A canoe came from Puluwat to Mogmog, probably using these traditional sea routes in Western Micronesia.

“Now there is a story that a long time ago, a canoe from Puluwat tried to visit here, intending to kill people here,” Stanley says. “They came and landed on that end of Mogmog. The people here were hiding, watching, wondering who are those people. They’re not Yapese, but they sailed in big canoes. But when they heard one speak, they could not understand it.

“At night these visitors sent in a scout to see what’s going on here, but as the scout was scouting, somebody from here was scouting the scout. Then the scout would return back, and give his report. And those people waited and watched, and they said, ‘O.K. now, at this time, this is when they sleep.’ To make sure, the scout goes down again, comes back, same story: ‘this time, this is the time they really sleep.’ So they tried to adjust when they should come and take over, kill the men there, so that it will be easier for them."

Satawalese Canoe. TTPI Archives photograph.

Canoe from Chuuk State. TTPI Archives photograph.

“At that time, there was a house on the platform called Rool'oang, and in there was a man named Holufang. He was the strongest man on Mogmog. So the scout said, ‘But let me tell you, there is another Men’s House over there, with one man inside. I think we will have a problem with that guy.’ Because they had no weapons, they said ‘Let’s check carefully, we’ll see.’

"But as the scout was trying to check, somebody from here was also checking on the canoe and on their scout that was going around. And he spreads the news, ‘these people are checking on us.’ ‘Ah, so they don’t really care about us,’ some replied, ‘just let them stay and probably, they’ll leave'."

“Now in Mogmog, whenever you come to the island, before you reach the beach you have to put down your mast," Alphonso says. "Now this canoe had a huge, tall mast. But they did not put down their mast, and when they pulled up the canoe, they were asked them why, and they said, they never put down that mast because none of them can put it down."

“So what happened next day," Stanley and Alphonso finish the story, "this fellow Holufang from Mogmog, he walks straight to that canoe, and he comes up on the outrigger of the canoe. And even though the ropes were still attached to the mast, he just got up and grabbed the mast and pulled it up, breaking all the ropes, and then he drove it down through the middle of the canoe, where the nets were, breaking the canoe’s platform, and he drilled it down through and into the reef until about only a few feet were sticking up. "

The indentation where the bottom of the mast rests.Holufang yanked up the mast and drove it down through the bottom of the canoe and into the reef.

"And that’s what scared the whole group that came: if this small man, this is the way he acts, what about these big ones? It’s only a super man can do that, but this is one of them. We cannot attack, so let’s just go.’ From the time, they just rebuilt the canoe—no more scouting around. They just rebuilt their canoe, finished, and took off."

Pacific Worlds > Yap: Ulithi > Arrival > Neighbors