We received a phone call from Peter Panuelo-Leon,
Chief of Elementary Education for Pohnpei schools, on Friday evening asking if
Roger and I and our Peace Corps colleagues were available on Saturday around
noon to attend a “Kamadipw en Wahu,” or festival of respect. Our immediate response was sure…then we
stopped to wonder…what’s this?!
Well, we certainly found out on Saturday. Chief Panuelo picked us up, and while driving, explained that now (September through December) is the time for “first harvest” or thanksgiving festivals. A little background….there are nine municipalities in Pohnpei, each of which has a traditional system of leadership wherein they are ruled by a king or Nahnmwarki. It is interesting to note that the Pohnpei culture is matrilineal, and leadership titles are passed down through the mother’s clan. Women, however, do not hold leadership positions. Along with the Nahnmwarki, there are various other titles with greater or lesser responsibilities. Anyway, in keeping with tradition, each of the local villages in each municipality still invite their Nahnmwarki to a festival at which they present him with yams, pigs, and sakau as tokens of respect.
We went to Nett municipality where Chief Panuelo’s wife is a person with some standing. The Chief led us to the Nahs (like an open-air picnic pavilion) where we were presented to the Nahnmwarki and other members of the cultural leadership. Because we were invited guests of the chief and his wife, we were invited to sit on the cement platform with the King and his family. However, we had to be in front of him and lower in elevation (he sat on a chair, we sat on the cement floor). Almost immediately we were presented with food…woven palm leaf platters filled with fish, chicken, breadfruit, and bananas. Music was provided by a young man singing and playing a keyboard. The music was very upbeat and soon women were dancing. They took great delight in inviting us old white folks to get up and dance. Believe it or not, Roger got up first, then me. The women are great dancers; they have a hip shimmy that I tried but could not even come close to duplicating. My dancing instructor said “just bend your knees and relax”…no way!
As the afternoon progressed, we watched an amazing array of gifts and tributes presented to the King. Most impressive were huge piles of sakau plants and perhaps a dozen pigs, killed within the last hour—we could hear their squeals. Also hanging from the rafters were dozens of yam plants. In between and during all of this there were two groups of men making sakau. Half a dozen men sat around two large flat stone surfaces and pounded the roots and prepared the drink. After hearing about sakau for so long, I finally had a chance to sample the drink. The first sakau from a pounding is very thick and strong. I had a sip and found it strange but not as disgusting as I thought it might be.
Equally amazing to me was the presentation of the pigs. Palm fronds were laid on the cement floor in front of the king. The pig carcasses were then carried in on the shoulders of strong men who struggled under the weight and dropped their load at the foot of the Nahnmwarki (and only a couple of feet from where we were sitting). At that point, a dozen men with large knives and machetes started butchering the pigs and distributing portions. We were presented with a couple of large sections of ribs. Wow! It should be noted that much of the sakau root and most of the meat is given to families from the host region.
All-in-all, the day was pretty amazing and provided an opportunity to see the traditional Pohnpeian culture up close. I will let the pictures fill in the details. [Another side note—we were at lunch in Kolonia the other day and our waitress asked us if we had a good time at the festival on Saturday…she said she saw us dancing!!]
Well, we certainly found out on Saturday. Chief Panuelo picked us up, and while driving, explained that now (September through December) is the time for “first harvest” or thanksgiving festivals. A little background….there are nine municipalities in Pohnpei, each of which has a traditional system of leadership wherein they are ruled by a king or Nahnmwarki. It is interesting to note that the Pohnpei culture is matrilineal, and leadership titles are passed down through the mother’s clan. Women, however, do not hold leadership positions. Along with the Nahnmwarki, there are various other titles with greater or lesser responsibilities. Anyway, in keeping with tradition, each of the local villages in each municipality still invite their Nahnmwarki to a festival at which they present him with yams, pigs, and sakau as tokens of respect.
We went to Nett municipality where Chief Panuelo’s wife is a person with some standing. The Chief led us to the Nahs (like an open-air picnic pavilion) where we were presented to the Nahnmwarki and other members of the cultural leadership. Because we were invited guests of the chief and his wife, we were invited to sit on the cement platform with the King and his family. However, we had to be in front of him and lower in elevation (he sat on a chair, we sat on the cement floor). Almost immediately we were presented with food…woven palm leaf platters filled with fish, chicken, breadfruit, and bananas. Music was provided by a young man singing and playing a keyboard. The music was very upbeat and soon women were dancing. They took great delight in inviting us old white folks to get up and dance. Believe it or not, Roger got up first, then me. The women are great dancers; they have a hip shimmy that I tried but could not even come close to duplicating. My dancing instructor said “just bend your knees and relax”…no way!
As the afternoon progressed, we watched an amazing array of gifts and tributes presented to the King. Most impressive were huge piles of sakau plants and perhaps a dozen pigs, killed within the last hour—we could hear their squeals. Also hanging from the rafters were dozens of yam plants. In between and during all of this there were two groups of men making sakau. Half a dozen men sat around two large flat stone surfaces and pounded the roots and prepared the drink. After hearing about sakau for so long, I finally had a chance to sample the drink. The first sakau from a pounding is very thick and strong. I had a sip and found it strange but not as disgusting as I thought it might be.
Equally amazing to me was the presentation of the pigs. Palm fronds were laid on the cement floor in front of the king. The pig carcasses were then carried in on the shoulders of strong men who struggled under the weight and dropped their load at the foot of the Nahnmwarki (and only a couple of feet from where we were sitting). At that point, a dozen men with large knives and machetes started butchering the pigs and distributing portions. We were presented with a couple of large sections of ribs. Wow! It should be noted that much of the sakau root and most of the meat is given to families from the host region.
All-in-all, the day was pretty amazing and provided an opportunity to see the traditional Pohnpeian culture up close. I will let the pictures fill in the details. [Another side note—we were at lunch in Kolonia the other day and our waitress asked us if we had a good time at the festival on Saturday…she said she saw us dancing!!]
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| The Nahnmwarki (sitting in chair) and others with lesser titles. |
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| Taking sakau from a traditional half coconut shell |
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| Pounding the sakau root |
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| Yams hanging from the rafters |
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| Gifts of pig and sakau heading (we think) to the Nahnmwarki |
Glad you had a great time :)
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