Eastern Carolines Research Articles

The Title System of Pingelap and the Diversity of Atoll Political Organizations

This paper focuses on the factors involved in the development, political process, and guiding principles of a title system which formed the basis of polity on Pingelap atoll in the Eastern Carolines. The evolution of the system of titles is discussed with particular attention to the historical and geographical factors involved in its development, and the effects of contact with other cultures on that system. Comparisons are drawn within Micronesia and used to create a base for broader examination of Pacific polities.

Micronesia's Breadfruit Revolution and the evolution of a Culture Area

AbstractMicronesia was initially settled from at least three quite separate points of origin and comprises multiple cultural and linguistic stocks. It nevertheless manifests a striking uniformity in its sociopolitical organization. I argue that these shared aspects of Micronesian societies diffused out of the Eastern Caroline Islands as a consequence of a prehistoric sociocultural efflorescence driven at least in part by the hybridization of two entirely different breadfruit species. The characteristic form of Micronesia's dispersed conical clans was spread throughout the entire region, carried along with the economic successes conferred by productive new breadfruit varieties. Botanical, linguistic, archaeological and ethnological data are marshaled to substantiate this argument.

A traditional method of Cinnamomum carolinense preparation eliminates safrole from a therapeutic Pohnpean tea

Cinnamomum carolinense, locally known as madeu, is a tree endemic to the volcanic mountains of the Island of Pohnpei in the Eastern Carolines of the South Pacific. The bark is harvested from trees and brewed to make a medicinal tea and hot beverage that is regularly consumed. Many species of Cinnamomum contain the known hepatocarcinogen safrole, sparking concern regarding habitual consumption of this beverage. HPLC-PDA analysis confirmed the presence of the carcinogen in alcoholic extracts of Cinnamomum carolinense bark shavings (0.435%, w/w), but safrole was not detected in the tea. The limit of detection and limit of quantitation of safrole were determined to be 1.25 and 3.75 μg/mL, respectively. The traditional preparation method, which boils the bark shavings, degrades the safrole.

Proto-Micronesian Kin Terms, Descent Groups, and Interisland Voyaging

Proto-Micronesian Kin Terms, Descent Groups, and Interisland Voyaging1 Per Hage and Jeff Marck Abstract The historical method of comparative linguistics is used to reconstruct Proto-Micronesian kin terms. Linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-Micronesian society was matrilineal rather than bilateral as Murdock proposed in an early typological reconstruction of Micronesian society. The weakening or disappearance of matrilineal institutions in Micronesia is associated with the demise of regular long-distance voyaging. 1. Introduction. In a typological approach to culture history, Murdock (1948) argued that Proto-Micronesian society was "Hawaiian" in type, with generation-Hawaiian kinship terminology (parent = parent's same sex sibling, sibling = cousin, child = sibling's child), bilateral kindreds, bilocal residence, and the absence of unilineal descent groups. According to Murdock, matrilineal residence, matrilineal descent, and Crow terminologies (with generational skewing) and Iroquois terminologies (with separate terms for cross-cousins) were later developments. Murdock's reconstruction of Proto-Micronesian society was consistent with his more general reconstruction of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian society as Hawaiian in type. It was accepted by many anthropologists, most notably by Goodenough (1951:95), who wrote: "That the Hawaiian type of kinship system was ancestral not only to the system now found in Truk but to those found throughout Micronesia has been demonstrated by Murdock (1949)." Goodenough (1955) proposed a major amendment to Murdock's interpretation by adding, as a basic feature, the presence of cognatic landholding descent groups. Murdock followed the method of reconstruction outlined in Social Structure (Murdock 1949), arranging types of kinship systems in a purely logical sequence independent of any historical linguistic data. Without such data, however, it is difficult to give a typological sequence a temporal interpretation. The actual historical sequence in Micronesian societies may have been just the reverse of that postulated by Murdock, with bilateral Hawaiian (and patrilineal) features developing out of the matrilineal organization of Proto-Micronesian society. In this paper [End Page 159] we reconstruct Proto-Micronesian kin terms using the comparative method of historical linguistics. Linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-Micronesian society was matrilineal to begin with. The weakening or disappearance of matriliny is associated with the demise of regular long-distance voyaging. 2. Nuclear Micronesia. "Nuclear Micronesian" languages are those languages of geographical Micronesia that descend from "Proto-Micronesian" (PMC) and consist of all the languages of geographical Micronesia other than those of the western high islands (the Marianas, Yap, and Belau) and the Polynesian outliers, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi (figure 1). With the exception of three high islands in the Carolines—Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk (formerly Truk)—all the islands where Nuclear Micronesian languages are spoken are low islands, atolls and, in the case of Nauru, a raised reef structure. The region was settled by 2000 B.P. from Vanuatu or the Southeast Solomons (Kirch 2000).2 The center of linguistic diversity is in central-eastern Micronesia, implying earliest settlement in the eastern Carolines, the Marshalls, and Kiribati (Grace 1961, Blust 1984). However, the relative lack of linguistic differentiation in the Micronesian languages and the high level of voyaging technology suggest that settlements began spreading through the eastern and central islands and groups rather soon after the area was encountered and colonized (Bender and Wang 1985).3 Micronesian languages are Oceanic Austronesian languages of the Eastern Oceanic rather than Western Oceanic variety. They seem to have diverged quite early from Eastern Oceanic in Melanesia, but the source is not clear. Changes in sound systems give the appearance of affinities with northern Vanuatu languages, mostly those of the far north around the Banks Islands (Grace 1961). However, a few—but more diagnostic—sporadic sound changes and changes in morphology put the Melanesian source for Micronesian in the Southeast Solomons (Blust 1984), and the Cristobal-Malaitan group in particular. The special affinities are so thin that early divergence (about 1000 B.C.) is implied, but it is also possible that Micronesian diverged from languages that no longer exist, due to language replacement. Internally, except for Nauruan, the age of the group's common ancestor would seem to be on the order of 2000 to 2500 years B.P. Comparative linguistics suggests divergence from other Oceanic languages much earlier than this, but it is possible...

