History of Palau

thumb|upright=2|Republic of [[Palau]]

Palau was initially settled around 1000 BC.

Palau was likely sighted for the first time by Europeans as early as 1522, when the Spanish mission of the Trinidad, the flagship of Ferdinand Magellan's voyage of circumnavigation, sighted two small islands around the 5th parallel north, naming them "San Juan" without visiting them.

Palau was subsequently discovered by the Europeans on 28 December 1696 when the first map of Palau was drawn by the Czech missionary Paul Klein based on a description given by a group of Palauans shipwrecked on the Philippine coast on Samar. This map and a letter sent to Europe by Klein in June 1697 had a vast impact on interest in Palau. It resulted in the first Jesuit attempts to travel to the islands from the Philippines in 1700, 1708 and 1709, which failed to establish missions. The islands were then visited by the Jesuit expedition led by Francisco Padilla on 30 November 1710, who left two priests Jacques Du Beron and Joseph Cortyl stranded on the coast of Sonsorol, while the mother ship Santissima Trinidad was swept away by a storm. Subsequent attempts to save Du Beron and Cortyl revealed that they were killed and eaten by the locals.

British traders became prominent visitors in the 18th century, followed by expanding Spanish influence in the 19th century; the Palau islands were made part of the Spanish East Indies in 1885. After its defeat in the Spanish–American War in 1898, Spain sold Palau and most of the rest of the Caroline Islands to Germany in 1899 under the terms of the German–Spanish Treaty, with the Palauan islands administered as part of German New Guinea. Control passed to Japan during World War I. In the course of World War II the islands were taken by the United States in 1944. The Battle of Peleliu between September 15 and November 25, 1944, was hard fought, with 2,000 Americans and 10,000 Japanese killed. The islands passed formally to the United States under United Nations auspices in 1947 as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

Four of the Trust Territory districts formed a single state, the Federated States of Micronesia, in 1979, but the districts of Palau and the Marshall Islands declined to participate. Palau, the westernmost cluster of the Caroline Islands, instead opted for independent status in 1978, approved a new constitution and became the Republic of Palau in 1981, and signed a Compact of Free Association with the United States in 1982. After eight referendums and an amendment to the Palauan constitution, the Compact was ratified in 1993 and went into effect on October 1, 1994, marking Palau independence de jure (after Palau was independent de facto since May 25, 1994, when the trusteeship was cancelled).

Legislation making Palau an "offshore" financial center was passed by the Senate in 1998. In 2001, Palau passed its first bank regulation and anti-money laundering laws.

Archaeology

Carbon dating of cave burials show a pygmy population, presumably the result of insular dwarfism, from at least 3,000, and perhaps as long as 4,500 years ago until about 900 years ago (1000–2500 BC until ca. 1100 AD).

thumb|Carved stone face at Badrulchau, 2nd century AD Evidence for early occupation in Palau comes from several loci scattered across the archipelago. Unfortunately, the earliest radiocarbon dates are not from clear contexts and thus provide little data on the early occupations. The earliest acceptable dates for Palau are from the 1st century and 2nd century A. D. Dates from the 1st and 5th century come from midden deposits on Kayangel. The earlier date is from tridacna shell from a deposit which may lie beneath the lowest cultural deposit. The shell is not associated with other artifacts and it is not clear if nearby artifacts are from a permanent occupation of the atoll. The 5th century date is associated with other artifacts, but it is still not clear if this part of the midden derives from a permanent occupation. In another study, Osborne obtained a date of A. D. 161 from excavations at the Badrulchau Site. The date is from a composite charcoal sample in a level under the stone pillar structure and apparently underlying the terracing on the hillside.

The construction and maintenance of terraces on the volcanic islands appears to precede the formation of the formal, nucleated, settlements observed at European contact in 1783. Furthermore, there is evidence of an intensification in the construction of terraces at the start of the second millennium. At about the same time as intensification of terrace construction on the volcanic islands, evidence from the rock islands suggests an increasing nucleation of settlements.

The local materials and species were used to make structures such as communal meeting house (bai), which hold cultural importance.

Layering multiple layers of basalt stones around an earthen core was the foundational stonework for many buildings and platforms, such as platforms for resting, residences, village meeting houses, cooking platforms, club houses, and burial platforms.

Structures and architectural features

The communal meeting houses have carvings and paintings of traditional myths of Palauan culture. The villages were set in a nucleated pattern, as opposed to an isolated or dispersed pattern of hamlets and homesteads. The locals also conducted landscaping activities by making step terraces for agricultural purposes and to support structures.

Around 1250 AD, the Palauan population returned to coastal settlements after a transitional period. Recently, it was found that the Palauan people do indeed have ancestry from Java, however, using recent breakthroughs in genetic analysis, it was found that they are most likely descended from the Morotai Island of North Maluku in Indonesia.This may have significant impacts on the understandings of migration to the Pacific Islands.

Traditionally land, money, and titles passed through the female line, while men would work and fight wars. High Chiefs were chosen by Queens (high-ranking women) only. The Islands were ruled by ten clans, clan lands continue to be passed through titled women and first daughters but there is also a modern patrilineal sentiment introduced by imperial Japan. The Japanese government attempted to confiscate and redistribute tribal land into personal ownership during World War II, and there has been little attempt to restore the old order. Legal entanglements continue amongst the various clans.

