Local History and Culture (Palau, Yap): Travis Narrates

Buga: 21.12.2023

G'day!

My oldest is doing much better and I don't have to worry about her anymore. But I'm really happy about that too.

That's why I'm finally telling you something about my or our trips to Palau and Yap. What's exciting is that in the end everything has something to do with each other. “Just like in real life,” says my oldest. I'm not sure if I understand that exactly, but it doesn't matter.

So it's a good thing that I waited to do it.

We had already driven around a bit in Palau before we left for Yap. And we were in the museum too. My oldest and I even in two. We learned and saw so much there.

The one thing I learned about Palau is that stories are very important here. And these stories are continued to be told in the villages and families, and at the same time recorded in images and symbols. Therefore the sequence of images on the Bais are not at all random. There are always certain stories behind them. Sometimes a symbol is enough and everyone knows what the story is about and what there is to learn from it.

In Yap there are meeting houses that are built in a very similar way. Both for the entire village and just for the men. However, there are not the beautiful colorful drawings on it.

The traditions are still very well preserved in both countries and the people continue to live them.

For example, in Palau there is a very extensive ceremony lasting several days for the birth of the first child. Mother and child are cared for and celebrated in a very special way. And everyone celebrates with us!

This doesn't exist in Yap. But I liked another tradition: when you visit a village or private land (and in Yap ALL land is private and cannot be sold), you carry a branch with you.

It's meant to show that you're a peaceful visitor and don't come empty-handed (so you probably won't take anything with you to fill your empty hands with something that doesn't belong to you). Of course my older ones and I wouldn't do it anyway. But they don't know that here. In any case, in the villages I always made sure that we had our branch with us.

By the way, if I tell you about the “Villages” in Yap, you won’t necessarily recognize them at first glance. They are not a collection of houses as one might think, but rather the houses are spread out at large intervals in the jungle and are connected to each other by Stone Paths, some of which are 1000 years old. Only the central meeting house shows that there is a village here.

By the way, there is also a story about this that is quite brutal in this case. When I heard it - there was murder and manslaughter in the truest sense of the word - I was a bit frightened. But my elders said it was an old story and there was nothing to worry about these days. Maybe I'm just too anxious about some things. But I'm also quite a little buddy bear. So maybe you can understand why I prefer to play it safe. And yes, I understood exactly what that meant and that it had nothing to do with any number.

By the way, it is also the case in Palau that in many places you need a so-called "permit" in order to be able to enter or view areas of the islands. And although there was usually no one in sight...

...we were always good and had our permit with us:

What definitely connects Palau and Yap directly is the so-called Stone Money. Some of these are huge slices made of a stone (crystalline sandstone) that doesn't exist on Yap, but does exist in Palau. The largest so-called Raay Stone has a diameter of around 3.5 meters! The material was supposedly discovered there 500 - 600 years ago by someone who, on God's mission, made it the 400 km from Yap to Palau in a canoe, and after various shapes into which the stone was made, the shape was ultimately chosen of the full moon - with a hole in the middle for transport. But there are also other traditions about it. If I continued to tell you all the stories here, I could probably still be talking in a week.

Ultimately, this Stone Money was brought from Palau to Yap over many years. And each piece defines its value based on its individual origin story. More than the size. Remember: Size isn't everything. 😅

Even today, it is still used to pay for traditional and ritual events in Yap. Of course, you can't just carry this "money" around in your pocket. Therefore, it often remains in its original location and yet everyone knows who owns which piece. And all of this, including all the stories about the individual stone discs, is passed on orally. Only now have people started collecting the stories in an archive so that they don't get lost.

A form of money made of special material also exists in the history of Palau:

The source of these glass beads probably goes back to India, because it was there that something like glass and beads like this were first made from appropriate ingredients. And similar “currencies” also existed in Afghanistan, Indonesia and other regions.

In any case, every shape, color and size has a different meaning or its own value and there are very specific rules as to which piece can be worn by whom and for what occasion, for example around the neck.

Wherever we went, we were always impressed by the amount of greenery.

Another topic that comes up again and again in this region of the world is the Second World War. The topic of war always gives me a lot of pain in my stomach and that's why I don't want to talk about it too much here. Nevertheless, I'll show you at least a few photos here.

In Palau there are also many relics from that time above and below the water. But I think we've talked enough about such things here.

By the way, something completely different: Languages are probably best learned with pictures and in real life. Would you like to learn a little “Palauian”?

My oldest found these signs in the supermarket. Cool, right?

And of course we can find Christmas decorations everywhere. Even if it still doesn't feel quite Christmassy given the temperatures and the environment.