article
The legal customs of the Yap natives
Globus • 91 • Published In 1907 • Pages: HRAF ms: 1, 39 leaves [original: 139-143, 149-153, 171-175 ]
By: Senfft, Arno.
Abstract
This article, written by a German colonial official, concerns the legal and social customs of the Yapese. The first section discusses family and personal law. It covers normative behavior associated with reproduction, sex, marriage, divorce, death and inheritance, and discusses social stratification including caste, class and sex distinctions. The second section concerns property rights and sanctions for violation of those rights. The most common sanction, which is referred to frequently throughout the text, is BUNGUT, the distraint of property belonging to the wrongdoer. The third section concerns sanctions for criminal offences and the methods for executing of enforcing those sanctions. The final section discusses political structure, the tax system, warfare, and international relations.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Micronesia
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Government Official
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Helen Gunsher Bornstein ; 1975
- Field Date
- ca. 1900-ca. 1905
- Coverage Date
- 1900-1905
- Coverage Place
- Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia
- Notes
- Arno Senfft
- Translation of: [Die Rechtsitten der Jap-Eingeborenen]
- Translated from the German in 1942 for the Yale Cross-Cultural Survey in connection with the Navy Pacific Islands Handbook Project
- LCSH
- Yapese (Micronesian people)/Yap (Micronesia)