Micronesians or the Micronesian peoples are various closely related ethnic groups native to Micronesia, a region of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean. They are a part of the Austronesian ethnolinguistic group, which has an Urheimat in Taiwan.
Origins
thumb|upright=2|Chronological dispersal of [[Austronesian peoples across the Indo-Pacific]]
Based on the current scientific consensus, the Micronesians are considered, by linguistic, archaeological, and human genetic evidence, to be a subset of the sea-migrating Austronesian people, who include the Polynesians and the Melanesians. Austronesians were the first people to invent oceangoing sailing technologies (notably double-hulled sailing canoes, outrigger boats, lashed-lug boat building, and the crab claw sail), which enabled their rapid dispersal into the islands of the Indo-Pacific. From 2000 BCE the Austronesians assimilated (or were assimilated by) the earlier populations on the islands in their migration pathway. This intermingling occurred in the northern coast of New Guinea and adjacent islands, which was the location where the Oceanic language family developed around four thousand years or so ago, after the Austronesian languages of this area grew distinct and became a separate branch of the Austronesian family. The migrants from the east belonged to the Lapita culture and settled eastern Micronesia over the course of several hundreds of years from perhaps the Santa Cruz Islands, around 500-100 BC. In the following centuries, the Oceanic language variant brought by the Lapita migrants diverged and became the Micronesian branch of the Oceanic languages. Yap was settled separately approximately 2000 years ago, as its language was brought by an Oceanic-speaking source in Melanesia, perhaps the Admiralty Islands.
List of ethnic groups
The Micronesian peoples can be divided into two cultural groups, the high-islanders and the low-islanders. The Palauans, Chamorros, Yapese, Chuukese, Pohnpeians, Kosraeans, Nauruans and Banabans belong to the high-islander group. The inhabitants of the low islands (atolls) are the Marshallese and the Kiribati, whose culture is distinct from the high-islanders. Low-islanders had better navigation and canoe technology, as a means of survival. High-islanders had access to reliable and abundant resources and did not need to travel much outside of their islands. High islands also possessed larger populations.
Banaban people
Raobeia Ken Sigrah claims that Banabans, native to Banaba, are ethnically distinct from other I-Kiribati. The Banabans were assimilated through forced migrations and the heavy impact of the discovery of phosphate in 1900. After 1945, the British authorities relocated most of the population to Rabi Island, Fiji, with subsequent waves of emigration in 1977, and from 1981 to 1983. Some Banabans subsequently returned, following the end of mining in 1979; approximately 300 were living on the island in 2001. The population of Banaba in the 2010 census was 295. There is an estimated 6,000 people of Banaban descent in Fiji and other countries. The Banabans spoke the Banaban language, which has gone extinct due to a shift to the Gilbertese language, introduced by Christian missionaries that translated the Bible into Gilbertese and encouraged the Banabans to read it. Today, only a few words remain of the original Banaban language.
Refaluwasch people
thumb|Carolinian/Refaluwasch people in 1915
The Refaluwasch people are a Micronesian ethnic group who originated in Oceania, in the Caroline Islands, with a total population of over 8,500 people in northern Mariana. They are also known as Remathau in the Yap's outer islands. The Carolinian word means "People of the Deep Sea." It is thought that their ancestors may have originally immigrated from Asia, Indonesia, Melanesia and 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 have a matriarchal society in which respect is a very important factor in their daily lives, especially toward the matriarchs. Most Refaluwasch are of the Roman Catholic faith.
The immigration 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 immigrate mostly sailing from small canoes from other islands, which a typhoon previously devastated. The Refaluwasch have a much darker complexion than the native Chamorros.
Chamorro people
thumb|Chamorro people in 1915
The Chamorro people are the indigenous peoples of the Mariana Islands, which are politically divided between the United States territory of Guam and the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Micronesia. The Chamorro are commonly believed to have come from Southeast Asia at around 2000 BC. They are most closely related to other Austronesian natives to the west in the Philippines and Taiwan, as well as the Carolines to the south.
The Chamorro language is included in the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian family. Because Guam was colonized by Spain for over 300 years, many words derive from the Spanish language. The traditional Chamorro number system was replaced by Spanish numbers.
Chuukese people
thumb|Chuukese man on Moen ([[Weno), 1900s]]
The Chuukese people are an ethnic group of Chuuk State. They constitute 48% of the population of the Federated States of Micronesia. Their language is Chuukese. The home atoll of Chuuk is also known by the former name "Truk".
In Chuukese culture, the men were expected to defend and protect their family. They were very protective of their clan, lineage identity and property. Backing down from a fight is not seen as manly.
