eHRAF Report
Topic: Navigation (OCM Code 502)
Culture #1: Woleai Region (OWC Code OR21)
Culture #2: Tlingit (OWC Code NA12)
Victoria Clear
ANT 2000
Fall 2017
Group #3
Date of eHRAF Group Meeting #1: October 11, 2017
Name of person who read my report: Hadley Cannon
Name of person whose report I read: Maggie Radford
Date of eHRAF Group Meeting #2: November 8, 2017
Name of person who read my report: Melissa Gonzalez
Name of person whose report I read: Melissa Gonzalez
Culture Summary for the Woleai Region
The people of the Woleai Region are a group of people split between six main islands, reported by William H. Alkire and John Beierle (2009). The six islets are called Woleai, Eauripik, Ifaluk, Faraulep, Elato, and Lamotrek. Woleai has the largest surface area and Eauripik has the lowest. The population has approximately 920 people as of 2003, with the islets of Woleai having the highest population and the islets of Elato having the lowest population. The Chuuk population were possibly the first settlers of this region from around 300 to 1000 AD. The people of the Woleai region speak a Woleaian with different dialects among the islets. Settled along lagoon shores, the Woleaian people live in villages gapilamw – inside distinct districts tabw – among the islands. Each tabw has a chief with some islands having a paramount chief. Depending on the island and where they live on the land, Woleaian people will grow taro, breadfruit, coconut palms, and bananas for their own benefit and for exchange among the islets and on trade routes. Locals will eat pigs, dogs, and chicken. The Lamotrek and Elato islets include green sea turtles as a very important part of their diet. Men work as fishermen, tend to fruit trees, build houses and canoes, and tended canoe houses. Women we mostly gardeners who cultivated taro, weaved loincloths and jewelry, and cooked food. Households contained six to eight members with an older woman being the head of the house. For those who maintained their native religion and belief system, they believe that good and bad spirits live in the sea, sky, and land. Men and women tattoo themselves with very elaborate designs. Women will compose songs while both men and women will choreograph standing and sitting dances, both for celebration and for recreation. When a Woleaian dies, mourning periods can last for months and dirges are sung from the time of death until one s burial inside or along the ocean (Alkire, Beierle 2009).
Navigation used by the Woleai Region
The navigators of the Woleaian Region are called the pelu . Being a pelu is a very prestigious title and most chiefs try to become pelu themselves. If a chief becomes a pelu, then their status position will be undisputed in all spheres . In other words, being a pelu could raise one s reputation multiple levels to even becoming untouchable. The art of navigating is taught by a student s father or their mother s brother. The prestige of being a navigator translates in its training by requiring the pelu to complete an apprenticeship on their trainer s island. A Woleaian can start training to become a pelu after turning 19 (Alkire 1965).
The people of the Woleai Region rely on many effigies to assure safe travels. A navigator, otherwise known as a pelu , will make a weather effigy to ward off bad weather during his voyages and turn storms away from his island of residence . After completing training to become a navigator, the pelu will ask for guidance from Yalulawei through the effigy. Yalulawei are water and weather deities of the Woleaian region (Alkire 1965). Although religion among the Woleaian Region is disappearing quickly, the ceremonies, worship, and spirits that still exist among the people today are all related to the supernatural guidance of maritime activities, like navigating (Bates, Abbott, 1958).
The art of navigating is effected by sources other than spirituality. The actual technique that it takes to navigate a canoe of the Woleaian is an art-form itself. For example, to change the direction sharply of a canoe requires quickly releasing the sail from one side and fastening it to the other side. This technique converts what was the stern into the bow . For navigating in shallow waters, the sailing canoes as mentioned before will use paddles instead of their sails. Although it would be acceptable to use sails even in shallow water, the reason the Woleaian use paddles is to sift through coral reefs without injuring the canoes or the reefs (Burrows 1953).
The ancient form of navigation among the Woleaian people has not seen much change throughout the years. Since the Woleai Region consists of many close islands, most trips are pretty short. However, this does not mean that voyages that go further than 100 miles are unusual. The people of the Woleaian Region can travel to their neighboring islands or as far as a Guam. Sailing season is from spring to early summer. From November through the end of April, trade winds blow too strongly for safe traveling. Before compasses, the pelu would use the positions of stars to reach their neighboring islands and reefs. If the stars would not suffice, then the pelu would associate stars according to ocean currents (Burrows 1953).
