Up Pohnpei

Author: Paul Watson
Publisher: Profile Books
ISBN: 1847658008
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 269

Book Description
After one too many late night discussions, football journalist Paul Watson and his mate Matthew Conrad decide to find the world's worst national team, become naturalised citizens of that country and play for them - achieving their joint boyhood dream of playing international football and winning a 'cap'. They are thrilled when Wikipedia leads them to Pohnpei, a tiny, remote island in the Pacific whose long-defunct football team is described as 'the weakest in the world'. They contact Pohnpei's Football Association and discover what it needs most urgently is leadership. So Paul and Matt travel thousands of miles, leaving behind jobs, families and girlfriends to train a rag-tag bunch of novice footballers who barely understand the rules of the game. Up Pohnpei tells the story of their quest to coach the team and eventually, organise an international fixture - Pohnpei's first since a 16-1 defeat many years ago. With no funding, a population whose obesity rate is 90 percent and toad-infested facilities in one of the world's wettest climates, their journey is beset by obstacles from the outset. Part travelogue, part quest, Up Pohnpei shows how the passion and determination of two young men can change the face of football - and the lives of total strangers - on the other side of the world.

Upon a Stone Altar

Author: David L. Hanlon
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824883918
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 355

Book Description
Upon a Stone Altar tells the history of a remarkable people who inhabit the island of Pohnpei in the Eastern Caroline Islands of Micronesia. Since the beginnings of intensive foreign contact, Pohnpei has endured numerous disruptive conflicts as well as attempts at colonial domination. Pohnpeians creatively adapted to change and today live successfully in a modern world not totally of their own making. Hanlon uses the vast body of oral tradition to relate the early history of Pohnpei, including the story of the building of a huge complex of artificial stone islets, Nan Madol.

The Petroglyphs of Mu

Author: Carole Nervig
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1591434483
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 597

Book Description
• Shows how the archetypal symbols of the Pohnpaid petroglyphs have exact counterparts in other ancient cultures throughout the world • Provides evidence that Pohnpaid is closely related to--yet predates--neighboring Nan Madol • Includes hundreds of Pohnpaid petroglyphs and stone circle photos, many never before seen While residing on the small Pacific island of Pohnpei in the 1990s, Carole Nervig discovered that a recent brush fire had exposed hundreds of previously unknown petroglyphs carved on gigantic boulders. This portion of the megalithic site called Pohnpaid was unknown even to Pohnpei’s state historic preservation officer. The petroglyphs were unlike others from Oceania, so Nervig began investigating and comparing them with petroglyphs and symbols from around the world. In this fully illustrated exploration, Nervig documents her discoveries on Pohnpei, revealing how the archetypal symbols of the Pohnpaid petroglyphs have exact counterparts in other ancient cultures and universal motifs throughout the world, including the Australian Aborigines, the Inca in Peru, the Vedic civilization of India, early Norse runes, and Japanese symbols. She provides evidence that Pohnpaid is closely related to--yet predates--neighboring Nan Madol and shows how Pohnpaid was an outpost of the sunken Kahnihmueiso, a city of the now-vanished civilization of Mu, or Lemuria. Discussing the archaeoastronomical function of the Pohnpaid stones, the author examines how many of the glyphs symbolize celestial phenomena and clearly reveal how their creators were sky watchers with a sophisticated understanding of astronomy, geophysics, geomancy, and engineering. She shows how the scientific concepts depicted in the petroglyphs reveal how the citizens of Mu had a much deeper understanding of the living Earth than we do, which gave them the ability to manipulate natural forces both physically and energetically. Combining archaeological evidence with traditional oral accounts, Nervig reveals Pohnpaid not only as a part of a geodetic network of ancient sacred sites and portals but also as a remnant of the now submerged but once enlightened Motherland of Mu.

Ethnobotany of Pohnpei

Author: Michael J. Balick
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824837495
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 610

Book Description
Ethnobotany of Pohnpei examines the relationship between plants, people, and traditional culture on Pohnpei, one of the four island members of the Federated States of Micronesia. Traditional culture is still very strong on Pohnpei and is biodiversity-dependent, relying on both its pristine habitats and managed landscapes; native and introduced plants and animals; and extraordinary marine life. This book is the result of a decade of research by a team of local people and international specialists carried out under the direction of the Mwoalen Wahu Ileilehn Pohnpei (Pohnpei Council of Traditional Leaders). It discusses the uses of the native and introduced plant species that have sustained human life on the island and its outlying atolls for generations, including Piper methysticum (locally known as sakau and recognized throughout the Pacific as kava), which is essential in defining cultural identity for Pohnpeians. The work also focuses on ethnomedicine, the traditional medical system used to address health conditions, and its associated beliefs. Pohnpei, and indeed the Micronesian region, is one of the world’s great centers of botanical endemism: it is home to many plant species found nowhere else on earth. The ultimate goal of this volume is to give readers a sense of the traditional ethnobotanical knowledge that still exists in the area, to make them aware of its vulnerability to modernization, and to encourage local people to respect this ancient knowledge and keep such practices alive. It presents the findings of the most comprehensive ethnobotanical study undertaken to date in this part of Micronesia and sets a new standard for transdisciplinary research and collaboration.

Place Names of Pohnpei Island

Author: Tom Panholzer
Publisher: Bess Press
ISBN: 9781573061667
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
A wealth of information on the place names of Pohnpei. Useful to readers interested in ancient Pohnpei lore as well as contemporary sites.

