Combating "Dreaded Hogoleu": Re-Centering Chuukese Histories and Stories of Chuukese Warfare

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2007
Authors
Kim, Myjolynne
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Abstract
Chuuk and the rest of Micronesia were not always as they are described now. […] With its complex histories, the archipelago of Chuuk lies in the middle of a group of islands in the Pacific called Micronesia, meaning "little islands". In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Chuuk acquired the sobriquet "Dreaded Hogoleu" for being an allegedly cruel, violent, and treacherous place. In "The Beginnings of Early Foreign Contact with Truk," Father Francis Hezel, S.J., identified Andrew Cheyne as responsible for the promotion and publicity of the name, "Dreaded Hogoleu". Andrew Cheyne, a Scottish trader, visited Chuuk in 1844 to collect sandalwood and beche-de-mere or sea cucumbers (Hezel 1973). Cheyne left Chuuk despising the island and its people after an unanticipated attack by the islanders. In 1852, his famous book, A Description ofIslands in the Western Pacific was published; in it, he warned readers of the "cruel and treacherous race" in Hogoleu. […] As a Chuukese native, I find the name, "Hogoleu" problematic and unfamiliar. The name minus the adjective, "dreaded," has a history that precedes Cheyne's visit. "Hogoleu" was the name used for Chuuk on the early maps by the Spanish priest, Fr. Juan Cantova in 1722 and later used by the French explorer, Louis-Isidore Duperrey. The positioning of "Hogoleu" on Cantova's map approximates the location ofthe archipelago of Truk or what is known today as Chuuk. The name, "Hogoleu" was also believed to have been attributed to a small island near the Chuuk Lagoon. Some sources have claimed that it could be a cognate for Lukunor or Lukunoch, an atoll in the Mortlocks. The name, "Hogoleu," however, was not recognized by the natives of Chuuk (Hezel 1973). When Cheyne visited Chuuk in 1844, he referred to Chuuk as "Hogoleu," but he did not specify which islands he visited (Cheyne 1852). [...] American anthropologist, Ward Goodenough suggested that "Hogoleu" was an incorrect or misapplied name for Chuuk just as many other names were misunderstood or pronounced differently by foreign visitors and other Caroline Islanders (Goodenough 1966). To many Chuukese islanders, the name "Hogoleu" is an unfamiliar and unrecognizable name; thus it is instead a foreign term emerging from foreign visitors.
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Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007
Pacific Islands Studies
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Micronesia - Chuuk, War and Society--Micronesia(Federated States)--Chuuk, Oral Tradition--Micronesia(Federated States)--Chuuk, Chuuk(Micronesia)--Discovery and Exploration.
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xi, 173 leaves
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Theses for the degree of Master of Arts (University of Hawaii at Manoa). Pacific Islands Studies; no. 3412
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