The Carolinian people (endonym: Refaluwasch) are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people in the Northern Mariana Islands. They are also known as Remathau in Yap's outer islands. Refaluwasch means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally migrated from Asia and Melanesia to Micronesia around 2,000 years ago. Their primary language is Carolinian, called Refaluwasch by native speakers, which has a total of about 5,700 speakers. The Refaluwasch traditionally have a matriarchal society. Most Refaluwasch are of the Roman Catholic faith.
The emigration of Refaluwasch to Saipan began in the early 19th century, after the Spanish reduced the local population of Chamorro natives to just 3,700. They began to emigrate, sailing in small canoes from the Carolines, which had been devastated by typhoons. Being indigenous to a more southern archipelago than the Marianas, they generally have a darker complexion than the native Chamorros.
Genetics The Refaluwasch are Durums mixed and have the same lineages with Remathau on the outer islands of Yap.
Some of the people on the islands are Chamolinians, who have a mixture of Chamorro and Carolinian heritage.
The Refaluwasch in the CNMI have a high rate of macrosomia, where the infant is born abnormally large.
Names Carolinians are also known as Repaghuluwósch.Marsh, Kelly G. April 2013. "An Exploration of Indigenous Values and Historic Preservation in Western Micronesia: A Study in Cultural Persistence" CSU https://csu.edu.au https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/9310502 They also called themselves Falawasch in the 1800s and may have used this name beyond this century.
Personal and surname name usage Saralu is an example of a Carolinian name. This name was used by a man named Clemente Saralu Taisacan, a Carolinian fisherman of Rota, and was the maiden name of his Carolinian mother.Amesbury, Judith R. & Hunter-Anderson, Rosalid L. "Review of Archaeological And Historical Data Concerning Reef Fishing in the U.S. Flag Islands of Micronesia: Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands" Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council. 2003
In the 1950s dating back to Spanish era, some people used Spanish names. Before and during this time, people had three names; this may still be the case today. The first name is a Spanish Christian name for the individual chosen by the parents. The second name is Carolinian, also chosen by the parents or another older relative. The third name or surname is also Carolinian.
Before the 1950s, children received either the mother's or father's surname; now, children are given the surnames of their fathers. Brothers usually have different family names. German personal and last names may be used in this community due to the German colonial era in the Northern Marianas.
On the islands of Saipan and Tinian, there are several Carolinian or Chamorro families with Japanese surnames.
History
Pre-Spanish era (antiquity to 1697)
The Carolinian people have a history stretching back over 3000 years. They had contact with the Chamorro people for years and had a long history of traveling from the Caroline Islands to what is now Guam. "Pre-contact" Carolinian-designed pestles, fishing hooks, and rings made out of shells have been found here, evidence of contact between the two groups.
They built canoes that would have a small roof covering less than half of the canoe. The sides could be different colors. The boat could fit over nine adults in it.
Centuries ago they used sea-lanes based on memorized information passed down from the prior generation.
Before colonial times a system called was practiced. The word means Yapese chief, conqueror, tyrant. This involved the Carolinians gathering once every two or three years in Yap. This system may have existed before the year 1600. More on this is discussed in the religion section.
Trade between the Carolinians and Chamorros continued even during the Spanish occupation of Guam.
Typhoon devastation and Spanish era (1697–1899) In the late 1600s, leprosy was present in the Marianas. The Spaniards tried to deal with this by quarantining lepers in Saipan and Tinian. These islands are isolated. Spaniards brought Carolinians to these islands to help the hospitals holding patients with leprosy.
Chamorro sargento mayor Luís de Torres became an important source of information about the Carolinian people.
During this time the people built a boat called Waa (canoe) for transporting cargo and passengers over long distances.
Reports from Chamorro refugees of Spanish–Chamorro wars during the 1600s discouraged Carolinians from traveling to the Mariana Islands. They did not travel there until Carolinian navigator Luito went to Guam in 1778.
Carolinian sailors became very knowledgeable of the Marianas islands and learned that the northern islands were mostly empty of people.
In Guam, Carolinians traveled to Talofofo Bay in 1788. They were on a voyage and stopped there in search of iron. This kind of trade had not occurred in over a hundred years in Guam since the military conflicts between Spanish and Chamorros. Guam became popular with Carolinians because of the iron as well as copper and other resources.
In the 19th century the Refaluwasch moved from Elato and Satawal islands in the East and West part of the Carolinian islandsRistroph, Elizabeth Barrett. "The Survival of Customary Law in the Northern Mariana Islands." Chicago-Kent School of Law Illinois Institute of Technology. 2007 http://studentorgs.kentlaw.iit.edu/jicl/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/01/Ristroph_customary_nmi.pdf to what is now Northern Mariana Islands.
During the 18th century a Catholic order called the Augustinian Recollects was given missionary work in the Mariana Islands. Before this, a religious order was already in place in the Mariana Islands. Later in the 19th century, they attended to Carolinian migrants who came to the islands.
