article

Religious views and customs of the inhabitants of Yap (German South Seas)

Anthropos • 8 • Published In 1913 • Pages: HRAF ms: 1, 69 leaves [original: 607-629, 1044-1068 ]

By: Walleser, Sixtus.

Abstract

This monograph is devoted to the religious life of the Yap. Topics covered include beliefs about the soul, different kinds of spirits and gods, the shrines (TALíU) and their regulations, various kinds of taboos, ancestor worship, magic, divination, and specialists in the various branches of religious practices. In addition, there is an extensive discussion of the DóUAD system of men's eating classes. This system is apparently the same as that called YOGUM or YEGUM by other authors, and the same marking decisions apply. There are a number of different religious practitioners, e.g., TáMERON, TAMANIWEI, etc., whose functions vary from being shrine priests to shamans. Walleser was a Christian missionary, consequently there is some ethnocentrism present in the study. Two years of intensive investigation formed the basis of this study.

HRAF PubDate

2000

Region

Oceania

Sub Region

Micronesia

Document Type

article

Evaluation

Creator Type

Missionary

Document Rating

5: Excellent Primary Data

Analyst

Marlene Martin ; 1975

Field Date

ca. 1910

Coverage Date

1910

Coverage Place

Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia

Notes

Sixtus Walleser

A glossary of native terms has been compiled and is indexed for Glossary (104). Religious practitioners have been indexed for the appropriate functional categories such as Prophets and Ascetics (791) or Shamans and Psychotherapists (756), depending on the context. Additional indexing decisions involve the concept of MAM. When MAM refers to the life force or the determination of an individual's length of life, it has been indexed for Life and Death (761); when it refers to the soul or spirit, Animism (774); when it refers to the guardian spirit of a child it has been indexed for Spirits and Gods (776) and Status of Children (858); for the concept of fate, Luck and Chance (777); for its role in divination, Revelation and Ddivination (787); for ideas about its role in forming the body and spirit in human beings, ETHNOPHYSIOLOGY (827) and ETHNOPSYCHOLOGY (828); and for its connection with conception CONCEPTION (842).

Translation of: [Religiöse Anschauungen und Gebräuche der Bewohner von Jap (Deutsche Südsee)]

Includes bibliographical references

Translated from the German in 1942 for the Yale Cross-Cultural Survey in connection with the Navy Pacific Islands Handbook Project.

LCCN

0721775

LCSH

Yapese (Micronesian people)/Yap (Micronesia)