Talk:Yap

Betel Nuts
Yapese to my knowledge consider Betel nuts important and both these links below as well as many others on a Google search connect Yapese with Betel nuts. I was wondering where it should be added to this page. http://yap-island.tripod.com/islandculture.html http://dreamoftravel.wordpress.com/

The Island of Yap's name origin
On page 12 of the link below it states, "The traditional name of Yap is “Waab”. In the traditional language 'yap' means the oar of a boat. When the first European trading ship came to the island the sailors asked the name of the island, pointing down at the water. The Islanders thought they were pointing at the oars of their boat and answered: 'Yap.'” and I was wondering where we should add that information.

http://www.adb.org/Documents/Studies/PRES/vol2/chap4.pdf

I will await some feedback before I make any changes I mentioned above.

Dallas Eddington (talk) 07:24, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

stone money
I believe this statement in the text is inaccurate: "There are five major types: Mmbul, Gaw, Ray, Yar, and Reng, this last being only 0.3 m (1 ft) in diameter." My understanding is all stone money are Ray. Yar are an entirely different type of traditional Yapese currency. Rather than stone disks, they are large, flattish shells with woven handles attached. Reng, I believe, is turmeric powder. Another form of traditional Yapese currency is a necklace of strung boar's tusks and thick, disk-shaped shells. I don't know the name, but perhaps this might be the Mmbul or Gaw mentioned.

-James Peace Corps Volunteer, Yap, 1986-88
 * If you can find any textual source to confirm your recollection, just make the change (it isn't that I don't believe you, but it can't hurt to be sure. Also, you never know but it is possible that the currencies take different forms on different islands or that they have changed over the past 50 or 100 years) Slrubenstein

I agree with James on yar. Reng is the name for turmeric is reng but it might be called mabuul as tribute. Outer island woven cloth is also tribute. There is a Yapese dictionary though. http://www.trussel2.com/yap/   Here is the entry for money. Each is described in the Yapese section.

money

- The money paid as a fine for a violation, such as a traffic fine. To fine someone for a violation. baakkiing - Small basket to put inside of larger basket to put small things in like money, fishhooks, etc. It is woven from a type of reed grass, or pandanas leaves. A type of reed grass. beäl - Payment in money or fine; pay penalty for crime in Yapese tradition, usually done by representative; to make such payment. biyuul - Type of small shell money. cheb - Lowest type of shell money. chöbchöb - Lowest type of shell money. chubchub - Stone money. feaq - Necklace money made from shell or whale tooth ivory. gaaw - Money shaped like a tusk. giy - Type of stone, the kind stone money is made from. googyael - Bundle; bundle of turmeric money; bolt of cloth. mabuul - Money, currency, wealth. machaaf - Money, currency, wealth in general. macheaf - Change, of money. m'ingm'ing - Type of shell money. ngabchëy - Type of Yapese shell money. p'aaw - Highest type of necklace money. qanugumaang - Masculine name, the person who first brought Qanugumaang money to Yap. Qanugumaang - Type of valuable stone money. raay - Money, currency. salpiy - Its preparation, equipment, provision, money, tools, requirements. taliin - Stone money. tanmoon - Classifier for string of shell money. thaaq - Piece; classifier for flat things, sheets, paper, land, stone money, etc. yaang - Knife; shell money. yaer Type of yaer given for some special purpose (unknown to the informant at time. possibly yaer (shell money) given to tamaarong at time of bälbäl when a woman is pregnant to produce a male child). yaer ni tiir

Tomholladay (talk) 00:25, 1 December 2016 (UTC)  Tom Holladay   Peace Corps Gilfith 1966-68.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Tomholladay (talk • contribs) 00:11, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

Misleading description of "Stone Money"
I'm not positive (I have visited Yap, but that is my limit of knowledge) but this statement seems somewhat misleading: island of yap is named after an oar "As no more disks are being produced, the money supply is fixed. In recent years, however, the United States dollar has seen increasing use as the currency of Yap."

U.S. Currency has been the medium of exchange from at least the 40's, and Japanese (and German) money was probably in that role in prior decades. The stone money is used, in recent centuries at least, more in a ceremonial sense, although this does not mean the stones do not change hands. But no one is expected to spend stone money to buy trivial things, or exchange dollars for stones to have purchasing power in Yap. The supply is fixed only in the sense that the stones have cultural provenance. One could easily produce more and bring them in, but that would not get past the knowledge the local people have about the stones. These "fakes" would not be accepted as having any value, except perhaps to sell to tourists for "real" money. - Marshman 20:47, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)


 * Your descripion corresponds to my understanding as well. Surely the disks have attracted enough attention to have generated a scholarly article/book or two? Those would be good to cite, since the stone money is the Ripley's Believe It or Not-esque thing that interests random readers more than anything else about the island, we should be detailed and precise about it. Stan 21:54, 1 Mar 2004 (UTC)

From what I understand about the giant stone money, they're not the medium of exchange, they're the backing of the medium of exchange. America uses (well, used) the gold standard, trading part-ownership of bricks of gold which were kept in Fort Knox; similarly, Yap uses (or used) the Giant Stone Wheel standard. An introductory economics book I read a few years ago described a situation where a disgruntled Yap saved up until he was sole owner of one particular "coin", at which point he loaded it into a canoe and took off for a new island. His canoe sank before he got very far, and the Yap economy was facing severe damage due to this sudden loss of money; to compensate, the Yap elders went to the approximate site of where the canoe had sunk, and sent down divers to locate the coin. Once they knew where it was, they were able to claim ownership of it, and the money went back into circulation.

