Sharing legends and stories
With few students knowing their own stories and legends, and even fewer knowing any involved their traditional plants, this presentation continues to be optional.
Sakau: how it was brought to Pohnpei. Pohnpeian cosmology includes three inhabited realms.
Pahn lahng: The place underneath the heavens, inhabited by demigods.
Pohnpei: The terrestrial island inhabited by people.
Aramas in pahn Sed: the underwater people of Pohnpei who inhabit an underwater realm in the sea.
Sakau came from pahn lahng. Kerehs leng. A boy that came to the island. He passed men making a canoe. The men ignored Kerehs leng and failed to greet him. After Kerehs leng had passed, the canoe was transformed back into a tree. That boy was from place of the demigods. One day the demigods were feasting in pahn lang. A strand of sakau fell and landed in Nett. That place in Nett is now renowned for strong sakau. People in Nett discovered the sakau.
Only a few people in Nett know that location. The location is secret. Sakau growing there grows very large. High in the mountains. Plants are known for rooting off if branches. If you find a plant, take as much as you can because when you return to that location the sakau will not be there. The sakau will shift location.
Two brothers saw a rat eat the plant and walk crooked. The brothers had no ngarangar so one brother used his own kneecap as a cup.
The brothers enjoyed the sensation so much that they used an oahs tree trunk to move the sakau to the Saudeleur. As a result the people in Nett can use anything to carry the sakau, they need to use Hibiscus tiliaceus to carry their sakau.
This story is unfinished.
If you fall down while holding a cup of sakau you will die within a few days. Don't hold on to the sakau when you are falling, toss the sakau away as you fall so you won't die.
Twindon shared a short about how coconut arrived after the first people had settled on Woleai. Shoa is Woleaian for coconut. Apparently the Woleaians drank water pulled from the taro patch prior to the arrival of coconut trees.
Rindy told the story of Nimwes, an unknown girl from Yap who was obsessed with collecting flowers her whole life. One day when there were no more flowers on her island, she decided to visit the other islands just to pick some flowers for herself. Before she left home, her mother warned her about one particular island in Chuuk and told her not to go there. After the mother warned Nimwes, the mother gave Nimwes a magic potion that she could use to walk on water.
Nimwes used the magic potion to walk on the water visiting many islands and collecting flowers. When she reached Chuuk lagoon, the first island that she got onto was Udot. The people from Udot were known for utilizing dark arts and magic. Culturally they are well known for their emesefich breadfruit dish which basically made from breadfruit or kon but their way of making the emesefich is different from elsewhere in Chuuk lagoon.
While Nemwes was in Udot she thought that the people were very kind to her since they welcomed her, they even threw a dinner for her so she then decided to spend a night in Udot. The whole time she was with the people she had no idea what kind of people they really were. After eating all food the people of Udot gave her, she walked back out on the beach as she was ready to go back home. She put on her potion but her potion had stopped working, she tried several times but to no avail. She curled up in a ball and cried as she remembered what her mother told her but it was already too late.
This story is unfinished.
Megan told a story concerning the Ficus prolixa aiau tree. Long ago there was a beautiful lady with beautiful long hair. Her beauty, especially her long flowing hair, attracted the attention of married men, causing jealousy among the wives of the men. The wives wanted her hair and cursed her, changing her in to an aiau tree. Today her long hair can be seen trailing down from the tree. As a result the hair of the Ficus prolixa can be used to treat hair loss and prevent breakage, split ends.
Stories provide explanations, lessons to be learned, and teach morals. Obey your mother and do not consort with strangers. Avoid attracting attention by being too beautiful. Married women still put their hair up in a bun when they go out in public.
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