “men’s house” where men hold meetings and just gather to get away.  Much like a man cave today, only no electricity for the big screen TV. 
Stone Money Bank
Their financial system historically consisted of various sizes of stone money that was carved from Palau and brought back to the island.  Even today local people still own stone money and use it to buy land and homes.  When you think of stone money, you think of small coin size pieces carved from stone, right?  Well no, their stone money ranges from small sizes like that to very large round stones taller than a man with a hole in the middle.  We visited a stone money “bank.”  It was a path lined with all sizes of round wheel-like stones each with a hole in the middle used to carry them back to the island.  The money never moves but does change ownership.  Its value comes in the history of the stone and how it was carved.  A small stone, carved by hand with a giant clam shell and brought over long ago on a wooden canoe is more valuable than a much larger stone carved with more modern metal tools and brought over on a large ship.  When the stone changes hands the current owner must pass down the history of the stone to the new owner.  A long rich history adds value to the stone. 
Betel Nut and Pepper Leaf
Something very unique to Yap and almost nowhere else is the chewing of Betel Nut.  This is an addiction that is much like smoking, chewing tobacco or habitual coffee drinking here in the states.  I don’t remember meeting one Yapese adult that did not chew Betel Nut.  The Betel Nut grows on a palm like tree; they pick a green nut, crack it in half, put lime inside (not the fruit, but ground up limestone) and wrap the whole thing in a pepper leaf.  Put it in the back of the mouth and slowly chew, spitting out the extra juice.  Doing this causes the juices to become a bright red color and if you did not know any better you might think a chewer was bleeding in the mouth.  The red color stains the teeth and anything else it is spat upon.  In many stores there are no spitting signs and there are spitting cans outside to keep it from staining the sidewalk.  Our tour guide extraordinaire, Theo, sat us down in the men’s house, showed us the process and let us try it. I tried it and it gave me a small head rush like a first cigarette but I did not chew too long.  Your dentist would not be very happy with you if you chewed Betel Nut on a regular basis, it is not easy on the teeth.
WWII Wreck
Yap did not become entangled in WWII until late, April 1944, when the Japanese build a runway so the Americans started bombing it.  I asked what the local people did during that time and was told some left to live with family in other areas and some stayed trying to avoid the dangerous action.  In that short time it saw its share of WWII action and there are still many war relics scattered over the island and in the surrounding sea.  There are still 120 American men listed as MIA on Yap.  You might ask, why, how is that possible?  I did.  But with the depth of the sea, the steep ocean shelf and the extremely dense jungle, it is very possible.  There are planes that went down over Yap that have never been found and one that was discovered as recently as 2006. 
I have a lot of respect for the Yap people they seem to have done a great job at adopting the modern conveniences of life without losing their rich heritage.   Yap is a place I would like to return to; for great diving and to experience more of the daily life of the local people!

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