PACIFIC ISLANDS UNDER JAPANESE MANDATE 



"My father came from over the seas 

 and my husband from another land. Our 

 girl has gone, for she was of their race, 

 but I have come back. The islands never 

 change, and these are my people and my 

 life." 



She folded her tattooed hands over her 

 knees, showing thin through the cotton 

 wrapper, and silently gazed across the 

 bay to where the Japanese transport was 

 riding at anchor. For a few hours each 

 month that reminder of the outside world 

 breaks the monotony of Ponape; other- 

 wise life flows along smoothly and con- 

 tentedly, unthinking of the past or of 

 tomorrow. 



TATTOOING ADORNS THE BELLES OF 

 OLDEN DAYS 



Formerly the natives were walking 

 pictorial histories. After the missionaries 

 came, tattooing was discouraged, not 

 caring to be tattooed themselves, and in 

 recent years it has been prohibited. It 

 was considered* a sign of courage, with- 

 out which a young man or young woman 

 was not worthy to marry. This practice 

 even went so far as systematic mutilation 

 of the sexual organs. Scientists are di- 

 vided whether this, an epidemic of small- 

 pox brought by a whaler, or the frequent 

 tribal wars are responsible for the di- 

 minished population. 



The young people still practice an effete 

 modification of the old tests of courage 

 by pricking cicatrices, or little raised 

 welts, on their flesh. Most of the girls 

 prefer the right shoulder for the adorn- 

 ment, though some have them on their 

 breasts. The boys adorn shoulders and 

 chests. 



The welts, which are formed by mak- 

 ing a fairly deep cut in the flesh and 

 keeping it open until the new skin grows 

 into a ridge, are usually about an inch 

 long and a quarter of an inch wide. 

 Sometimes they are arranged in straight 

 lines, one for each admirer, like the 

 bangles on a high-school girl's friendship 

 bracelet ; again they may make an asterisk 

 or are scattered indiscriminately over 

 shoulders, breast, and back. 



The older people still show the old 

 adornment, the lobes of the ears stretched 

 into loops until they touch the shoulders, 

 and bodies and limbs tattooed, the most 

 distinctive effect being broad parallel 

 stripes of solid black from ankles to 



Photograph by Junius B. Wood 



CORRECT "STREET" CLOTHES IN TRUK 



This one-piece poncho-like garment is the 

 prevailing style in the Caroline Archipelago. 

 When the wearer is working or away from 

 the settlement, he throws it aside, leaving his 

 waist and shoulders bare. Both the men and 

 women of the older generation are tattooed, 

 but this practice is now prohibited. 



