Palau, the Rainbow’s End: First Impressions and a little history

Palau dangles from the southwest corner of Micronesia, about 500 miles east of the Philippines. It is one of the world’s least-populated nations with just over 20,000 people spread out over 8 main islands and 250 smaller ones. A huge change of scale from the Maldives – where one ward in Male’ numbered up to 30,000.

I arrived at night. Nothing but a faint twinkling of lights pierced the dark clouds as we landed. A familiar rush of heat greeted me as I made my way off the exit ramp, and I quickly shrugged my long-sleeved shirt. Somehow I managed to emerge last through Customs, but there standing smiling at the arrivals gate were Obak and Ann Kitalong (first introduced to me via email by Carolyn Barnwell and Tarita Holm), to offer me a warm Palauan welcome. A hug and a necklace of cowrie shells over my head, and we were off. It was Halloween, my favorite holiday, and as we drove southwards along the coast, I was touched to see a few children marching along the roadside in search of candy. Granted, only a handful were in costume, but all traveled toting bags. My first introduction to the American influence here in Palau.

Ann and Obak are the type of people who speak in adages. Ann first described she and her husband to me as ethnobotanists – exploring the ways people use plants in everyday life. Obak is a respected chief in Airai and I find the longer I know him, the more dynamic he becomes.
An expert fisherman, a divemaster, a famous Palauan singer (a plaque, Best Lyrics of the 1990s hangs in their office), a storyboard carver – not to mention a handy cook, farmer, and carpenter. Ann, who first arrived as a Peace Corps in Palau, is a seasoned biologist. I like to sit back and listen when I’m with Ann – she knows conservation and development in Palau like the back of her hand, no stranger to the complexities of island life after having lived here for over 30 years.
She recently published a book on trees in Palau, and is currently working with her son, Chris, and Dr. Balick (who is here staying with us on a short visit and is one of the heads of the New York Botanical Garden) on a book archiving medicinal uses of plants in Palau. It’s been fascinating hearing about the type of ethnographic interviewing they employ in their work.

Before heading into the capitol of Koror for dinner that first evening, we unloaded my luggage at their home in Airai state. Ann ushered me into the apartment where I was to be staying, a spacious kitchen-bath-living below their office. Sleek white walls and terracotta tiles, an icebox, a stove, a private bath and one of the most comfortable beds I’ve slept in so far (over 30 now). Dinner at the Taj that night – Indian food – proved an appropriate transition from the spices of Maldives. A delicious meal, and it was back home and early to bed.

Sunday Ann and Obak had some survey work to do in Ngardmau, a northern state on the western coast of Babeldaob, and so we were off early. At the local gas station we grabbed bento, or lunch. Canned tuna and corned beef, a few drinks, some dried fruit, rice from home. The sky was clear and icy blue, the clouds - “like whipped cream, homemade whipped cream” remarked Ann - scudded along the horizon arranged as though a divine choir, in delicately ascending rows. Whereas in Maldives the clouds often formed the main topography of the landscape, Babeldaob (Which means upper or northern waters in Palauan), is something entirely different. Sweeping, verdant hills, peppered with the familiar sloping coconut palms and screwpine give way to sleeves of thick, tangled jungle.

The water was smooth. I snorkeled as Ann recorded transects and Obak paddled off to catch fish with a silvery net. I couldn’t get over the variety of different types of coral, shimmery fish gliding in and out of fans of blue, green, pink fingers. Reconvening for lunch, I had just wriggled into the boat when Obak pointed out the poisonous banded sea snake gliding by, and asked if I had seen any sharks. Kayaking later, with a chuckle, he warned me to watch out for the crocodiles in the mangroves. Needless to say, I kept a reasonable distance.

Known as one of the most biodiverse places in the world, tourists typically visit Palau to pay homage to its incredible tropical scenery and scuba diving. One of the first series of the hit reality T.V. show Survivor was filmed here. Recently it came into the international spotlight as one of the few countries to agree to give asylum to released Guantanamo detainees - six Uighurs (pronounced Wee-gurs) of Eastern China. My first week in Koror, people couldn’t stop talking about them. Did you hear?

They went to Ben Franklin! (turns out this chain doesn’t only exist in Vermont). 2000 dollars buying clothes and food! They live in the house of the President’s brother! I heard they went to visit the rock islands! They’re starting up English classes. 2 lawyers a piece? Or is it one lawyer for two?

Turns out Palau has a very close relation with the United States.
Unlike the Maldives, who endured foreign rule for only 16 years under the Portuguese in the 15th century, Palau has a long history of occupation.

The Black Islands, Belau, Palau, Pelew – the islands have taken many names over the past 250 years, a testament to a long line of foreign governments who staked claim to their shores. British, Spanish, German, Japanese and American.

First came the Antelope with English captain Henry Wilson at the helm, shipwrecked in 1783. He left in 1784, with the blessings of the islanders and prince Lee Boo on board, who died of small pox shortly after reaching England.

Palau was first administered as part of the Spanish East Indies, a legacy that can still be seen in the Palauan language (palato from plato, or plate, for example). Pope Leo XIII attempted to legitimize the Spanish claim to the islands in 1885, but after her defeat in the Spanish-American war in 1898, Spain opted to sell the islands to Germany.

Under the Germans, Micronesia went through considerable economic transformation. They began to mine bauxite (an aluminum ore), phosphate, and other minerals. 1914. Another war, far from Palau’s mangrove-lined shores, and another foreign influence arrived. After her defeat in World War I, Germany lost the islands to Japan under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

The Japanese continued to exploit Palau’s natural resources – namely mineral mining and fishing until World War II broke out in the Pacific. Many of the older generation still speak Japanese and Japanese culture continues to permeate Palauan culture – be it rice, soy sauce, music and dress.

The islands were the site intense fighting between American and Japanese forces during World War II. Just down the road from where I’m staying you can see the remains of an old armory. One day I went for a hike in Ngarchelong, up to an old Japanese fort, riddled with bullet holes, now largely reclaimed by jungle.
After WWII, under sanction of the United Nations, the United States began to administer Palau as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1979, Palau voted against joining the Federated States of Micronesia due to language and cultural differences. The next fifteen years proved a tenuous transition, marked by the violent deaths of two presidents (Haruo Remeliik in 1985 and Lazarus Salii in 1988). In 1994, Palau voted to freely associate with the United States under the Compact of Free Association - this decision marked the official changeover from trusteeship to independence.