Memories of War: Micronesians in the Pacific War

Chapter 3. The Meaning of War

39 Chapter 3 THE MEANING OF WAR Micronesian societies maintain highly valued warrior traditions, pasts in which chiefs and military action hold central significance. In stories of ancient times, warriors waged important battles both at home and against other islands. The actions and events of these battles hold value in the present (just as Americans refer to past military victories for modern inspiration), and wellknown martial figures rank as important cultural heroes. Heroic accounts of ancient times constitute some of the most important of all oral traditions. WARFARE IN MICRONESIA’S PAST Like modern war, ancient Micronesian warfare changed the lives of those involved. When they reflect on ancient battles, however, Micronesians contend that motives for war did not focus on territorial conquest per se, but revolved around typical Micronesian concerns for status and hierarchy, or in some cases for group expansion and political suzerainty. A war might reorder the ranking of the land and its peoples, transfer sovereignty from one chief to another, change a chiefdom’s ruling lineage, perhaps even result in the massacre of a clan or the expulsion of people from their homeland. Fighting in hand-to-hand combat, individuals are said to have asserted their manhood and their loyalty to the chiefdom. Victory was a means of confirming or elevating the status of victors—the individuals, their clans, their chiefdoms, and their lands. Warfare continued into the era of exploration, trade, and missionization. Its overt forms were suppressed with the establishment of effective colonial governments. Pacification was not simple, however, with European efforts to make Micronesia safe for merchants and missionaries extending over a cen- A young Chuukese warrior, Weno, 1899. (Micronesian Seminar: Life 100 Years Ago, website album ) the meaning of war 41 tury. In the mid-1800s, the Marshall Islanders “had a reputation for hostility toward visitors that was unequalled in the area,”1 and Chuuk’s reputation for violence extended into the final decades of that century. Pohnpeians repeatedly fought the Spanish in the late nineteenth century, eventually forcing them to sequester themselves in their fort, then abandon the island. Opposition to German colonial rule on Pohnpei erupted into the armed revolt of the Sokehs Rebellion in 1908. Micronesians take pride in the numerous fights they waged, and sometimes won, against outsiders throughout the period of historical contact and colonization. Islanders gained allies and enemies, new weapons, and new sources of conflict, yet they describe this as a time when the ancient concerns and consequences of war remained strong. THE MEANING OF THE PACIFIC WAR So the concept of war, even major war between two well-prepared enemies, was familiar to Micronesians from their own past, and they brought this understanding to bear in making sense of their Pacific War experiences. Many Micronesian stories cast this war as an extension of the familiar Micronesian story of chiefly competition, seeing it as a contest between the Japanese and Americans to decide the right to rule over local lands and peoples.2 What did Micronesians think about the wider meaning of World War II? It is curious that, although Micronesia in the 1930s had phone lines, radios, newspapers, and telegraphs that provided contact with the rest of the world, and many (but not most) Micronesians spoke Japanese, still, many of the Islanders who lived through the war had no clear idea of what precipitated it. This remains true for that generation today, and it is even true for their children and grandchildren, many of whom have high school and college educations . To Americans, whose cultural training in World War II narratives begins in childhood, this seems surprising. When asked “What was the Pacific War about?” an American high school student will offer an answer that is similar to, though less detailed than, that of a World War II American veteran. It will emphasize matters of national fortune: it was about Japan’s refusal to adhere to the capital ship treaty, or the U.S. desire to contain other powers, or the British response to Japanese pressure in Southeast Asia, or Japan’s attack on American or British island possessions, or support for the European fight against Hitler. American cultural memories of World War II—shaped by public his- 42 chapter 3 tory in the form of written, film, or photographic representations—outline the significance of the nation’s past. Written sources, especially those...