Culture Summary for the Tlingit
Kenneth Tollefson describes the Tligit people as a hunter-gathering group located in southern Alaska (1997). Originating around 7000 BC and with roughly 25,000 people, their territory ranges from offshore islands and inlets to the mountains. The word Tlingit in the Tlingit language means in the people . Their language has 3 distinct dialects: northern, central, and southern. They settled mostly along the shoreline where they beached their canoes, dug for clams, caught salmon, and gathered drinking water. Tlingit hunted for deer, bears, seals, and goats, fished for salmon, halibut, and herring, and gathered roots, berries, and shellfish. Sources of income included fur trapping, carving, basket-making, weaving blankets, beading and metalworking. Along with inter-cultural trading, the Tlingit are heavy participants in trading networks among many cultures where they would trade coppers, shells, canoes, carvings, and furs. Men did all of the hunting, fishing and carving. Women cleaned fish, tanned fur, wove baskets and blankets, and gathered vegetation. With the population increasing, there became increased competition for resources, which increased warfare among the region. Society among the Tlingit is divided into two moieties, or distinct groups: The Raven-Crow, those inland, and the Eagle-Wolf, the southern population. For marriage, a woman will usually marry a cousin from their father s side. If that was not possible, they would marry someone in their paternal grandfather s clan. If that was also not possible, they could marry a member of any clan of the opposite moiety, as marriage among one s own clan or moiety were punishable by death. Monogamy is the usual and polygamy is rare and for those of high status. After traditional culture diminished around 1880 AD, the culture has had legal trouble with keeping their land, but this is no longer a problem due to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.
Navigation among the Tlingit
The Tlingit navigated closely to where they settled and they largely traveled by canoe. Tlingit sailors were impeccable at sailing. Though they hated to sail in storm weather, they were nonetheless prepared to do so if a storm showed overhead. The stern of the canoe was considered the seat of honor . This is the seat where the headman sat to steer. If the weather was particularly blustery, two men would sit in the stern to steer. To help flip a canoe over, they needed to strike down on an incoming wave so they could beach it properly. The Tlingit have multiple sizes for different purposes. For example, they have large ones which could transport sixty people and small ones for fishing, which have been remarked as ingeniously constructed (Emmons 1991).
As known, the Tlingit live among mountains and islands and an archipelago. This area is known to be impacted greatly by ocean currents and storms. The Tlingit, however, still have mastered the currents and storms within dainty canoes. They will go all the way out into the ocean with nothing to guide them home, yet they find their way back . Women as just as skilled as their male counterparts in sailing, especially considering how independent the female population of the Tlingit are. They will go and sail to different islands to pick up berries, clams, and other types of seafood. In one instance, a woman once traveled seventy miles with two dead people to return them to their people. She sailed all night and was alone, not including the two dead people (Jones 1914).
Expanding on dangerous weather situations, the Tlingit did not like the risk of storms. Though they know how to handle navigating through a storm, they did not openly seek it and learned how to do so in case they were out sailing and a storm happened to form. To keep from overturning in a bad storm, they watch every wave. If a big wave is coming towards them and they think that it may overturn them, they will push the sea down and hit the wave with their paddles. Though it gives the impression that they are indeed pushing the sea downwards, they are actually pushing their canoe to the crest of the wave. This way, they can remain on top of the wave without being overturned on the bottom of the wave (Krause, Gunter 1956).
Some Tlingit believe the ocean is its own entity with its own mind. When going through a narrow straight called Streamer Passage, one Tlingit is mentioned saying, When going through the pass, you must sit still in the boat and not talk, or the tide will get excited and turn you over. Streamer Passage, which is over a mile long, is known to have harsh currents run through it, which give it a Tlingit name that means Strong or Great Tidal Rapids . Before attempting the passage, those in the canoe must look at a landmark called Halibut Rock which lets the Tlingit known whether or not the passage is safe. If the passage is safe, Halibut Rock will be wet so that they know that the tide is going to fall next instead of rise. They must say thank you to Halibut Rock before entering Streamer Passage (De Laguna, 1960).
