During German colonial rule one of the chiefdoms on Pohnpei violently opposed the new colonial government. The violence began in retaliation for injuries inflicted on a Pohnpeian who was beaten by authorities. Soon the German governor and several others were killed by Sokehs people. At the arrival of German warships, the Sokehs people fled to …
Video Category Archives:
Before We Began Counting Years
Thousands of years before latte stones and hollowed lusong rocks began appearing, a group of seafarers first settled in the Marianas. Others soon followed. We see the traces of these first settlers in a few coastal villages–places like Achugao on Saipan, Unai Chulu on Tinian, and Ritidian on Guam. These early settlers arrived more than …
Voices of Pohnpei (Part 2)
A history of Pohnpei, but from the inside. Uses legends and archeology to delineate the high points in Pohnpei's past, ending where history usually begins – with the arrival of the Europeans.
Voices of Pohnpei (Part I)
A history of Pohnpei, but from the inside. Uses legends and archeology to delineate the high points in Pohnpei's past, ending where history usually begins – with the arrival of the Europeans.
History II: Planting The Foreign Flag
This video, the second in a five-part series on the history of Micronesia, explores the beginning of colonial rule in the islands. It opens in 1885, a time when the Pacific was being partitioned among colonial powers, with the contest between Spain and Germany for possession of the islands. After a brief look at Spanish …
History I: Early Encounters
The "People of the Sea", as they are still called, were the first to find the islands, arriving after long ocean voyages from the west and the south on their marvelous 'flying proas.' Centuries later, waves of other seafarers came to these islands, most to stop over for a short while, but a few to …
A Walk Through The past: Part I
The first three of these ten-minute video segments depict what Europeans thought they saw when they began regular visits to the islands in the early 1800s, what life was like in the islands a century later (about 1900), and the different forms of religious expression that people employed. The next cluster of video segments offers …
A Walk Through the Past: Part 2
This disc continues the historical video segments beginning with World War II. The first three describe the major campaigns fought in Micronesia: the US invasion of the Marshall Islands, the assault on the Marianas, and the attack on Angaur and Peleliu in Palau. The end of the war brought transitions for everyone-the reconstruction work needed …
The Colony
This video is a brief tour of what was once the administrative center of Pohnpei. Javier Galvan, a Spanish architect and historian, leads us through the Spanish Wall, erected at the beginning of Spanish rule in 1887. Within the colony enclosed by the Wall were troops barracks, a governor's palace, an infirmary, and other public buildings. Senor …
History V: March Toward Self-Government
This final segment in the History of Micronesia video series presents the final two decades of US administration, when change was the order of the day. The election of President Kennedy in 1960 signaled a profound change in US policy in its Trust Territory, beginning with a focus on education and health services. As the …
History IV: Ruin & Reconstruction
The first part of this video documents the preparations for war in Japanese-governed Micronesia and the assault by the Allies on the islands–from the Marshalls, past Kosrae, Pohnpei and Chuuk, to Palau and the Marianas. This segment shows the battles for the islands not just as they affected the outcome of the war but as …
History III: Sunburst in the South Sea
Beginning with the establishment of the Japanese civil administration in the new mandate, this segment of the history series offers a look at the “golden years” under Japanese rule. Using live footage seldom before seen, the video portrays the impact of the first public education system on the islands as older Micronesians remember it. The …