Satawal
{{Short description|Atoll in Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Satawal
| image_name = Satawal AKK cropped.jpg
| image_caption = Satawal Atoll
| image_size = 250px
| map_image = {{Location map
|Federated States of Micronesia
|label=Satawal
|lon_dir=E
|lat_dir=N
|lat_deg=7|lat_min=21
|lon_deg=147|lon_min=2
|width=300
|position=top
|mark=Cercle rouge 100%.svg
|marksize=20
|caption=
}}
| map_caption = Location of Satawal in Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia
| location = North Pacific
| coordinates = {{coord|7.3579|N|147.0373|E|type:isle |display=inline}}
| coastline_mi =
| archipelago = Caroline
| total_islands = 1
| area_km2 = 1.3
| elevation_m = 2
| population = 500
| population_as_of = 2000
| country = Federated States of Micronesia
| country_admin_divisions_title = State
| country_admin_divisions = Yap
| ethnic_groups = Micronesian
}}
Satawal is a solitary coral atoll of one island with about 500 people on just over 1 km2 located in the Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean. It forms a legislative district in Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia. Satawal is the easternmost island in the Yap island group and is located approximately {{convert|70|km|mi|sp=us}} east of Lamotrek.
Name
The name of the island goes back to Proto-Chuukic *tadawana,{{cite journal |last1=Bender |first1=Byron W. |s2cid=201778237 |title=Proto-Micronesian Reconstructions: 2 |journal=Oceanic Linguistics |date=2003 |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=271–281 |doi=10.1353/ol.2003.0014}} making it etymologically related to Satawan.
Geography
The island, which measures {{convert|2|km|mi|sp=us}} long northeast-southwest, is up to {{convert|0.8|km|mi|sp=us}} wide and sits atop a small platform-like reef with a narrow fringing reef. The total land area is {{convert|1.3|km2|sqmi|sp=us}}, and is thickly wooded with coconut and breadfruit trees. As there are no anchorages for large boats, Satawal is seldom visited by outsiders.
Administratively Piagailoe Atoll, located 71 kilometers to the northwest, belongs to Satawal municipality.{{cite web|url=http://www.fsmcongress.fm/pdf%20documents/CB%2014-77.pdf|title=Administration|format=PDF}}{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Culture
The native language is Satawalese, a Chuukic language closely related to Woleaian, and the entire population of the island numbers approximately 500. Although located in Yap State, the people of Satawal are more closely related, culturally and linguistically, to those of Chuuk.
The Satawalese primarily subsist on fishing and some agriculture (coconuts, breadfruit, taro). They build small thatch houses for sleeping and use the trunks of breadfruit trees for boat-building. Cultural forms primarily revolve around dance and story-telling, and an alcoholic beverage known as tuba (a palm wine) is brewed from fermented sap of the coconut flower spike.
History
In 1849 a earthquake struck which caused flooding. This flood led to the island being submerged with the exception of trees people climbed onto. The island was submerged for several hours. People in certain cases who were hanging on the trees were carried off by the water and drowned. Eight survivors from the island came to the Marianas in April of 1849 to permanently live there. There were survivors who were still on the island but could not leave for lack of boats. They also planned on leaving the island permanently.{{Cite book |last=Driver |first=Marjorie |title=Carolinians in the Mariana Islands in the 1800s: selected documents from the holdings of the Spanish Documents Collection at the Micronesian Area Research Center: English-Spanish Edition (English-Spanish ed.) |last2=Brunal-Perry |first2=Omaira |isbn=1-878453-21-1 |edition=English-Spanish Edition (English-Spanish ed.) |language=en, es}}
As with all of the Caroline Islands, sovereignty passed from Spain to the Empire of Germany in 1899. The island came under the control of the Empire of Japan after World War I, and was subsequently administered under the South Seas Mandate. Following World War II, the island came under the control of the United States of America and was administered as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands from 1947, and became part of the Federated States of Micronesia from 1979.
On March 18, 1994, the freighter Oceanus ventured out of the main shipping channel when its captain attempted to peek at topless Satawalese women. The freighter ran aground on the nearby Wenimong coral reef, the primary source of food for the islanders, and 13,000 square meters of the reef were ravaged. The freighter's insurer, the North of England P&I Association, ended up paying US$2 million in compensation to the Satawalese.{{cite web|title=A Beef over the Reef|url=https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/beef-over-reef_19980226.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20201121002131/https://www.joc.com/maritime-news/beef-over-reef_19980226.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 November 2020|website=Journal of Commerce|publisher=JOC Group|accessdate=17 May 2018|date=26 February 1998}}
References
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External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060517011342/http://www.terhuneorchards.com/our_history_articles.html A Return to Paradise] account of 1967 visit to Satawal
- [http://digicoll.manoa.hawaii.edu/satawal/index.php?c=1 Steve Thomas Traditional Micronesian Navigation Collection] - photographic materials related primarily to traditional navigation on the island of Satawal Island, Yap
- {{Cite web |url=http://oceandots.com/pacific/caroline/satawal.php |title=Entry at Oceandots.com |access-date=September 12, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101223043232/http://oceandots.com/pacific/caroline/satawal.php |archive-date=December 23, 2010 |url-status=usurped |df=mdy-all }}
- [http://www.newfilmco.com/navpage.htm The Navigators: Pathfinders of the Pacific], a documentary film of Mau Piailug and communal life on Satawal including food preparation, fishing and boat building. Produced by Sanford J. Low and distributed by The New Film Company, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1YXsV6553w Salvage in Paradise], a documentary film of the Salvage and refloating of the Australian Coal the Bulk Carrier OCEANUS by Svitzer Global.
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