Pohnpei
Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox islands
Pohnpei (formerly known as Ponape or Ascension, from Pohnpeian: "upon (pohn) a stone altar (pei)") is an island of the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group. It belongs to Pohnpei State, one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Major population centers on Pohnpei include Palikir, the FSM's capital, and Kolonia, the capital of Pohnpei State. Pohnpei is the largest island in the FSM, with an area of Template:Cvt, and a highest point of Template:Cvt, the most populous with 36,832 people, and the most developed single island in the FSM.
Pohnpei is home to the megaliths and ruined city of Nan Madol, built of artificial islands off the island's eastern shore beginning in the 8th or 9th century. An important archaeological site, it was declared a national historic site in 1985.
Pohnpei contains a wealth of biodiversity. It is one of the wettest places on Earth with annual recorded rainfall exceeding Template:Cvt<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> each year in certain mountainous locations. It is home to the ka tree (Terminalia carolinensis) found only in Pohnpei and Kosrae.<ref>Nature Conservancy Magazine February / March 2015 page 36</ref>
NameEdit
The name Pohnpei comes from the Pohnpeian language, literally meaning "upon a stone altar". It derives from a Proto-Chuukic-Pohnpeic phrase *fawo ni pei of the same meaning. Cognates in other Micronesian languages include Mokilese Pohnpei and Chuukese Fóónupi.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
HistoryEdit
_2.jpg){kind=link}
The natives of Pohnpei, especially the 'older' generations, often refer to events in their past as having occurred, e.g., in "German times" or "before the Spaniards," which identifies the historical periods:<ref name=Native/>
| Period | Years |
|---|---|
| Native period | Before 1825 |
| Pre-Spanish period | 1825–1886 |
| Spanish period | 1886–1899 |
| German period | 1899–1914 |
| Japanese period | 1914–1945 |
| US period | 1945–1986 |
| Independence period | Since 1986 |
Pre-colonial historyEdit
The earliest settlers were probably Lapita culture people from the Southeast Solomon Islands or the Vanuatu archipelago.<ref name="McCoy et al">Template:Cite journal</ref> Pre-colonial history is divided into three eras: Mwehin Kawa or Mwehin Aramas (Period of Building, or Period of Peopling, before Template:Circa); Mwehin Sau Deleur (Period of the Lord of Deleur, Template:Circa<ref name=Flood>Template:Cite book</ref> to Template:Circa);<ref group="note">The Saudeleur era lasted around 500 years.<ref name=Hanlon/> Legend generally dates their downfall to the 1500s,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> however, archaeologists date Saudeleur ruins to Template:Circa.<ref name=Morgan>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=PlaceNames/><ref name=UG>Template:Cite book</ref> </ref> and Mwehin Nahnmwarki (Period of the Nahnmwarki, Template:Circa to Template:Circa).<ref name=Hanlon>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=PlaceNames>Template:Cite book</ref> Pohnpeian legend recounts that the Saudeleur rulers, the first to bring government to Pohnpei, were of foreign origin. The Saudeleur centralized form of absolute rule is characterized in Pohnpeian legend as becoming increasingly oppressive over several generations. Arbitrary and onerous demands, as well as a reputation for offending Pohnpeian deities, sowed resentment among Pohnpeians. The Saudeleur Dynasty ended with the invasion of Isokelekel, another semi-mythical foreigner, who replaced the Saudeleur rule with the more decentralized nahnmwarki system in existence today.<ref name=Native>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Ballinger>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Petersen1>Template:Citation</ref>
Pohnpeian historic society was highly structured into five tribes, various clans and sub-clans; each tribe headed by two principal chiefs. The tribes were organized on a feudal basis. In theory, "all land belonged to the chiefs, who received regular tribute and whose rule was absolute." Punishments administered by chiefs included death and banishment. Tribal wars included looting, destruction of houses and canoes and killing of prisoners.<ref name=Native/> Pre-Spanish population estimates are deemed unreliable.<ref name=Native/>
Earliest European contactsEdit
Pohnpei's first European visitor was Spanish navigator Álvaro de Saavedra Cerón on 14 September 1529 shortly before his death, when trying to find the way back to New Spain.<ref>Brand, Donald D., The Pacific Basin: A History of its Geographical Explorations, The American Geographical Society, New York, 1967, p.137</ref> He charted it as San Bartolomé and called this one and the surrounding islands as Los Pintados (literally, "the painted ones" in Spanish) because the natives were frequently tattooed. It was later visited by the navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, commanding the Spanish ship San Jeronimo.<ref name=Native/> on 23 December 1595; his description is brief, he made no attempt to land.<ref>Coello, Francisco "Conflicto hispano-alemán" Boletín de Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid, t.XIX. 2º semestre 1885, Madrid, pp.244,245,294,296</ref>
