Keeping Pohnpei’s Heritage Alive 

The island state of Pohnpei, in the country of the Federated States of Micronesia, is located in the Pacific Ocean near the eastern end of the Caroline Islands. It lies about midway between Honolulu and Guam and is about 133 square miles. Pohnpei has a traditional culture of building canoes by hand along with fishing and other skills that if not taught and passed on to the children are lost within one generation.

The advisor for the Micronesian Heritage group reached out to the Church’s humanitarian department in Guam requesting help to set up a small office. The President of the Micronesian Heritage in Pohnpei, being a member of the Church, understands the importance of Family History and archiving vital records, cultural artifacts, and heritages.

In response to their request, the Church made an in-kind donation to help furnish their office with a few technology items. A laptop computer, wireless printer, and multi-media projector were donated to this organization, hoping that this will assist with their start-up as well as their efforts to preserve the heritage, records, and artifacts of Micronesia.

Heritage Inc. has been established primarily for the basic purposes of preserving, archiving, and showcasing Pohnpei’s traditional cultural heritage through means and resources which promote their uniqueness and pride as Micronesians. There have been significant attempts to preserve the Micronesian heritage, scattered about in Micronesia through its states, such as in historical and preservation offices. There has been previous cultural education done at the states’ Department of Education and other community-based agencies. Foreign-based research has been conducted as well as documentaries made at various sites nationwide.

There is, however, a severe lack of any common storage or library spaces for artifacts, archives, and relics which have been accumulated over the years, and no plan for preserving these items, much less any world-class museum to preserve and display these important relics and artifacts of Micronesia. Their text history has even been buried next to and inside an old relic with such “false” hope of preserving its history and legends. With the Church's help to establish this office, it is hoped that this organization can put together a single point to be able to save these items and heritages for future generations to enjoy and to remember where they came from.