The Caste System...still alive today in Yap

As I walk through the streets of Colonia (where my training is) it is interesting to look around and people watch. You can easily tell the people who are outer islanders from the people who are main islanders from what they are wearing. It isn’t uncommon to see a man wearing just a thus (loin cloth) or a woman in a lava lava (a woven cloth worn around the waist). Why would you know this person is an outer islander? Because, this is what they HAVE to wear…they have no choice. Outer Island men where thus that are only one color, and main islanders wear thus with two or three layers of color or hibiscus. Outer island women where lava lavas, while main island woman traditionally wear grass skirts (but now only for ceremonies) In fact, because I am a main islander I can never wear a lava lava. Now lava lavas are beautiful and look cool and comfortable to wear, so I would love to wear one, and I was curious as to why it would be so wrong to wear one.

Although we can have outer islanders at our homes or eat with them, we cannot dress like them, and they have to stay in certain places in homes or the villages. Wow! Really? Now, my curiousity over the Lava Lava and the caste system here was further sparked as I read a help wanted sign outside of a store. The sign read, “Clerk Needed, Full Time. Main Islander or Outer Islander Apply. Equal Opportunity Position” Main Islander or Outer Islander? As my host mom said, this is an unspoken problem here, mainly of the past. But, she said that many educated outer islanders often leave for Guam or the U.S. to find jobs where the caste system doesn’t regulate their lives as much.

Now that I’ve explained the outer islanders a bit, let me talk about where I am living. In Yap there are different areas or municipalities, of them Gagil, Tomil, and Ruul are the highest three castes. I living in Gagil, and the village where I’m teaching Gachpar is the highest caste village in all of Yap. Riiken, where my home is, isn’t as high, but it isn’t low either. People of lower caste on the main island are not allowed to eat with those of a higher caste. Also if someone from Gachpar or a high caste village dies, people from a lower caste village would dig the graves and bury the dead for them as a sign of respect. Even as we ate dinner tonight my host mother explained to me that the banana we were eating was really not for our caste, it was for a really low caste, but now the health advisors have said the higher castes should eat this type of banana because it is high in vitamin A and vitamin C. Who would have ever thought that a banana could be part of the caste system? It isn’t that those of higher caste look down upon those of lower caste as less than they are, but it is a sign of respect, that the people of different castes follow the rules of the system. Lower castes are showing their respect to those of higher castes when they act in certain ways.

Here, where you are born decides your caste. Someone born in Gachpar is very lucky to have been born into the highest caste, while for those born into the lowest caste, they will probably remain in this caste for life. The only opportunity for upward movement is if a woman marries a man in a higher caste. If this happens the higher caste must actually pay the woman in the lower caste in order for her to advance to the higher caste. However, if a woman marries a man in a lower caste, she must go down to that caste level, the man can NEVER move up. So for the woman caste may be a big deal. Marry up and you go up, marry down and you have no choice but to go down, you cannot keep you caste level.

So here today in 2008 on a small island in the Pacific I’m getting the opportunity to witness a modern day caste system. Straight from my memories of high school history books and now I’m witnessing it first hand. Though it is not as strong as it once was, it is still very alive and part of the lives of the people who live here. I wonder how this will affect my goals and experiences living here. Of course, I’m still learning a great deal and I have two more years to soak in as much information as I can, so I may not have all the details of the caste system here, but I wanted to share this because I find it really fascinating. Maybe the caste system may seem unfair for some (and I’m not advocating either way), but it is a part of this culture that they have been able to hold onto, and for that it is a good thing. So often culture is lost by western influence, and I’m happy to have the opportunity to live somewhere that has managed to hold onto so much of their Yapese cultural identities, even if it differs from my own beliefs or ideas.

My Beach in Gagil.... not to be confused with Ma Abich.. which means "You Eat" in Yapese