Did this actually happen? Or was it something that the author invented to illustrate a fundamental similarity-in-principle between two systems of money? I have no idea, and I'm not sure it matters. DS 14:45, 27 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Probably BS. But it is in the discussion (talk page) and not the article, so it does not matter at all - Marshman 04:48, 3 December 2005 (UTC)

As I understand it, stone money as it is used today is not backing another medium of exchange. It has a seperate purpose from the US currency also used in Yap. Stone money is used in traditional matters such as marriages or payment of a fine by an individual, family, or village for a wrong doing. US currency is used for the exchange of goods and services and is not related to stone money. -- 70.230.113.137 01:29, 1 February 2006 (UTC)Chelle Gillespie, Peace Corps Volunteer, Yap 2003-2004
 * I think that is exactly right - Marshman 05:06, 1 February 2006 (UTC)There is a yap coin if you can call it that we read about it in school

Would like some comparison to the money systems of other islands in the area. Was Yap the only one to use big old stone wheels, hauled to the island with great difficulty? And why? Is there a religious angle? 2A00:23C7:E284:CF00:8444:CA77:F8C1:828F (talk) 12:54, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

Plate Tectonics
Isn't the Yap islands on the Pacific plate not the Eurasian plate?

The picture in the lower part is empty. Can someone check the picture, or shall we remove it? Adacus12

Fixed money supply ??
with regards to "Approximately 6,800 of them are scattered around the island. As no more disks are being produced, this ceremonial money supply is fixed" I found this ...

"The Yapese valued them because large stones were quite difficult to steal and were in relatively short supply. However, in 1874, an enterprising Irishman named David O'Keefe hit upon the idea of employing the Yapese to import more "money" in the form of shiploads of large stones, also from Palau. O'Keefe then traded these stones with the Yapese for other commodities such as sea cucumbers and copra. Over time, the Yapese brought thousands of new stones to the island, debasing the value of the old ones. Today they are almost worthless, except as a tourist curiosity."

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation

PJ61.69.160.35 07:36, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks PJ, I have incorporated the additional information into the article and re-arraged it into a more logical order. Although 19:50, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Yapese Stone Money are not and will never be WORTHLESS...please get your facts straight. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.30.171.218 (talk) 00:43, 20 September 2007 (UTC)

Name this island?
This atoll is claimed to be part of Yap. Does anyone know the name of it? --Henry W. Schmitt (talk) 01:14, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Is Woleai Atoll a municipality of Yap State?
In this article, the editor has used the convention of showing municipalities in boldface type. A stub exists for Woleai Atoll, so I wikified it. Whether it should be bold or not, I do not know. It was that way when I found it, so I left it that way. Newportm (talk) 19:36, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Yap archaeology
Currently the articles mentions nothing about it. The only source that I have at hand is an old version of the Unesco History of Mankind, which doesn't suffice as a source of up-to-date information. I know however that there is a book called [ http://www.amazon.com/Archaeological-Gachlaw-Municipality-Federated-Micronesia/dp/B0006EYF1K/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229558660&sr=1-4 Archaeological survey of Gachlaw Village, Gilmon Municipality, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia], that could be used for such a section. For anyone interested, a website containing info from this book is this. Omnipedian (talk) 15:13, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

history
this history section is pretty pathetic. it starts with European contact. at the very least it could use some data about when humans first arrived on the island, to give an idea of how long it was inhabited prior to European contact. 206.113.192.12 (talk) 05:32, 20 May 2015 (UTC)

Agree, we should know more of the island’s pre-discovery history. 2A00:23C7:E284:CF00:8444:CA77:F8C1:828F (talk) 12:51, 5 November 2020 (UTC)

separat island/state i/2articles?
confusin,, — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.235.178.49 (talk) 07:40, 16 January 2016 (UTC)

US Navy
USS Burfish landed 3 men from the OSS on Yap during the war to do recon work. They were captured, and executed, but fed the occupying forces false info before being executed. All received the Silver Star, posthumously.

https://videos.extremesealexperience.com/movie_Phony-Navy-Seal-Of-The-Week-Preview-Sea-Bees-In-Underwater-Demolition-During-World-War-Ii

This could be an interesting addition to Yap’s history. 2A00:23C7:E284:CF00:8444:CA77:F8C1:828F (talk) 22:17, 4 November 2020 (UTC)

External links modified
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External links modified
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