Monarcas justos y tiranos La concepción del rey según la obra de don Juan

Ideological viewpoints change over time, yet oral tradition and ethnographic data suggest that some segments of Pohnpeian social ideology stretch back to the initial settlement of the island. The term Pohnpei translates as upon a stone altar or platform (Hanlon 1988a). This name is directly related to oral traditions which recount the construction of a

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platform/altar upon a submerged reef by the initial wave of settlers (Bernart 1977; Hadley 1987; Hanlon 1988a) (see Section 3.2.1 in Chapter 3). When the matriarch of the founding clan died she transformed into a bird (Bernart 1977), which became the totem of the clan. On Pohnpei, clan totems are taboo and if a clan member harms or kills a totem animal the eni (spirits) will punish them, sometimes with death (Fischer 1957; Fischer et al. 1959).

Details regarding religious practice prior to the foundation of the Saudeleur Dynasty exist in some local traditions though it is likely that many have been lost. Salapwuk and Wene are two areas in the district of Kiti which traditions still exist regarding religious practice (see Ayres and Mauricio 1997; Bernart 1977; Falgout 1984, 1987). A priestly class developed in each location and there are existing sites associated in traditions with both groups (Ayres and Mauricio 1997; Falgout 1984, 1987). Priest-leaders play a significant role in the traditions of Wene up to the early Contact Period (Bernart 1977; Falgout 1984, 1987). Religious practice was integral to early social development on Pohnpei even if there is little evidence of what those practices were.

Others have noted that early religious practice was focused on the land while the religion introduced by the Saudeleurs was primarily centered on the sea (Mauricio 1993). Oral traditions regarding the religious rituals introduced by the founders of the Saudeleur Dynasty are significantly more detailed (see Section 3.2.1 in Chapter 3). This detail is likely attributed to the continuation of the turtle ceremony into the early Contact Period (Gulick 1967). As in many Western societies, religion and socio-political change were interconnected throughout Pohnpei’s history.

The intertwined nature of religious ideology and socio-politics continued well into the Historic Period. Although the colonial era did not officially start until the Spanish Period, the missions acted as a colonizing force in the mid-19th century. Accounts of the influence of the beachcomber population and activities related to visiting ships provided ‘moral’ grounds for missionary activity on Pohnpei, as on other Pacific islands (Gulick 1967; Hambruch 1936b;

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Hanlon 1988a; Zelenietz and Kravitz 1974). The primary challenge to missionary progress was not foreign influence on Pohnpei, but local traditions and religious practices.

“In a concerted attack upon the social system, the missionaries, understanding no more than any other group of outsiders about life on the island, found themselves confronted by a complex culture that, as it had in the past, proved strongly resilient” (Hanlon 1988a:86). In 1837, a Catholic mission was established on Pohnpei, only to close after six months (Hambruch 1936b; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1983:123-124; Riesenberg 1968). The Protestant missions met with more success. The American Board of Commissioners established a Protestant mission in Kiti in 1852 and by 1865 the missions expanded to include mission stations in Madolenihmw and Mesenieng, and six churches (Bascom 1950a; Hanlon 1981, 1988a; Hezel 1983). Although the Protestant missions made some progress in their first 10 years, much of this progress was marked by continual need for the missions to restate their independence from the local chiefs (Hanlon 1988a). Local chiefs, as in the past, treated the newcomers as nearly equivalent to other members of their communities. The missionaries leasing land from individual chiefs were considered to be under the rule of that chief and not independent from the local socio-political system. The frustrations felt by the missionaries early on stemmed from maintaining lifestyles separate from their Pohnpeian neighbors (Coale n.d./1951; Hanlon 1988a:103).

The missions did not have to wait long before outside influence caused a major shift in Pohnpeian socio-politics. A whaling vessel, the Delta, put ashore infected crew members to quell an outbreak of smallpox in 1854, which caused an epidemic on the island (Bascom 1950a; Coale n.d./1951; Ehrlich 1978; Gulick 1967; Hambruch 1936b; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1983; Spoehr 1963). The epidemic killed an estimated third of Pohnpei’s population and significantly changed the traditional structure of the districts, modifying clan hierarchies and seriously impacting the title system and traditional religious practices (Dobbin 2011; Hambruch 1936b; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1983). Pohnpeians believed the epidemic was sent by the Christian god, partly because their priests could not prevent it (Bascom 1950a; Dobbin 2011; Hanlon 1988a).

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The missionaries vaccinated many of the locals and as a result the Pohnpeians began to take the lessons of the missions seriously (Bascom 1950a; Hanlon 1988a:111). “Christianity, the lamalam kapw ‘new way of thinking’ as the Pohnpeians of the time referred to it, placed more intense strains upon the always fragile relationship between the chiefs and their people” (Hanlon 1988a:113). The expansion of Christianity after the epidemic was deemed a threat to local traditions and traditional leaders began to act [out] against the church and their

members in the 1860s (Coale n.d./1951; Hambruch 1936b; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1983). Regardless of the backlash against the missions, many Pohnpeians converted by 1872 (Hambruch 1936b; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1983). Christianity was more popular amongst commoners and lower ranking individuals, while traditional religious practices were still important to chiefs and higher ranking members of society well into the 1870s (Kubary 1874). “Christianity … began to take root on Pohnpei because of its appeal to lesser chiefs seeking political leverage and to common men and women who saw in this new system of beliefs an alternative to the oppression in their lives under the existing system of chiefly rule” (Hanlon 1988a:129). Initially, the acceptance of Christianity was a reaction to introduced disease and was seen as a new avenue for social advancement outside the title system, but true belief did develop within the community over time (Hanlon 1988a).

Catholic missions were established on Pohnpei late in the 19th century. During Spanish colonial rule there were numerous conflicts on Pohnpei, which were linked to

religious factions. The 1890 uprising was directly linked to the Spanish administration pushing the presence of additional Catholic churches on land leased to the Protestant mission,

regardless of opposition from their own priests (Ehrlich 1978; Hanlon 1988a; Hezel 1995). In other cases, membership in one church or the other was tied to traditional clan or kinship ties. In most cases these alliances or rivalries were not amplified by religious differences, though the 1898 uprising did (Ehrlich 1978; Fischer and Fischer 1957; Hanlon 1988a). The Spanish banished the Protestant missionaries from Pohnpei, because they suspected them of promoting dissidence against Spanish rule (Ehrlich 1978; Fischer and Fischer 1957; Hanlon

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1988a). Though this may have been the case, the conflict on the island did not cease and Protestant church services were still held under the direction of local deacons. These conflicts were based on perceived political differences, not on religious ones.

Christianity appealed to those who saw the institution as a means of manipulating their position within the community. It gave low status individuals a means to obtain standing through other means, which made religious change about socio-politics as well as ideology. Traditional religion and ideology played a significant role in the early aversion towards the mission’s teachings, but eventually Christianity influenced the socio-political system by modifying the views of what qualities chiefs should have and what was considered acceptable behavior.