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December 24 – Yap Constitution Day in Micronesia

December 24, 2021

Posted on December 24, 2021

This is an update of my post published on December 24, 2010:

Micronesia is the name given to a group of thousands of small islands in the Pacific Ocean. Nearby are the many islands of Melanesia, Polynesia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Many of the islands included in the region called “Micronesia” make up the sovereign nation of the Federated States of Micronesia. One of the country’s four states is Yap, which celebrates the writing of its constitution on this day.

One of the things Yap is notable for is its stone money or Rai stones. These disks of calcite are pretty big, compared to most currency such as U.S. coins and bills. The Rai stones wouldn’t fit in a wallet or purse. That’s because they are from 1 to 12 FEET (30 centimeters to 4 meters) in diameter!!!

The value of the Rai stones depends on their size and their history (most stones were brought from other islands many, many years ago). The least valuable are the smallest – still, a foot-wide disk of stone is not a convenient coin to jingle in one’s pocket!

Most of the time, these stones are not moved when ownership changes. People just know who each of the 6,500 stones belong to!

Of course, nowadays the people of Yap use Western-style money. As a matter of fact, they use actual Western currency: the Federated States of Micronesia uses U.S. dollars as its official currency! Still, the Rai stones are used in traditional and ceremonial exchanges and are seen as national symbols.