Yap Island

Yap Island is a part of Micronesia and was my next stop on the this World War II cruise on the way to Asia . This island was so small and remote, the company was not able to orchestrate any shore excursions, so everyone, even guests, were on their own. I went out with two other crew members and found a local to take us around the island and show us some of the culture. Our guide was shy, but he let me take his photo when I told him he was sitting in fabulous light. He took us to a traditional meetinghouse and to a village with stone money.

They call Yap the land of stone money and the concept behind it is unique. The large stone disks with the big hole in the middle is their traditional form of currency. It worked for both bartering and decoration. The stones that the discs are made from are not found on their island, but far away on the neighboring islands, so it wasn’t like you could just make new money there. They used the money mainly for ransom. Our guide said that if a man from a different village did something wrong, they would tie him to a tree and make the people of his village pay a ransom to get him back, kind of like bail I guess. It was very fascinating. I would have loved to bring home some of the stone money as a souvenir, but I found it impossible to move.

Katie