Proto-Micronesian Kin Terms, Descent Groups, and Interisland Voyaging

Proto-Micronesian Kin Terms, Descent Groups, and Interisland Voyaging1 Per Hage and Jeff Marck Abstract The historical method of comparative linguistics is used to reconstruct Proto-Micronesian kin terms. Linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-Micronesian society was matrilineal rather than bilateral as Murdock proposed in an early typological reconstruction of Micronesian society. The weakening or disappearance of matrilineal institutions in Micronesia is associated with the demise of regular long-distance voyaging. 1. Introduction. In a typological approach to culture history, Murdock (1948) argued that Proto-Micronesian society was "Hawaiian" in type, with generation-Hawaiian kinship terminology (parent = parent's same sex sibling, sibling = cousin, child = sibling's child), bilateral kindreds, bilocal residence, and the absence of unilineal descent groups. According to Murdock, matrilineal residence, matrilineal descent, and Crow terminologies (with generational skewing) and Iroquois terminologies (with separate terms for cross-cousins) were later developments. Murdock's reconstruction of Proto-Micronesian society was consistent with his more general reconstruction of Proto-Malayo-Polynesian society as Hawaiian in type. It was accepted by many anthropologists, most notably by Goodenough (1951:95), who wrote: "That the Hawaiian type of kinship system was ancestral not only to the system now found in Truk but to those found throughout Micronesia has been demonstrated by Murdock (1949)." Goodenough (1955) proposed a major amendment to Murdock's interpretation by adding, as a basic feature, the presence of cognatic landholding descent groups. Murdock followed the method of reconstruction outlined in Social Structure (Murdock 1949), arranging types of kinship systems in a purely logical sequence independent of any historical linguistic data. Without such data, however, it is difficult to give a typological sequence a temporal interpretation. The actual historical sequence in Micronesian societies may have been just the reverse of that postulated by Murdock, with bilateral Hawaiian (and patrilineal) features developing out of the matrilineal organization of Proto-Micronesian society. In this paper [End Page 159] we reconstruct Proto-Micronesian kin terms using the comparative method of historical linguistics. Linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-Micronesian society was matrilineal to begin with. The weakening or disappearance of matriliny is associated with the demise of regular long-distance voyaging. 2. Nuclear Micronesia. "Nuclear Micronesian" languages are those languages of geographical Micronesia that descend from "Proto-Micronesian" (PMC) and consist of all the languages of geographical Micronesia other than those of the western high islands (the Marianas, Yap, and Belau) and the Polynesian outliers, Nukuoro, and Kapingamarangi (figure 1). With the exception of three high islands in the Carolines—Pohnpei, Kosrae, and Chuuk (formerly Truk)—all the islands where Nuclear Micronesian languages are spoken are low islands, atolls and, in the case of Nauru, a raised reef structure. The region was settled by 2000 B.P. from Vanuatu or the Southeast Solomons (Kirch 2000).2 The center of linguistic diversity is in central-eastern Micronesia, implying earliest settlement in the eastern Carolines, the Marshalls, and Kiribati (Grace 1961, Blust 1984). However, the relative lack of linguistic differentiation in the Micronesian languages and the high level of voyaging technology suggest that settlements began spreading through the eastern and central islands and groups rather soon after the area was encountered and colonized (Bender and Wang 1985).3 Micronesian languages are Oceanic Austronesian languages of the Eastern Oceanic rather than Western Oceanic variety. They seem to have diverged quite early from Eastern Oceanic in Melanesia, but the source is not clear. Changes in sound systems give the appearance of affinities with northern Vanuatu languages, mostly those of the far north around the Banks Islands (Grace 1961). However, a few—but more diagnostic—sporadic sound changes and changes in morphology put the Melanesian source for Micronesian in the Southeast Solomons (Blust 1984), and the Cristobal-Malaitan group in particular. The special affinities are so thin that early divergence (about 1000 B.C.) is implied, but it is also possible that Micronesian diverged from languages that no longer exist, due to language replacement. Internally, except for Nauruan, the age of the group's common ancestor would seem to be on the order of 2000 to 2500 years B.P. Comparative linguistics suggests divergence from other Oceanic languages much earlier than this, but it is possible...