The Traditional name for the islands is 'Belau', and the traditional name for Palauan people is 'Rechad er Belau.'

European contact and discovery in 1696

thumb|300x300px|[[Manila galleon|Manila Galleon in the Marianas and Carolinas, Boxer Codex]]

There still is a debate whether the islands were or were not seen by some of the early European discoverers in the 16th century, specifically whether Spaniard Ruy López de Villalobos, who landed in several Caroline Islands, spotted the Palau archipelago in 1543. No conclusive evidence exists, but some believe he could have seen the tip of a southernmost island in the group.

thumb|260px|View of part of the town of Pelew, and the place of Council, 1788

The first verifiable knowledge of Palau by Europeans came a century later in December 1696, when a group of Palauan islanders shipwrecked on the Philippines island of Samar. They were interviewed by the Czech missionary Paul Klein on 28 December 1696. Klein was not only able to draw the first map of Palau based on a drawing and a set of pebbles on the beach, but also to send an important letter in June 1697 to Europe. This map and the letter caused significant interest in the new islands and resulted in the first failed Jesuit attempts to travel to Palau from the Philippines in 1700, 1708 and 1709.

German era

thumb|260px|Palau during German colonization: painting by [[Rudolf Hellgrewe, from Das Buch von unseren Kolonien by Ottomar Beta (Leipzig, 1908)]]

thumb|Koror chiefs in 1915

In 1898 Spain sold its rights in Palau to Germany. Palau was administered from German New Guinea, and a period of economic development began. German engineers began exploiting the islands' deposits of bauxite and phosphate, and a rich harvest in copra was made.

The German Administration established and operated several mining companies and several copra plantations. Also, perhaps as important as the economic development, the German Administration began pushing for social reforms which included the relocation of people into larger villages and a large number of public works projects such as the construction of piers and navigation beacons. Young men were forced to work in the phosphate mines on Angaur and Beliliou Islands, on the copra plantations, and on a never completed ditch across the most narrow part of Babeldaob Island in what is today the state of Ngaraard.

During World War I, the Japanese administration continued many of the programs already established by the German administration. A Japanese military government ruled the islands during the war years, but was replaced by a civilian one which existed until the start of World War II. Whereas the Germans wanted to foster certain mercantile enterprises with a minimum of personnel and resources, the Japanese administration had very different aims. The Japanese sought to create in Micronesia an extension of Japanese culture and economy. Large numbers of Japanese and Ryukyuans were encouraged to emigrate to Micronesia to work on plantations or in other economic enterprises, resulting in Palau becoming a major colonial center. By 1938, there were approximately 15,000 Japanese in Palau as opposed to about 6,000 Palauans and Koror had expanded into a substantial all-Japanese city. From 1914 to 1922, the Japanese Imperial Navy had been in control. Civilian control was introduced from 1922, and Palau was one of six administrative districts within the Mandate. Japan mounted an aggressive economic development program and promoted large scale immigration by Japanese, Ryukyuans and Koreans. Native Palauans soon became a small minority in their own homeland. The Japanese continued the German mining activities, and also established bonito (skipjack tuna) canning and copra processing plants in Palau.

Japanese trading companies were quick to establish operations to exploit the economic potential of the islands, especially the abundant fish resources and pearl harvesting. The Japanese established a commercial center in Koror, and began developing a series of agricultural plantations on Babeldaob Island. Following World War I, the civilian government instituted a series of major changes in Palauan life. The changes included establishing primary schools for Palauans and constructing modern water and electrical systems. Elderly informants remember the Japanese administration as a time of order when things worked well. Despite the substantial improvements made in social services for the Palauans, the Japanese were quite clear on the role and status of the native peoples in Micronesia. Native peoples were to be second class citizens and serve as a source of cheap labor for the various agricultural and mercantile enterprises. This policy was criticized as a "zoo policy", and in the 1960s, the policy was changed to include Peace Corps deployments and technical assistance in education, medicine, and industry. In the 1970s, the U.S. undertook a major capital improvement program, upgrading facilities for such things as transportation, water, and sewage. After many years of talks on a post-trust status for Palau, the U.S. Congress in 1986 approved a Compact of Free Association agreed to by U.S. and Palauan negotiators. While supported by a majority of Palauan voters in each of seven referendums, compact proponents failed to gain the 75% majority required by Palau's constitution to approve issues with possible nuclear implications. After adoption of a constitutional amendment and a long period of transition, including the violent deaths of two presidents (Haruo Remeliik in 1985 and Lazarus Salii in 1988), Palau's courts ruled that the 68% pro-compact vote in an eighth referendum—held November 9, 1993—was sufficient to approve the compact.

On October 1, 1994, following a proclamation by President Clinton, Palau began its independence in free association with the U.S. Under the compact, the U.S. remains responsible for Palau's defense for 50 years. The U.S. must approve the entry into Palauan territory of any foreign military, may establish military bases there, and is permitted to operate nuclear-capable warships there. For 15 years, Palau receives financial assistance from the U.S. and is eligible to participate in some 40 federal programs. It is estimated that the value of U.S. financial and program assistance will exceed $500 million during this period.

In November 2020, Surangel Whipps Jr was elected as the new President of Palau to succeed President Tommy Remengesau.

right|thumb|260px|The New Capitol in Palau

References

External links

U.S. State Department Background Note: Palau