page_title: Yapese people
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Yapese people / History
caption_attribution_description: Journal des Museum Godeffroy.
context_page_description: The Yapese people are a Micronesian ethnic group native to the main island of Yap. Under different administrative rules, Yapese culture has been influenced by Spanish, Japanese, German, and American cultures. Aspects of traditional Yapese culture are still important in modern Yapese culture.
context_section_description: Before coming into contact with Europeans, the Yapese people were familiar with surrounding island groups. Yapese sailors traveled to Palau to quarry stones. Carolinian sailors visited Yap during times of crises. Spanish and German traders colonized Yap in 1885 and started converting the people to Christianity. The Japanese navy took control of Yap in 1914. After World War II, Yap became a part of the United States Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. In 1978, Yap became a district in the Federated States of Micronesia.
  Today, traditional Yapese culture is taught in elementary and junior high schools in the course "Practical Art/Culture". A survey conducted in 2010 showed significant interest in preserving and handing down traditional Yapese culture.
caption: Yapese man, c. 1873
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