Ulithi Header Yap Home Pacific Worlds Home

Arrival

Native

The Sea

The Land

Footprints

Visitors

Memories

Onwards

Piyel Maawul |  L'oosiyep  |  Octopus Well  |  Mangeyang |  Paeliul'ap  |  Language |  Sources & Links
 
L'oosiyep

 

Approaching the island of L'oosiyep.

 

“Most of these islands, they seem to have ghosts,” Daniel states. “And some of these islands of Falalop—L'oosiyep and Yaaor—were said to have a many ghosts.But nowadays people just ignore all these and they will go for fishing or picnic or just spend the time there.”

 


 

“In the legend of this place, the people of that island were giants,” Philip recounts, “and they hung upside down in their trees and slept there. They were probably half man and half ghost, and you can see the evidence, in that the footprint there. It is about two or three feet long. And maybe a man stepped into the sand and it became hard, and so now it’s in the rock, but it’s still there.

“As far as I still remember,” Alphonso says, “stories that I heard said that the biggest guy is six lengths—from the thumb to forefinger, that’s how they measured things—from here to here, across his chest, it was six of these. You go one, two, three, four, you can imagine, if it’s six, then you know that he’s very huge. It is the reputed size of the chest of those people from L'oosiyep."

 

Footprint

The footprint was recently washed away by a typhoon. At the site where it used to be, it's length is explained.

Canoe Glyph

One of two canoe petroglyphs on L'oosiyep. It is said that formerly, one could make out three occupants of the canoe.

 

“They talk about it in a chant: he’s from L'oosiyep and his name is Fi, and if you measure from here to here, that’s six of those lengths. He possibly had some kind of footprint like that. I saw the footprint. I went over there many times."

“There is also a picture of a canoe,” Philip says, “near the footprint. It is the old type of canoe that people had here. Somebody drew this picture, probably on the sand. And then, because it’s been a long, long time, the sand becomes sandstone. So it’s in the rock now. It’s permanent."

There is a story that says this canoe belonged to three brothers from L'oosiyep, whose exploits led to the origin of Fais Island.

Read about the legendary origin of Fais.


 

Part of a complex of stone ruins on L'oosiyep.

 

"I think the foundation of Liyomerean’s home is still there and it’s still taboo. People are afraid to go there because…well, some men went up there to catch turtles very recently. And the older men told them not to make noise. But these younger ones, they made alcohol from yeast. This is yeast that we buy from the store, for making bread. Mixed with sugar and syrup then it will ferment, stronger than beer."

 


 

“So they started drinking. So they were happy, and they sang songs, and they shouted. And the old men said, ‘Quiet, be careful, you don’t shout, because we never shout here.’ But they didn’t listen.

"Then later, rocks came flying out from that place. Not rocks, but this helmet shell, from the old, old ones. Somebody threw them, threw them out at them, and they were afraid. And the old people said, ‘see, why don’t you continue your noise?’"

 

Shells

Old, large shells of various types found by the ruins on L'oosiyep.

 

rock slab

An upright slab of rock stands among the ruins.

 

“I don’t know about today,” Alphonso says, “but in the past, on L'oosiyep you don’t try to talk boasting. Like you shouldn’t say, ‘Oh, I’m the good fisherman,’ or ‘I’m the strongest,’ when you get to L'oosiyep. You don’t talk like this. Because if you do, you will end up in the opposite.

"I still remember that, if you go out fishing, you can not say ‘I’m going to catch a lot of fish,’ because you’ll end up catching nothing. And I still remember that when we’re fishing you can not say your line never gets tangled, because within a few minutes you end up tangled. It’s always the opposite of what you say."

 


 

“And I don’t know whether it’s just coincidence or what, but there are few times I used to go out there and fish with the Falalop people and they usually played jokes on each other, and sometimes these things happened!”


More mysterious happenings
are found in the story of the Octopus Well.

 


 

Piyel Maawul |  L'oosiyep  |  Octopus Well  |  Mangeyang |  Paeliul'ap  |  Language |  Sources & Links
Arrival |  A Native Place |  The Sea |  The Land |  Footprints |  Visitors |  Memories |  Onwards
 
Ulithi Home  |  Map Library |  Site Map |  Pacific Worlds Home