In the court or in the village? Settling disputes in Yap: 1950–1979∗

Abstract

20th century, the Y?pese people were confronted with choices between tra ditional and introduced strategies to settle personal and corporate disputes. In 1947 the US miUtary governor of Guam directed that municipal councils, magis trates, and laws be estabUshed in each Yap municipaUty. The Trust Territory High Court heard its first case on Yap in 1950, and with the establishment of civ? administration under the Department of the Interior in July 1951 the District Court became a significant part of the governing structure. These introduced institutions provided new alternatives for the resolution of disputes and at times denied the vaUdity of traditional ones. This paper examines, over a 30-year period, the increasing role of the Yap District and State Court for settling disputes. Through case studies and court statistics the paper documents how the people of Yap chose between two sig nificantly different institutions, with their respective structures and procedures: the traditional Y?pese viUage with its internal hierarchy and its external al Uances, and the American instituted Court. Each played a significant role in the recent history of government on Yap, as people sought the most satisfying alternative to resolve their differences or to obtain restitution for perceived damages to their property, persons, or kin. Yap is located in the Western Caroline Islands, and is poUtically the capital of Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. The land area is approximately 38 square miles, and the population in 1980 was approximately 7,000 people. Yap State includes the atolls to the east of Yap, extending from UUthi to Satawal, but the people of these islands are UnguisticaUy and culturally distinct. This study is based upon analyses of case materials of disputes coUected through participant observation and interviewing in the Gagil municipaUty of Yap in 1967-69, and 1979-80, and upon analyses of 30 years of records kept in the dockets of the Yap District and Yap State Courts.l