19th-century visitorsEdit
There is good documentation about Australian sailor John Henry Rowe, who arrived in his barque John Bull on 10 September 1825, though he did not land as his vessel was chased off by native canoes. The first lengthy description of the island and its inhabitants is presented by the Russian explorer Fyodor Litke, whose ship Senyavin gave the island group of Pohnpei, Ant and Pakin its name. From 14 to 19 January 1828, his boats attempted to land but could not due to the hostility shown by the islanders, but natives then came aboard his ship, "some trading occurred, a short vocabulary was compiled, and a map made."<ref name=Native/> F.H. von Kittlitz, a member of the Litke expedition made a further descriptive account, including the offshore ruins of Nan Madol, and the two reports together provided the first real knowledge of Pohnpei.<ref name=Native/> It is not clear who the next visitors were; however, when Capt. J.H. Eagleston of the barque Peru sighted the island on 3 January 1832, it was already on his charts as "Ascension Island." Riesenberg writes that it is uncertain who first called it Ascension Island, but the name became established until the Spanish period.<ref name=Native/>
Miscreants and missionariesEdit
From this time onward, whaling and trading vessels came in increasing numbers. Very soon a "large colony of beachcombers, escaped convicts, and ship's deserters became established ashore," identified as "chiefly bad characters," according to the log of the Swedish frigate Eugenie.<ref name=Native/> The first missionary to arrive was Father Louis Désiré Maigret, a Roman Catholic priest. He had sailed from Honolulu on the schooner Notre Dame de Paix and began his efforts in December 1837, but he departed on 29 July 1838 for Valparaíso after seven unsuccessful months.<ref name=Bunson>Bunson, Maggie. Faith in Paradise. Boston: St. Paul Publishing. 1977, pp. 43, 65</ref> In his company were "several Mangarevans and Tahitians," some of whom remained on Pohnpei and left descendants.<ref name=Native/> Ten years later Maigret returned to the Hawaiian Kingdom as Bishop of Honolulu.<ref name=Bunson/> A group of Protestant missionaries from New England established themselves permanently on Pohnpei in 1852. Their letters and journals contain a wealth of information about the island and are preserved at Harvard University.<ref name=Native/>
A drastic population decline occurred after 1854, due to a smallpox epidemic.<ref name=Native/>
During the American Civil War, to counteract the Union Navy blockade of their ports, Confederate States Navy ships hunted Yankee merchant shipping. On 1 April 1865, the CSS Shenandoah surprised four United States whalers at Ascension Island (Pohnpei) and destroyed them all. The local king, Nananierikie, was delighted to receive much of the spoils from this action.<ref>CSS Shenandoah, Lieutenant James I Waddell, Annapolis 1960, pages 144-155</ref>
Spanish ruleEdit
By 1886 the Spaniards claimed the Caroline Islands which were part of the Manila-based Spanish East Indies and began to exert political authority. They founded the city Santiago de la Ascensión in what today is Kolonia (from Spanish colonia or colony). The Spanish built several government buildings, a fort, a church and a school. Spanish Capuchin friars were also sent from Manila to Pohnpei to preach the Catholic faith. After the 1898 Spanish–American War, the German Empire purchased the Caroline island group from Spain in 1899 together with the Marianas (except Guam) and four years later the Marshall Islands for 17 million goldmark.
German rule and land reformEdit
During the German administration a fundamental change in land ownership was implemented on Pohnpei and throughout the Carolines. Beginning in 1907, the feudal system, in which all land is held in fief, was gradually replaced with the issuance of individual deeds to land. The chief's economic advantages were thus reduced, and only force of tradition granted a first harvest tribute to chiefs.<ref name=Native/>
With land holding, taxes came due and new owners, in lieu of payment, were obliged to work 15 days per year on public projects, such as wharf construction, road building, etc. One such work for taxes engagement sparked the Sokehs rebellion. It began as an insubordination event during road construction on Sokehs Island, then escalated into the murder of nine people, the subsequent apprehension and trial of 36 Sokehs rebels, the execution of 15 insurgents, and banishment for others to Babelthuap in the German Palau Islands.
The German census of 1911–12 shows 3,190 Pohnpeians, 585 Central Carolinians and 279 Melanesians. Many of the outer islands were resettled (mainly on Sokehs Island) as a consequence of destructive typhoons in their home islands.