Taking the Pulse of Pohnpeian

Pohnpeian is an Oceanic language spoken by the indigenous people of Pohnpei, a high-island in the Eastern Carolines that currently serves as the site of the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia. During the past decade, Pohnpeian society has undergone major political and economic transformations. This paper addresses the issue of how the Pohnpeian language is faring in the face of these changes. Examples are provided of the kinds of changes the language has undergone recently, and the complex issue is addressed as to whether these changes should be construed as causes for alarm. That is, do these linguistic mutations signal that Pohnpeian is now, or soon will become, an endangered language? To answer this question, I consider the substantial difficulties entailed in distinguishing between additive bilingualism and language shift, between natural change and pathological change, and between late acquisition and language attrition. I conclude that, in the case of Pohnpeian, there is reason for short-term optimism, but long-term pessimism. Pohnpeian is not now obviously threatened, but in the long run, it seems unlikely that this language will be able to withstand the seemingly irresistible forces of modernity that are triggering the second mass extinction of languages since the dawn of the Neolithic Revolution

Prehistory in the northwest tropical Pacific: The Caroline, Mariana, and Marshall Islands

The earliest identified settlement is in the Marianas, dated to about 3500 B.P., while the other islands in the region appear to be settled from about 2000 B.P. onward. The archaeological remains reveal diverse approaches to island living. While Nan Madol and Leluh in the eastern Carolines are major architectural achievements, a discussion of these sites does not detract, for example, from the terrace systems of Palau or the lattestone groups of the southern Marianas. Of equal interest is the settlement of atolls and their recently recognized potential for preservation of stratified deposits. As information allows, each island or group is considered on an individual basis in order to allow for each specific island context to be assessed. This is described within the broader themes of architecture, chronology, environment, material culture, settlement pattern, social organization, and subsistence. In conclusion, the current standing of prehistory in the region is outlined in relation to early settlement, environment, social organization, chronology, settlement pattern studies, portable material culture, subsistence, and atolls. Finally, suggestions for the future are made.

Traditional yam cultivation on Pohnpei, Eastern Caroline Islands, Micronesia

A project was undertaken during 1988 to investigate traditional yam (Dioscorea spp.) production on Pohnpei Island in the Eastern Carolines. Yam is the most important crop on the island and figures prominently in the traditional prestige system. One hundred seventy-seven locally-recognized cultivars of yam representing 5 species were reported by informants. Yam production is seasonal, complementing the breadfruit season. The yam season is delineated by a series of feasts and ceremonies. In order to insure a steady supply of yams during this time, farmers plant several cultivars, use different trellising methods, and employ other techniques. Cultivation of yams is done mainly under live breadfruit trees, although several other species of trees are used, and are often ring-barked to improve yam growth. Taboos and magic are still employed by many farmers. Although production per unit land area is low under the traditional system, yams of large size are produced which are highly suitable for prestige purposes.

