Editing Pohnpei (section)

===Pre-colonial history===
[[File:Kepirohi Waterfall 3.jpg|thumb|Kepirohi Waterfall, Pohnpei]]
The earliest settlers were probably [[Lapita culture]] people from the Southeast [[Solomon Islands (archipelago)|Solomon Islands]] or the [[Vanuatu]] [[archipelago]].<ref name="McCoy et al">{{cite journal |last1=McCoy |first1=Mark D. |last2=Alderson |first2=Helen A. |last3=Hemi |first3=Richard |last4=Cheng |first4=Hai |last5=Edwards |first5=R. Lawrence |title=Earliest direct evidence of monument building at the archaeological site of Nan Madol (Pohnpei, Micronesia) identified using 230Th/U coral dating and geochemical sourcing of megalithic architectural stone |journal=Quaternary Research |date=November 2016 |volume=86 |issue=3 |pages=295–303 |doi=10.1016/j.yqres.2016.08.002 |bibcode=2016QuRes..86..295M |doi-access=free}}</ref> Pre-colonial history is divided into three eras: ''Mwehin Kawa'' or ''Mwehin Aramas'' (Period of Building, or Period of Peopling, before {{Circa|1100}}); ''Mwehin Sau Deleur'' (Period of the [[Saudeleur dynasty|Lord of Deleur]], {{Circa|1100}}<ref name=Flood>{{cite book |title=Micronesian Legends |first1=Bo |last1=Flood |first2=Beret E. |last2=Strong |first3=William |last3=Flood |publisher=Bess Press |year=2002 |isbn=1-57306-129-8 |pages=145–7, 160 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVVQ46epBqwC |access-date=1 January 2012 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007063355/https://books.google.com/books?id=IVVQ46epBqwC |url-status=live }}</ref> to {{Circa|1628}});{{#tag:ref|The Saudeleur era lasted around 500 years.<ref name=Hanlon/> Legend generally dates their downfall to the 1500s,<ref>{{cite book |title=The Lelu Stone Ruins (Kosrae, Micronesia): 1978–81 Historical and Archaeological Research |issue=10 |series=Asian and Pacific Archaeology |first=Ross H |last=Cordy |publisher=Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa |year=1993 |isbn=0-8248-1134-8 |pages=14, 254, 258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hQMNAQAAMAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007063355/https://books.google.com/books?id=hQMNAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> however, archaeologists date Saudeleur ruins to {{Circa|1628}}.<ref name=Morgan>{{cite book |title=Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia |first=William N |last=Morgan |publisher=University of Texas Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-292-76506-1 |pages=60, 63, 76, 85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3Z-aH7govUC |access-date=31 December 2011}}</ref><ref name=PlaceNames/><ref name=UG>{{cite book |title=Micronesica |publisher=University of Guam |year=1990 |pages=92, 203, 277 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LgAcAAAAMAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007063356/https://books.google.com/books?id=LgAcAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> |group=note}} and ''Mwehin [[tribal chief|Nahnmwarki]]'' (Period of the Nahnmwarki, {{Circa|1628}} to {{Circa|1885}}).<ref name=Hanlon>{{cite book |title=Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890 |volume=5 |series=Pacific Islands Monograph |first=David L |last=Hanlon |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |year=1988 |isbn=0-8248-1124-0 |pages=13–25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OzgF5vZByVoC |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=PlaceNames>{{cite book |title=Place Names of Pohnpei Island: Including And (Ant) and Pakin Atolls |first1=Tom |last1=Panholzer |first2=Mauricio |last2=Rufino |publisher=Bess Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-57306-166-2 |pages=xiii, xii, 101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2EWUggiuQIC |access-date=31 December 2011}}</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 ''[[tribal chief|nahnmwarki]]'' system in existence today.<ref name=Native>{{cite book |title=The Native Polity of Ponape |volume=10 |series=Contributions to Anthropology |first=Saul H |last=Riesenberg |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |year=1968 |pages=38, 51 |isbn=9780598442437 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JV-0AAAAIAAJ |access-date=1 January 2012}}</ref><ref name=Ballinger>{{cite book |title=Lost City of Stone: The Story of Nan Madol, the "Atlantis" of the Pacific |first=Bill Sanborn |last=Ballinger |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1978 |isbn=0-671-24030-7 |pages=45–8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l6oSAQAAIAAJ |access-date=31 December 2011 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007063903/https://books.google.com/books?id=l6oSAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Petersen1>{{citation |mode=cs1 |title=Lost in the Weeds: Theme and Variation in Pohnpei Political Mythology |id=OP35 |series=Occasional Papers |chapter=Isokelekel |pages=34 et seq |first=Glenn |last=Petersen |publisher=Center for Pacific Islands Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian & Pacific Studies, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa |year=1990 |chapter-url=http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/15545/OP35.pdf |access-date=31 December 2011 |hdl=10125/15545 |archive-date=27 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127005944/http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/15545/OP35.pdf |url-status=live }}</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/>