The two islands were devastated by a typhoon, and the Refaluwasch were starving during this time. Chief Nguschul of Elato along with Chief Aghurubw of Satawal led the people to the NMI. The people traveled in 120 canoes filled with an estimated 900 people. They landed at Micro Beach. They set up the first Carolinian settlement on what is now CNMI in 1815. After coming to Saipan, they built a village called Arabwal. They tried to live like they did on the islands they left. They also kept up yearly links with their home islands. This area is now in American Memorial Park."A Living Legacy." NPS,https://www.nps.gov/amme/planyourvisit/upload/AMME_S2_interactive.pdf. Accessed 4 April 2019. This was not the only village built. The other one Ppiyal Oolang. This area is where Nguschul and his group settled. The villages' sites were chosen because of the sandy beaches and swamp like sites. The sites also enabled made it easy for them to access the ocean through reef passages. They were also chosen because it was fronted by a long sheltered lagoon. The swampy areas east of the beach was useful for taro cultivation. A group of Carolinians came from Lamotrek and another came from Tametam not long after and joined them. More continued to come in the 1800s, as well as to other areas such as Guam and Tinian.Riesenberg, Saul H. & Kaneshiro, Shiegeru. A Caroline Islands Script. Smithsonian Institution, n. d. https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/22111/bae_bulletin_173_1960_60_269-333.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
The Spanish allowed them to keep their culture.
During the mid-1800s, Carolinians moved to Tamuning due to an 1849 typhoon which devastated their land. They continued inter-island travel during the latter half of the 18th century and into the 19th century, using a ship called a banca.
In 1865, 265 Carolinians were transferred from the Carolines by Englishman George Johnston. He moved them to Pagan.Amesbury, Judith R. "What are all those people doing in that ecosystem?" Scientific and Statistical Committee Western Pacific Fishery Management Council, NOAA, n. d.https://www.pifsc.noaa.gov/media/news/mariana_archipelago_ecosystem_science_implementation_plan_workshop_amesbury.pdf
In 1868, a powerful typhoon hit Arabwal, causing massive damage. However, with the island's abundance of resources, the community was able to recover from it.
In 1876, the 700 Carolinians and Chamorros and 300 Europeans on Saipan had an issue with droughts which prevented them from growing food. Hunger was a great issue during this time.
The Tanapag village was set up by some Refaluwasch who left Tinian island in 1879.
By 1885, most of the desirable lands in the Northern Marianas were now under the control of the Carolinians.
In 1889, Governor Olive had the Refaluwasch on Tinian relocate to Tanapag, Saipan.
In 1893 the Emperor of Germany William II acknowledged on a least one occasion the Carolinians and Chamorros helping people who escaped a shipwreck. This was the shipwreck of a German ship called T. H. Dennis. He gave gold crosses and awards.
During the 1890s there was a court case concerning a Carolinian man named Ygajaran, who disappeared sometime in or before 1893. This case involved courts in the Marianas as well as the Philippines.
German period (1899–1914) Spain sold the Northern Mariana Islands to Germany in 1899, after losing Guam to the United States in 1898. This area became known as the German Northern Marianas. This was the shortest period a country controlled this area. They had little impact on the culture of the Carolinians but did bring in new ways of schooling, bureaucracy, architecture, and administration. The legal system was transparent towards both Carolinians and Chamorros.
On 17 November 1899, Georg Fritz became the first district officer of this area. He set up programs which brought together the Carolinians and Chamorro people living on the islands. In 1902, on the volcanic island Anatahan, Fritz found evidence of Carolinian huts. These were used by Carolinian workers who harvested copra.Stolz, Thomas & Levkovych, Nataliya. "Cartographic Anonymity: Towards an Evaluation of Agrigan's Mute Map" University of Guam. https://www.uog.edu https://www.uog.edu/_resources/files/schools-and-colleges/college-of-liberal-arts-and-social-sciences/pai/v12/6.StolzCartographic_repair.10.20.21_BEST.pdf
Marriages between German settlers or colonial officers and Carolinians at Saipan occurred. The marriage did not allow for citizenship for either the Carolinian partner or children. This was the same for Chamorro people.The Carolinian population in 1901 was 772. The last population count by the Germans in 1914 recorded a population of 1,109.
Unlike the Chamorros, Carolinians did not own land during this time.
US naval era (1899–1903)
In Guam the people were made to adopt Western ways of living by the U.S. Naval Administration.
One example of this was banning nudity. In Guam the first American governor was Richard P. Leary (1899–1900), who issued an order that Carolinian women in Guam were not allowed to be naked when he visited. This was done away with by Governor William E. Sewell (1903–1904). The men were not allowed to be naked either, and many went to Saipan to avoid this. The constant nudity of the people bothered the second American governor Seaton Schroeder (1900–1903) so much that he decided to move them off the island. They were sent to CNMI through an agreement with the Germans who controlled these islands and wanted additional laborers.
Japanese administration and occupation (1914–1945) Japan took over the Mariana Islands in 1914 and were allowed to keep it in the Treaty of Versailles.
The Carolinians had villages which the Japanese called . These villages were controlled by village chieftains called and . These chieftains did not always have this position under the traditional tribal patterns.