A special census conducted in late 1947 shows a total population of 5,628, of which 4,451 were Pohnpeians, and 1,177 were natives of other Pacific islands. By 1963, the population had grown to nearly 10,000.<ref name=Native/>
Japanese ruleEdit
With the Treaty of Versailles, Japan as mandatory power assumed control of all German colonial possessions north of the equator, having occupied Pohnpei along with the rest of the Carolines, the Marshalls, the Marianas (except for American-owned Guam) and Kiautschou Bay during World War I. In subsequent years and during World War II the Japanese garrison strength was composed of about 2,000 men of the IJN under Captain Jun Naito and 5,984 IJA men under Lieutenant General Masao Watanabe.<ref name=Takizawa>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, Pohnpei was bypassed by the United States Navy during the island-hopping amphibious campaigns of 1943–1945.<ref name=Takizawa/>
The island was shelled on several occasions, including by the battleships USS Massachusetts, USS Alabama, and Template:USS, as well as air attacks launched from USS Cowpens. Japan surrendered in 1945, and the Pohnpei was turned over to the United States without a battle. After the war, Japanese nationals were repatriated to Japan by the US Navy. The people on Pohnpei would be in a United Nations trusteeship to determine their own fate.
United States administration, under United Nations oversightEdit
The Federated States of Micronesia achieved independence in 1986 after being administered by the United States under UN auspices since 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Pohnpei is an island part of Federated States of Micronesia, which is recognized by the United Nations. It has maintained a defense and aid agreement with the United States after becoming independent.
GeographyEdit
.jpg){kind=link}
The highest point of the island is Mount Nanlaud at 772 or 782 metres. Pohnpei is home to several dozen bird species including four endemic species, the Pohnpei lorikeet, the Pohnpei fantail, the Pohnpei flycatcher and the long-billed white-eye. A fifth endemic, the Pohnpei starling, is thought to have recently gone extinct.
The only land reptiles are a few species of lizard. Originally the only mammals were bats. Pigs, rats and dogs were introduced; pigs have become feral. The lagoons are rich in fish, molluscs, turtles and other marine fauna.
ClimateEdit
Pohnpei belongs to the tropical rainforest climate zone (Köppen: Af).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web
}}</ref> It is one of the wettest places on Earth with an average annual recorded rainfall of Template:Cvt in towns along the coast and about Template:Cvt each year in certain mountainous locations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web
}}</ref>
Template:Weather box
DemographicsEdit
The population of the state in 2010 was approximately 36,196. While the majority of the population consider themselves ethnic Pohnpeians, Pohnpei is more ethnically diverse than any other island in the FSM. This is largely due to more than a century of foreign colonial occupation, bringing in Spanish, German, Japanese, Chamorro, Filipino, US, Australian, other western Europeans, and it being home to the capital of the national government, which employs hundreds of people from the other three FSM States (Yap, Chuuk, Kosrae) having distinct ethnic and cultural origins. The indigenous makeup also includes the multiple regional ethnicities of the outer islands within Pohnpei State, resulting in a mix of Australasian Pacific Islanders and hence making Pohnpei Island the FSM's melting pot.
LanguagesEdit
.jpg){kind=link}
The Pohnpeian language (formerly called "Ponapean") and its dialects are the indigenous languages of Pohnpei. The Federated States of Micronesia government also uses Pohnpeian as a regional language. English and Spanish are spoken in the island.
Administrative divisionsEdit
The municipalities on the island of Pohnpei are:
- Kitti, southwest. Includes Ant Atoll
- Kolonia, north
- Madolenihmw, east
- Nett (main island, north/center, formerly including state capital Kolonia on the north coast)
- Sokehs, northwest. Also includes Pakin Atoll and Palikir, the national capital
- U, northeast
TransportationEdit
Pohnpei International Airport (IATA code PNI) is located near Kolonia, on a small island named Deketik off the northern coast of the main island.
SportEdit
The FSM is part of the international Olympic movement, originally the work of James Tobin, who now sits on the IOC Executive Board, sending teams to the summer games beginning in 2000 with the Sydney games and continuing every four years to the present with athletes participating in track and field, swimming and weightlifting. The most notable Pohnpeian athlete is marathon runner Elias Rodriguez who ran for the FSM at the Sydney Olympics. Rodriguez finished last in the marathon but was cheered on by tens of thousands of spectators and watched by millions of television viewers as he entered the Olympic stadium for a final lap immediately prior to the closing ceremony which was delayed to allow his finish.<ref name=LAT>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pohnpei's state football team were coached by the world's youngest national football coach, the Englishman Paul Watson, who led the team on a tour of nearby Guam, winning one match against a local team. <ref> name="FIFA20131223">Template:Cite news</ref> The annual Micronesian Futsal Cup has been established on the island, also the work of Watson.
