POHNPEI, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA, LAST WILL & TESTAMENT

English-language manuscript document rendered in brown gall ink on a light blue sheet (15 1/8" x 12 5/8") with a period embossed stamp along the bottom edge. Folded variously in sixths or eighths. Minor oxidation, with a few ink smudges; otherwise very good.

An unrecorded and historically important last will and testament of the Nahnken of Pohnpei to his son Henry Nanpei in 1863 granting him lands and islands in what is now the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM).

This document represents an unprecedented act which introduced the people of Pohnpei to a Western system of private land ownership, forever altering their traditions, according to David Hanlon, Professor Emeritus of Pacific Islands, Micronesia, Ethnographic History and author of the book Upon a Stone Altar: A History of the Island of Pohnpei to 1890 (University of Hawai'i Press, 1988). "Deeds, treaties, contracts, and wills are all Western legal conventions that caused a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding in the early and colonial periods of the islands' histories. Colonial governments imposed them for purposes of control, administration, and resources exploitation. As in the document in question, expatriates and certain indigenous groups could employ these foreign conventions to gain wealth, power, and advantage over rivals."

About 1836 an English whaler named James Headley was marooned on Pohnpei, and later married a Pohnpeian woman. They had a daughter, Meri-Ann, who married the Nanhken, here shown as 'Nannakin' of Kiti (the local King). In 1860, from their union, came a son Henry. The Nanhken wanted his son to retain his royal influence by inheriting his lands. He aligned his interests with Headley, who sought to improve the status of his daughter and grandson, and together they drew up this Last Will and Testament in 1863.

Hanlon says this was a radical break with tradition in terms of the traditional land tenure system on the island as the son of a Nahnken could not succeed to his father's title or lands. Disposition of both was the purview of the Nahnmwarki and was determined by clan membership and rank. Henry was a member of his mother's clan, the Dipwinluhk. By customary marriage practice, his father was a member of a different clan, in this case the Lipitahn.

The text of the Will reads:

Nannakin Last Will and Testament

Nannakin

This 27th of May 1863 at Ronno Kitte Island of Ponnopa this is my Testament or Act of my Last Will.

I Bequeath to my son Henery all my landed property such as Ant Islands Karlap. Palapinong. Ronno Kitte. Mandt. Poke. Pantalook. Nanlarlap. Nan Capentor.

This Codicil is written entirely for me

And signed by Witnesses Thereof

Annamorgan King X
Nannakin X
Lehenuana X
Lolap X
Nanaua X
Narlicklapalap X

Hanlon said the existence of this will is well known in Pohnpeian lore and oral traditions, but the actual document has not been seen for at least 100 years. Recognition of the tenets of the will have been honored since at least the late 19th century, first by the Spanish administration of the Islands and then following the Spanish-American War of 1898, Germany bought the Islands from Spain. Then, in the wake of World War I, The League of Nations declared the Islands should pass on to Japan as a war debt, and Japanese administration continued until 1945. Following the end of World War II, Pohnpei became a trust territory of the United States until 1990, when the Pohnpeians, now known as the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), gained full independence and sovereignty.

The Nanpei family continues to be among the most prominent families in Pohnpei and controls important property and business interests across the islands.

Provenance: The document was acquired from the estate of a rare bookseller, Richard Callaway, who passed away in 2017. He obtained this document when he purchased the inventory of Doris Harris, a rare book and autograph dealer who passed away in 2005 and retired from bookselling in 1999. Harris (formerly Doris Hamilton, 1918-2005) was married to Charles Hamilton (1913-96), one of the foremost autograph dealers in New York and author of several books on the subject.