The Marshallese people (Marshallese: kajoor ri-Ṃajeḷ , laḷ ri-Ṃajeḷ) are the indigenous inhabitants of the Marshall Islands. They numbered 70,000 as of 2013. Marshallese society was organized into three social classes; the iroji was the chief or landowner that headed several clans, the alap managed the clan and the rijerbal (worker) were commoners that worked the land. The three social classes treated each other well and with mutual respect.
The origin of the Nauruan people has not yet been finally determined. It can possibly be explained by the last Malayo-Pacific human migration (). It was probably seafaring or shipwrecked Polynesians or Melanesians that established themselves in Nauru because there was not already an indigenous people present, whereas the Micronesians were already crossed with the Melanesians in this area.
Palauan people
The Palauans or Belauans (Palauan: Belau, ngukokl a Belau) — are the indigenous people of Palau. They numbered around 26,600 as of 2013. Palauans are not noted for being great long-distance voyagers and navigators when compared to other Micronesian peoples. The taro is the center of their farming practices, although breadfruit has a symbolic importance.
Sonsorolese people
The Sonsorolese are Micronesian people, that inhabit the islands of Pulo Anna, Merir and Sonsorol in the island nation of Palau. A small proportion live in both the Northern Mariana Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia. The Sonsorolese are linguistically related to the Tobians. Most Sonsorolese live in the village of Echang near Koror, where they moved for economic reasons.
The Sonsorolese are both linguistically and culturally most closely related to Carolinians. Ethnographic information about them was left by Jose Somera, a member of the Don Francisco Padilla expedition who discovered the islands in 1710. According to him, their clothing consisted of an apron, cloak and conical hat, and was similar to that described by Paul Klein in 1696 among the Carolinians.
Tobian people
The Tobians share a cultural heritage that shows close ties with peoples of the central Caroline Islands, more than 1000 km to the northeast and on the other side of Palau.
Tobian is a Micronesian language spoken in the Hatohobei (Tobi) and Koror states in Palau by about 150 people. In particular it is spoken on the island of Tobi (Torovei) in Hatohobei State, and also on Koro Island in Koror State. Tobian is also known as Hatohobei or Tobi. It is closely related to Sonsorolese.
Yapese people
The Yapese people are a Micronesian ethnic group that number around 15,000. They are native to the main island of Yap and speak the Yapese language.
Languages
thumb|upright=1.65|Languages of Micronesia.
Fifteen distinct languages are spoken by the Micronesians. The largest group of languages spoken by the Micronesians are the Micronesian languages. They belong to the family of Oceanic languages, part of the Austronesian language group. They descended from the Proto-Oceanic language, which in turn descended via Proto-Malayo-Polynesian from Proto-Austronesian. The languages in the Micronesian family are Marshallese, Gilbertese, Kosraean, Nauruan, as well as a large sub-family called the Chuukic–Pohnpeic languages containing 11 languages. The Yapese language is a separate branch of the Oceanic languages, outside of the Micronesian branch.
Two Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken that do not belong to the Oceanic languages: Chamorro in the Mariana Islands and Palauan in Palau. Weriyeng is one of the last two schools of traditional navigation found in the central Caroline Islands in Micronesia, the other being Fanur.
Culture
thumb|Badrulchau stone monoliths
thumb|A building of Nan Madol
Micronesian culture is very diverse across island atolls and influenced by the surrounding cultures. In the east one finds a more Polynesian culture with social classes (nobility, commoners and slaves) and in the west a more Melanesian-Indonesian influenced culture led by tribal chiefs without nobility, with the Marianas being an exception. Nonetheless, the Micronesians form a cultural region, as they have much more in common with each other in cultural practices and social organization than with other neighboring societies in the Philippines, Indonesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.
- Similar creation myths (origin of people from mythical ancestors - mostly ancestral mothers)
- Culture heroes (mythical seafarers as bearers of important cultural goods)
- Mythical worldviews (land and sea areas in different "layers" and cardinal points)
- Dualistic concepts (every material thing and every living being has a spiritual double)
- Free souls, which can leave the body in a dream
- Mana (transcendent power that can be transferred to people, but also to natural phenomena, through performance and deeds, among other things)
- Religiously motivated art styles (carvings on traditional meeting houses and religious facilities)
The traditional Micronesian religions emphasized ancestor worship and embraced spirits and ghosts. After death, one's spirit would either pass on to an afterworld or stay on the island to either help or harm the living. A natural death would produce a benevolent ghost while an unnatural death would produce a malovent ghost. Other spirits were associated with places, natural objects, special crafts and activities. Various professions would make chants and offerings to their patron spirits, which they believed would control the outcome of their efforts. Micronesians believed that all sickness was caused by spirits. Shamans, mediums, diviners and sorcerers could be consulted to deal with the spirit world. Taboos would often be placed on food and sexual activities before a person would engage in an important pursuit. Violating this taboo would cause a spirit to send sickness or death to the offender or even the entire community.