Ie and Dozoku: Family and Descent in Japan

AKITOSHI SHIMIZU is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at Hiroshima University (Higashisenda-machi, Naka-ku, Hiroshima City, Japan). Born in I942, he was educated at the University of Tokyo (M.A., I967) and has held his present position since I978. He has done fieldwork in Japan and on Ponape, Kosrae, and the Marshalls. His research interests are kinship, respect, and chieftainship in Micronesia. He is one of the coauthors of Nakama (Tokyo, I979) and the author of Chiefdom and the Spatial Classification of the Life-World: Everyday Life, Subsistence, and the Political System on Ponape; in Islanders and the Outside World, edited by M. Aoyagi (Tokyo, i982); The Politics of Encounter: A Semantic Analysis of Guest-receiving Behavior on Ponape, the Eastern Carolines, in I983-84 Cultural Anthropological Research in Micronesia, edited by E. Ishikawa (Tokyo, I985); Feasting as Socio-political Process of Chieftainship on Ponape, Eastern Carolines (Senri Ethnological Studies 2i); and other essays on Micronesia and Japan. This essay is an attempt to answer the question: What do we mean by ie and d6zoku? These two groups were previously identified as the family and the descent group, respectively, in rural areas in Japan. They had been interpreted in terms of patrilineal descent (see, e.g., Oikawa I940, Befu I963) until they were reexamined by Nakane. Using as a basis the theory of the descent system refined by Evans-Pritchard (I 940) and Fortes (I953), among others, she argued that the theory is inappropriate to explain ie and ddzoku and that factors of kinship give way to other factors, such as coresidence and domestic economy, in the structure of these groups (Nakane i962, i964, i967, I970; for a historical review of ie studies in Japan, see Shimizu I985). However, since the appearance of her works the theoretical context has changed so dramatically that ie and dozoku need to be reinterpreted afresh. Not a few anthropologists have reanalyzed ethnographic data on the Nuer, the Tallensi, and the Tiv-the cases on the basis of which the theory of system was formulated-and pointed out that these societies in reality had different structures from that which the theory depicted (Keesing I970, Gough I97I, Holy I979b, Verdon I983). It has even been argued that the theory can no longer retain the status of one of the leading paradigms for kinship studies (Kuper i982; cf. Holy I979a). Those scholars in particular who put more emphasis on cultural factors other than kinship in social organization have examined alleged cases of unilineal systems and described them not as directly structured by certain principles of kinship but as mediated by various symbolic features of land and house, cattle, and ancestor cults (Anglin I979, Verdon i982, Schneider I984, Moore I985). These critical reanalyses opened up new horizons of kinship studies but, while pointing to the symbolic aspect of the observed phenomena, stopped short of examining the correlation between this aspect and kinship. In spite of these reanalyses, it is still true that the object cases which include the Japanese ie and dozoku consist of kins and affines. Although the observed groups are structured by cultural symbols, it should be assumed that they can remain kinship groups. In what follows I shall explore the relationship between the symbolic features and kinship through an examination of the ie based on my fieldwork in Izumo District (Shimizu I970, I972-

John (Jack) Fischer (1923–1985)

