Yap Visitors Bureau | Yap's History

Myths and Legends

A Timeline of Yap's History

Legend of the Ghost from Chuuk

The Giant Ruwathoel

The Lizard-Man of Dugor

Navigational Idol

Lios Idol or Monkey Man

How Wa'ab Became Yap

Lios Idol or Monkey Man

This Lios, or “spirit image,” from the island of Ulithi, an outer island of Yap, was dubbed “Monkey Man” by early visitors to the Islands. It is a protective spirit, most likely an ancestral image whose function it was to protect the family or relatives of the deceased. The function of such household spirits could change with context and this Lios might also be a guardian of dwellings or of spirit houses. Of the many types of Lios found in Micronesia, the so-called monkey man, carved from indigenous wood, is one of the most enduring.

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Asian ship in Yap 1919 Secret treaty agreement between Japan and Britain guaranteeing Japanese control over all Pacific islands north of the Equator announced to the world in the Treaty of Versailles.

1920 -1940 Rapid Japanese settlement in Yap. Population of Japanese on Yap Islands jumps from 97 to 1,933.

1920 Typhoon kills seven.

1921 Japan and United States sign treaty recognizing American rights to use Yap's cable station.

1922 Japanese civilian administration begins under League of Nations Mandate. Tattooing banned.

Japanese road building in Yap

1925 Typhoon destroys nearly all homes on Yap.

1935 Japan leaves League of Nations. Begins fortification of Yap.

1938 -1939 Military preparations begin. Yapese are forced to work in labor gangs. Nickel mine opens in Gagil. Strip mining for bauxite and phosphate on Yap and Fais.

1941 -1942 World War II begins. Japanese build lighthouse in Gagil and intensive gardening begins in a large part of southern Yap.

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