Comparing Navigation Techniques
The Woleaian and the Tlingit are two completely different cultures despite both populations weighing navigation heavily within their culture and living amongst many islands and currents. Amongst the Woleaian people, only men and those of high status could become navigators. The pelu , as the Woleaian navigators were called, had to go through rigorous training to become a pelu and even had to complete a residency on their trainer s island. Unlike the Woleai Region people, the art of navigation was not seen as prestigiously as the Woleaians saw it. The whole Tlingit population were navigators and women used navigation more than men did. The women of the Tlingit culture were more independent and needed to gather food for their families so it was necessary for them to learn how to navigate to do this. The two cultures also have different vessels to navigate. The Woleaians had canoes with sails that they treated with tremendous amounts of care. They would bring paddles with them to steer their boats through reefs to not damage the vessel. They also had covers made out of animal skin to keep the boats from getting thoroughly weathered. The Tlingit, on the other hand, had various sizes of boats to complete different tasks. Smaller canoes completed fishing tasks while larger boats could transport goods and even whole families to different islands.
The similarities in navigating among the two cultures are how their spirituality plays into the art, their skill and precision, and actual navigation techniques. Both cultures are losing their beliefs fast due to being exposed to other nations and cultures, but because of how big of a role navigation plays in their cultures, they both seem to keep aspects of their religion that are related to the art. For example, when Woleaians go through the process of becoming a pelu, they make their own weather talismans so that water and weather deities may protect them. They even have inscribed conch shells that they will blow through to send a message to storms essentially telling them to go away. The Tlingit also do not rely on their native beliefs much anymore, but the beliefs that have stayed relevant are the ones related to the ocean and to navigation. They believe that the ocean is its own entity and that it can demolish them at any second if it pleases. This means that they must be very respectful of the ocean to get in its good graces. While going through a straight or on a particularly dangerous path, they will usually look for signs like landmarks to see if the tide is in or out. If they believe the path is safe, they first say thank you to the ocean before taking any sort of advancement towards the path. Like the Streamers Passage, one is told not to make any movement in the boat or else the sea might get excited and topple the boat over. Both cultures are also extremely masterful of the boat and of the ocean. It does not matter what the use of navigating is, both cultures make boating look like a form of art. Both the Woleaian people and the Tlingit people find storms as an inconvenience, but if a storm happens to come through their paths, they sail just as masterfully. The only difference is the Woleaian people take extensive training to become navigators of the sea while the Tlingit people grow up learning how to navigate the oceans. Both cultures also use similar navigational tools, like using ocean currents and guiding by the stars.
The Woleaian people prominently use navigation as a symbol of power and dominance while the Tlingit need navigation to thrive, live, and expand their territory.
References Cited
Alkire, William H., and John Beierle. Culture Summary: Woleai Region. 2009. Web. 3 Oct. 2017.
Alkire, William H. 1965. Lamotrek Atoll And Inter-Island Socioeconomic Ties. Illinois Studies In Anthropology. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Bates, Marston, and Donald Putnam Abbott. Coral Island: Portrait Of An Atoll. 1958. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
Burrows, Edwin G. (Edwin Grant), and Melford E. Spiro. Atoll Culture: Ethnography Of Ifaluk In The Central Carolines. Behavior Science Monographs 1953: iii, 355. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
De Laguna, Frederica. Story Of A Tlingit Community: A Problem In The Relationship Between Archaeological, Ethnological And Historical Methods. Bulletin 1960: x, 254 , plates. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
Emmons, George Thornton., and Frederica De Laguna. Tlingit Indians. Anthropological Papers Of The American Museum Of Natural History 1991: xl, 488. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
Jones, Livingston French. Study Of The Thlingets Of Alaska. 1914. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
Krause, Aurel, and Erna Gunter. Tlingit Indians: Results Of A Trip To The Northwest Coast Of America And The Bering Straits. 1956. Web. 11 Oct. 2017.
Tollefson, Kenneth D. Culture Summary: Tlingit. 1997. Web. 8 Oct. 2017.