American AnthropologistVolume 89, Issue 1 p. 134-136 Free Access John (Jack) Fischer (1923–1985) Mac Marshall, Mac Marshall University of IowaSearch for more papers by this authorMartha Ward, Martha Ward Department of Anthropology and Geography University of New OrleansSearch for more papers by this author Mac Marshall, Mac Marshall University of IowaSearch for more papers by this authorMartha Ward, Martha Ward Department of Anthropology and Geography University of New OrleansSearch for more papers by this author First published: March 1987 https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1987.89.1.02a00080AboutPDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL No abstract is available for this article. References Cited Fischer, John L. 1955 Language and Folktale in Truk and Ponape: A Study in Cultural Integration. Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University. Fischer, John L. 1956 The Position of Men and Women in Truk and Ponape: A Comparative Analysis of Kinship Terminology and Folktales. Journal of American Folklore 69: 55– 62. Fischer, John L. 1957 Totemism on Truk and Ponape. American Anthropologist 59: 250– 265. Fischer, John L. 1957 (with the assistance of Ann Fischer) The Eastern Carolines. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files Press. Fischer, John L. 1958 The Classification of Residence in Censuses. American Anthropologist 60: 508– 517. Fischer, John L. 1959 Meter in Eastern Carolinian Oral Literature. Journal of American Folklore 72: 47– 52. Fischer, John L. 1961 Art Styles as Cultural Cognitive Maps. American Anthropologist 63: 79– 93. Fischer, John L. 1965 The Stylistic Significance of Consonantal sandhi in Trukese and Ponapean. American Anthropologist 67: 1495– 1502. Fischer, John L. 1966a A Ponapean Oedipus Tale: A Structural and Sociopsychological Analysis. Journal of American Folklore 79: 109– 129. Fischer, John L. 1966b Interrogatives in Ponapean: Some Semantic and Grammatical Aspects. In Report of the 17th Annual Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies. Georgetown University Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, No. 19. Francis P. Dineen, ed. Pp. 1– 17. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. Fischer, John L. 1966c Syntax and Social Structure: Truk and Ponape. In Sociolinguistics. Proceedings of the UCLA Sociolinguistics Conference, 1964. William Bright, ed. Pp. 168– 187. The Hague: Mouton. Fischer, John L. 1968 Microethnology: Small-Scale Comparative Studies (with appendix consisting of Totemism in Truk and Ponape, 1957). In Introduction to Cultural Anthropology: Essays in the Scope and Methods of the Science of Man. James A. Clifton, ed. Pp. 374– 401. New York: Houghton and Mifflin. Fischer, John L. 1969 Honorific Speech and Social Structure: A Comparison of Japanese and Ponapean. Journal of the Polynesian Society 78: 417– 422. Fischer, John L. 1977 (senior editor and translator, with S. H. Riesenberg and M. G. Whiting) The Book of Luelen: A Ponapean Manuscript History. 2 volumes. Pacific History Series. Canberra: Australian National University Press. Fischer, John L., and Simonne Fischer 1983 Furansu no kotowaza ni okeru hanashi kotoba no seikaku (‘The Nature of Speech According to French Proverbs’). In Girei to Shocho (‘Etiquette and Symbol’). Pp. 543– 566. K. Ebuchi et al. eds. Fukuoka: Kyushu University Press. Fischer, John L., and Marc J. Swartz 1960 Socio-Psychological Aspects of Some Trukese and Ponapean Love Songs. Journal of American Folklore 73: 218– 224. Halpern, Katherine Spencer 1973 Obituary for Ann Fischer. American Anthropologist 75: 292– 294. Volume89, Issue1March 1987Pages 134-136 ReferencesRelatedInformation

Raoul Naroll (1920–1985)

Truk and Ponape: A Comparative Analysis of Kinship Terminology and Folktales. Journal of American Folklore 69:55-62. 1957 Totemism on Truk and Ponape. American Anthropologist 59:250-265. 1957 (with the assistance of Ann Fischer) The Eastern Carolines. New Haven, CT: Human Relations Area Files Press. 1958 The Classification of Residence in Censuses. American Anthropologist 60:508-517. 1959 Meter in Eastern Carolinian Oral

Demography and kinship as variables of adoption in the Carolines

Ruth Goodenough stresses the role of sterility in adoption in the Truk lagoon, while Marshall reports a higher rate of adoption for Namoluk despite greater fertility and argues that adoption rates are best understood as expressions of behavior fundamental to kinship relations. Ritter finds both sets of factors to be important in adoption on Kosrae in the eastern Carolines. Frequency of adoption on Pingelap atoll shows a clear response to rates of childlessness, and the rate of adoption has declined sharply with removal of demographic pressures. [adoption, demography, kinship, Micronesia]

Blood groups and haptoglobins in the Eastern Carolines.

AbstractThe ABO, MNS, Rh, and haptoglobin systems were examined in samples from the populations of Pingelap, Mokil, Ponape, and Kusaie. There is marked differentiation between neighboring islands.

Red cell isozymes in the Eastern Carolines.

