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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [First Pa [124], (1 Lines: 0 ——— 13.0pt ——— Normal * PgEnds: [124], (1 5. revitalization in wartime micronesia Lin Poyer During World War II the people of Micronesia suffered physical destruction , social dislocation, and psychological stress. The end of the war in Micronesia was accompanied by a momentous transition from Japanese to American rule. As we might predict from the research on revitalization movements, one response to these events was indigenous revival . In several regions, wartime pressures and the social vacuum characterizing the worst years of war encouraged the renewal of traditional social, religious, and political activities. These renewals in some ways followed the expected trajectory of revitalization movements, which have been described as nativistic religious responses to secular colonial stresses. What is interesting about the Micronesian examples is that the revivals were—with one exception—short-lived and, in the words of one observer, “faded into insignificance after the war” (Fischer 1957:64). Most Micronesians, in other words, found revitalization movements of only temporary practical use. The movement that survived the war was Modekngei, in Palau, which had originated early in the century. Japanese and American studies of Modekngei see it as a revitalization movement (usually with stress, rather than deprivation, as the motivator). Yet even Modekngei saw its power weaken dramatically after the war. Modekngei “failed” as a revitalization movement, however, only because Palauan culture “revived” without its assistance. Modekngei’s wartime success, its relative postwar decline, and the overall history of war-era revitalization movements in Micronesia reveal the historically contingent nature of the concept. Although it has been useful in analyzing certain phenomena in the era of colonial expansion, I suggest that postwar cultural “revitalizations” be studied as a qualita- revitalization in wartime micronesia 125 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 [125], (2) Lines: 18 to 3 ——— 0.414pt Pg ——— Normal Page PgEnds: TEX [125], (2) tively different sort of political activity in the modern global contest for legitimate and empowering political identities. Prewar Acculturation Japan took control of Micronesia as a League of Nations mandate in 1914 and soon established a colonial civil service administering regional commerce, transportation, health care, education, and law enforcement. In the late 1920s, Japanese colonial activity intensified, with the goals of increasing the value of Micronesia to Japan and acculturating Micronesians to Japanese ways. The colonial government began—and, in the mid-1930s, dramatically accelerated—a massive immigration and economic development program centered on sugarcane, phosphate mining, copra, and fishing. By the end of the 1930s Japanese and Okinawan immigrants outnumbered Micronesians on some islands. Micronesians benefited from the economic boom through the increased availability of goods and cash, travel opportunities, and infrastructure such as roads, wharves, and electricity . But Micronesians also experienced increasing pressure to adhere to Japanese law, custom, and socioeconomic expectations (Peattie 1988). Wartime Experiences If revitalization movements are most likely at times of stress, it is unsurprising that World War II saw the emergence of a variety of such responses to local conditions throughout Micronesia. Late in the decade Japan began military preparations throughout the region. Although the December 1941 attacks on Pearl Harbor, Wake, the Gilbert Islands, and Guam mark the start of the Pacific War, for Islanders the impact of war began either earlier or later, depending on when Japanese military activities affected local communities. The first phase of military base construction in the Marshalls, Pohnpei , Chuuk, Yap, Palau, and the Marianas brought in large numbers of military workers. Traumatic changes for local people, including con- fiscation of land, relocation, and intensified wage labor, soon followed. Even areas not selected for base construction were affected by the first, offensive period of war, through the massive movement of men for conscripted labor, increased nationalist propaganda and tightened security, and in some cases direct military service. The most severe wartime stresses, though, came after the turning point of the Pacific War, late in 1943, when the Allied advance, starting 126 poyer 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18...

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