Pohnpei in fictionEdit
Pohnpei (as Ponape) plays a role in several stories of the Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft and others. Its role in "Out of the Aeons",<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> by Lovecraft and Hazel Heald, was inspired by the ruins of Nan Madol (see above), which had already been used as the setting for a lost race story by Abraham Merritt, The Moon Pool, in which the islands are called Nan-Matal.<ref group=note>"they had set forth for the Nan-Matal, that extraordinary group of island ruins clustered along the eastern shore of Ponape in the Carolines"</ref>
Pohnpei is a central location in South Sea Adventure (1952), the second of Willard Price's Young Adult Adventure Series books featuring Hal and Roger Hunt.Template:Citation needed<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Pohnpei, or "Ponape" as it is spelled, is stated as the home island of "Mike" on the popular blog Dunce Upon A Time, authored by BC Woods.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EducationEdit
Pohnpei State Department of Education operates public schools.
Public high schools:<ref name=FSMschools>"Higher Education in the Federated States of Micronesia Template:Webarchive." Embassy of the Federated States of Micronesia Washington DC. Retrieved on 23 February 2018.</ref>
- Nanpei Memorial High School a.k.a. Kitti High School
- Madolenihmw High School
- Pohnpei Island Central School (former Pacific Island Central School) in Nett
Private schools:
- Calvary Christian Academy in Kolonia<ref name=FSMschools/>
- Ohwa Christian High School in Madolenihmw<ref name=FSMschools/>
- Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School in Kolonia<ref>"Come Visit Us Template:Webarchive." Our Lady of Mercy Catholic High School. Retrieved on 23 February 2018. "The school is located on the Catholic Mission in Kolonia near the Spanish Wall"</ref>
- Seventh Day Adventist High School in Nett<ref name=FSMschools/>
Pohnpei Catholic School
Post secondary education:
- College of Micronesia-FSM, which has a state campus in each of the four states with its national campus in the capital city of Palikir. The COM-FSM system also includes the Fisheries and Maritime Institute (FMI) on the Yap islands.
Lidorkini Museum was located in Kolonia, until its closure in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Notable residentsEdit
- Debra Daniel – Olympic swimmer
- Iris Falcam – Librarian and former First Lady of Micronesia
- Leo Falcam – Former President of Micronesia
- Kerson Hadley – Olympic swimmer
- Emelihter Kihleng – Poet
- Bailey Olter – Former President of Micronesia
- Elias Rodriguez – Olympic marathon runner
- Mihter Wendolin – Olympic sprinter
GalleryEdit
- Flag of Pohnpei.svg
Flag of Pohnpei
- Pwusehn Malek (also known as Chickenshit Mountain) in Pohnpei, FSM.jpg
Pwusehn Malek (also known as Chickenshit Mountain) in Pohnpei
- Pohnpei Lorikeet.jpg
Pohnpei lorikeet
- Pohnpei Flycatcher.jpg
Pohnpei flycatcher
- PohnpeiAirport.jpg
Pohnpei Airport
- Petroglyphs at Pohnpeid, Pohnpei (Federated States of Micronesia).jpg
Petroglyphs
See alsoEdit
Explanatory notesEdit
CitationsEdit
Further readingEdit
- Gene Ashby. Pohnpei, an Island Argosy, Publisher: Rainy Day Pr West; Revised edition (June 1987), paperback, Template:ISBN.
- David Childress. "The Lost City of the Pacific". Omega Science Digest (March 1986), pp. 48–55, 121.
- Thomas Morlang: Rebellion in der Südsee. Der Aufstand auf Ponape gegen die deutschen Kolonialherren 1910-1911. Berlin: Ch. Links Verlag. Germany. Template:ISBN.
- Oliver Sacks (6 June 1997). The Island of the Colour-blind. Pan Macmillan, paperback, Template:ISBN.
- Martha C. Ward (1989). Nest in the Wind: Adventures in anthropology on a tropical island. Waveland Press, paperback, Template:ISBN.
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Wikivoyage
- POHNPEI, un estado marítimo-insular en el Océano Pacífico. 1. Template:In lang
- POHNPEI, uno de los cinco estados que integran la FSM. 2. Template:In lang
- POHNPEI (Islas Carolinas orientales). 3º parte. Template:In lang
- Los atolones occidentales de Pohnpei (Estados Federados de Micronesia). 4ª parte. Template:In lang
Template:Federated States of Micronesia topics Template:Authority control