AbstractFour populations of islanders (Ponapeans, Mokilese, Pingelapese, and Kusaieans) in the Eastern Caroline Islands have been surveyed for variability in red cell acid phosphatase, phosphoglucomutase, 6‐phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, adenylate kinase and glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase. The following gene frequencies were observed: Pa = 0.0904, PGM21 = 0.1015, and PGDB = 0.0259. No genetic variation was encountered in the AK and G6PD systems.

Bioassay of kinship in Micronesia.

AbstractPhenotype bioassay agrees with clan isonymy, anthropometrics, and migration in estimating the mean kinship within a Micronesian population, relative to large distances, as 0.05. Various calculations of occupancy for the Eastern Carolines from ethnohistory, kinship, and glottochronology average around 1,000 years. Estimates of isolation by distance are in agreement for different indicators of population structure. Problems of kinship bioassay are discussed.

Paludal Stratigraphy of Truk, Ponape, and Kusaie, Eastern Caroline Islands

Swampy coastal plains up to one-half a kilometer in width that fringe the high islands of the Eastern Carolines have been cited as evidence for recent emergence, but the stratigraphy and morphology of the tidal swamps are more consistent with a history of shoreline progradation during decelerating submergence. The mangrove, Nipa Phragmites, and taro swamps have accumulated no more than 3 m of peat, and generally only about 2 m. Beneath the peat or muck is either: (a) a level coral bench at approximate low-tide level, (b) coarse, well-sorted, shelly beach sand, sometimes in the form of low beach ridges across the shallowest marshes, or (c) brown, organic-rich mud with concentrations of immature pelecypod shells, deposited in former protected bays or estuaries. Estuarine mud was cored to a depth of 11.6 m in many swamps without finding bottom. Radiocarbon dates from intertidal peat layers that overlie former hillslopes of weathered volcanic rock demonstrate submergence of 6.2 m in the last 6500 years. The rate of submergence decreased abruptly during the final 1.7 m of submergence, which permitted extensive progradation by tidal swamps over former reef flats or into former muddy estuaries. By this interpretation, submergence has averaged only about 0.4 cm per 1000 years since 4100 years B.P., in contrast to the rate of 1.9 m per 1000 years between 4100 and 6500 years B.P. The high basaltic islands of Truk, Ponape, and Kusaie are conveniently spaced among the atolls of the Eastern Caroline Islands, across a total distance of nearly 1300 km. The uniformity of their paludal stratigraphy indicates a common late-Pleistocene and recent history for the entire region of a million sq mi or more, independent of the contradictory evidence about postglacial sea levels that has been reported from various atolls.

The geography of Kapingamarangi Atoll in the Eastern Carolines

The geography of Kapingamarangi Atoll in the Eastern Carolines

Vital statistics of Ponape Island, Eastern Carolines.

Vital statistics of Ponape Island, Eastern Carolines.

The Economic Geography of a Micronesian Atoll

A s an incidental result of World War II the United States acquired a new island-strewn domain in the mid-Pacific. Sometimes popularly referred to as American Micronesia, the area coming under American control is now officially known as the United States Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Though the general facts are known regarding the trade of the islands there have been heretofore no detailed studies of their economic geography. The purpose of this paper is to present such a detailed study of one element of American Micronesia-Mokil, an island group in the eastern Carolines. The land area represented by all of the islands of the Trust Territory together is small and Mokil forms only a tiny fraction of this land area. But it is only through the detailed study of such unit areas here and there throughout American Micronesia that a reliable over-all picture can be obtained of America's new island charges in the Pacific. In addition to its significance as a unit of the newly acquired island empire, Mokil is representative of a class of island clusters that is widely distributed throughout the tropical Pacific, the atoll. Since people behave differently even in similar natural environments, no atoll can be considered typical of all atolls in its economic geography. But atolls as a class are remarkably uniform in their physical characteristics and especially in the limitations they impose upon human occupance, and one cannot fail to be impressed by observable similarities even in the human phases of geography as one atoll after another is visited. The present study in addition to the information it contains regarding Mokil, an element of American Micronesia, is presented as a contribution to the economic geography of Pacific atolls as a class.

"High" and "Low" Islands in the Eastern Carolines

"High" and "Low" Islands in the Eastern Carolines