Ed jaw studies in 1958, no subse-
Chapter 3
vied on all the
ported into the
Bent study of land tenure systems has
men made, due to limited budget
rovisions in the Division of Land
LAND AND AGRICULTURE
anagement. Until customary land
hws of the Territory are codified, the
very 20 ciga-
.,..
tion‘practices ‘lifer“greatly, throwasBide for the Administration in resolvnot only Seng land problems. Many variations in
out the Territory,
than cigarettes
district to district, but even in some@stoms and practices make codifica-
instances among island groups within ton a monumental
[askdistrict. These traditional practices” Existing
land ownership and land
have undergone considerable modifica.” oe mg i
sunesrized
in
tion as a result of the influence fromest"
“he VIII are
1étics and toine and other
of perfumery,
the various administrations. Neverthe.®PP endix
otherwise, and
tpplications to
sks, pomades,
t preparations
operties—25%
non-alcoholic
wid Ounces or
resent handbook, along with supJementary studies and court opinions
Ind decisions, must serve as a basic
Land Tenure
ess
;
.
,
for ‘MicronenteDevelopby“ “iy In ancient Palau, land was divided
R. Nath
>
P
oY
OPETtnto public domain (chutem bwai) and
ber 066. Astociates, Inc., in Decem. Jan lands (chutem kebliil). The
“Still, today
the manyeee
inhabitable interior of Babelthuap
tenure arran ,
.
ion sland was public domain, as were the
arrangements which continues, islands, mangrove swamps, seas
a. ae often create
obstacles tok d reefs of Korer Peleliu Angaur
oFtndefined ownechinbesten and the various traditional villages of
families and clans. with ee rights ; Pabelthuap. In most cases the village
beverages—3¢
iid ounces or
beverages—
ne gallon.
uman
con-
1 products,
ve and gasid valorem.
on the use,
the Terriesel fuel at
1 sO used,
many, discouragesinvestment ; , YBouncil, the klvbak, controlled the
improvement. Land reform is the ane public domain but in some areas the
ultimate
P
lannin
solution,
8 and
d
but.
the
€ eileen council or a group of villages
7
carefulMyithin a district collectively controlled
equitable implementa-$pe public domain. Clan lands com-
tion
( of a well-conceived land reform§&F
;
.
.
f
will t
riscd most of the. private lands o
i take
much expert effort and many aboriginal Palau. These included lands
years
to achieve.
@aving utility value—home sites, taro
.
Apaddics, woodlots and palm forests—
The Administration, aware of the d, except in the vase of the taro
complexity of traditional land tenure & winps, were
assigned to male lineage
systems, is making conscious efforts to meads who in turn assigned parcels
to
Withinthe Seohh: are solutions male lineage members. Taro paddies
and the
_
Policy
admini
w
judicial process Bwere assigned to female lineage heads
ie administrative framework. Theyho assigned paddy land to its memof
the
Government
is
to Bber women and women married into
encourage, where possible, ways and She lineage.
means
to promote understanding of &
the need for a single consistent
system ©
of land holdings in the Territory.
Since
publicat:
74
ae
In precontact time the Mariana
Islands
were
divided
into districts,
each ruled by a local chief who
nominally controlled the lands within
it. The rights to areas within the
district were assigned to kinship
groups. The land tenure system began
to break down when the Spanish
administration gave Chamorrofamilies
rights to certain lands on the islands.
In the latter part of the 1800’s, when
the Chamorros resettled in Saipan,
individual ownership was established
and each family cultivated its own
fields. Present-day land tenure patterns
among the Mariana Islands resemble
the western system more than do the
patterns in any other district of the
Trust Territory. The sale of land is an
accepted practice.
In the Truk District, especially on
the atolls, land is more precious than
anywhere else in the Territory due to
the high population density. Land is
identified with food. For example, a
Trukese will say, “That is my food,”
when pointing to his parcel of land.
The land may be owned individually
or by lineage groups. Major types of
land recognized by the local inhabitants are dry land, fresh water swamp,
and the shallow area covered by sea
water. Improvements or planting of
tree crops, such as breadfruit trees, in
any of these areas may be owned
separately from the land itself. The
size of individual pieces of property
may be quite small, seldom more than
in Yap, the traditional unit of land
oand has been for centuries the
‘ pobinaw, or estate, which
consists of
ince publication of a handbook on ¥@ll land
belonging to a single extended
customary land tenure patterns and ghousch
old und which may include one
Part VI—Economic Advancement ‘ iscal Year
1968
IOaE eM ae ch Sap va ma
or more house platforms, taro pits,
tracts of sea inside the reef, stone fish
weirs, coconut palms, yam gardens,
grassy uplands, and timberlots.
a few acres, although a person usually
has some, but not necessarily sole,
interest in a half dozen or moreplots.
In precontact time all the land area
of the Ponape Islands belonged to the
55
ee
eT
are
v
SETI ye eer ape ge ay net eon
+