The Royal Headley of Pohnpei

Author: Joe Race
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1426936303
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 179

Book Description
Englishman James Headley signs on as second mate on the whaling ship Falcon in 1836. En route from Australia to the northern whaling grounds, the ship is hit hard and damaged by a typhoon, but it manages to limp into the Pohnpei Harbor. While the Falcon is undergoing repairs, Headley falls in love with an island princess. When the ship gets underway again, just as it is about to clear the harbor, it runs aground on a hidden reef. The captain and four crew members are killed by savage islanders, but Headley manages to escape to the safety of his princess tribe. In the years that follow, Headley finds himself working as a respected harbor pilot, a general store owner, and a mediator between missionaries, local chiefs, and a group of outlaws hiding on Pohnpei. The group of outlaws has grown to include men who have deserted their ships or are escaping from prisons, all of whom are taking advantage of the local islanders. One such rascal, Captain Black Heart Hart decides to kill the entire male population of Ngatik to seize the treasured tortoise shell and ravish the islands females. Based loosely upon a true story, The Royal Headley of Pohnpei follows the chaotic life and times of a charismatic adventurer!

The Anthropology of Obesity in the United States

Author: Anna Bellisari
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317402499
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319

Book Description
This volume examines the biocultural dimensions of obesity from an anthropological perspective in an effort to broaden understanding of a growing public health concern. The United States of America currently has the highest rates of obesity among developed countries, with an alarming rise in prevalence in recent decades which promises to affect the nation for years to come. Bellisari helps students to grasp the complex nature of this obesity epidemic, demonstrating that it is the consequence of many interacting forces which range from individual genetic and physiological predispositions to national policies and American cultural beliefs and practices. As much a social problem as an individual one, the development of obesity is in fact encouraged by the pattern of high consumption and physical inactivity that is promoted by American economic, political, and ideological systems. With a range of up-to-date scientific and medical data, The Anthropology of Obesity in the United States provides students with a comprehensive picture of obesity, its multiple causes, and the need for society-wide action to address the issue.

Parrots of the World

Author: Joseph M. Forshaw
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400836204
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
The world’s parrots in one convenient field guide From the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most beautiful and exotic birds in the world—and among the most endangered. This stunningly illustrated, easy-to-use field guide covers all 356 species and well-differentiated subspecies of parrots, and is the only guide organized by geographical distribution—Australasian, Afro-Asian, and neotropical. It features 146 superb color plates depicting every kind of parrot, as well as detailed, facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status. Color distribution maps show ranges of all subspecies, and field identification is further aided by relevant upperside and underside flight images. This premier field guide also shows where to observe each species in the wild, helping make this the most comprehensive and user-friendly guide to the parrots of the world. The only parrot guide to focus on geographical distribution Covers all 356 species Features 146 color plates depicting all species and well-differentiated subspecies Provides detailed facing-page species accounts that describe key identification features, distribution, subspeciation, habitat, and status Includes color distribution maps Shows where to observe each species in the wild

Strangers in Their Own Land

Author: Francis X. Hezel
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824828042
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Book Description
"Hezel has written an authoritative and engaging narrative of [a] succession of colonial regimes, drawing upon a broad range of published and archival sources as well as his own considerable knowledge of the region. This is a ‘conventional’ history, and a very good one, focused mostly on political and economic developments. Hezel demonstrates a fine understanding of the complicated relations between administrators, missionaries, traders, chiefs and commoners, in a wide range of social and historical settings." —Pacific Affairs "The tale [of Strangers in Their Own Land] is one of interplay between four sequential colonial regimes (Spain Germany, Japan, and the United States) and the diverse island cultures they governed. It is also a tale of relationships among islands whose inhabitants did not always see eye-to-eye and among individuals who fought private and public battles in those islands. Hezel conveys both the unity of purpose exerted by a colonial government and the subversion of that purpose by administrators, teachers, islands, and visitors.... [The] history is thoroughly supported by archival materials, first-person testimonies, and secondary sources. Hezel acknowledges the power of the visual when he ends his book by describing the distinctive flags that now replace Spanish, German, Japanese, and American symbols of rule. the scene epitomizes a theme of the book: global political and economic forces, whether colonial or post-colonial, cannot erode the distinctiveness each island claims."—American Historical Review

Nest in the Wind

Author: Martha C. Ward
Publisher: Waveland Press
ISBN: 1478610549
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 191

Book Description
During her first visit to the beautiful island of Pohnpei in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, anthropologist Martha Ward discovered people who grew quarter-ton yams in secret and ritually shared a powerful drink called kava. She managed a medical research project, ate dog, became pregnant, and responded to spells placed on her. Thirty years later she returned to Pohnpei to learn what had happened there since her first visit. Were islanders still relaxed and casual about sex? Were they still obsessed with titles and social rank? Was the island still lush and beautiful? Had the inhabitants remained healthy? This second edition of Wards best-selling account is a rare, longitudinal study that tracks people, processes, and a place through decades of change. It is also an intimate record of doing fieldwork that immerses readers in the sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and the sensory richness of Pohnpei. Ward addresses the ageless ethnographic questions about family life, politics, religion, traditional medicine, magic, and death together with contemporary concerns about postcolonial survival, the discontinuities of culture, and adaptation to the demands of a global age. Her insightful discoveries illuminate the evolution of a culture possibly distant from yet important to people living in other parts of the world.