Likiep Atoll,
Republic of the Marshall Islands
A Photo Essay
by Jon G. O'Neill


   The Likiep Village Historic Site on Likiep Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands was the first site in the emerging Nations of Micronesia to be listed on the U.S. National Register. The following photographs were taken by the author in 1999 as part of his research for a Post-graduate Honours degree from Charles Sturt University, Australia.
   Parts of Micronesia had been controlled by colonial authorities from the late 1500s. In the northern Pacific Spain was first, followed by Germany, Japan and the United States of America. Although claimed by Spain, the Marshall Islands remained self-governing until the brief and rapid expansion of German trading and colonial interests in the Pacific. This expansion was followed by an even more rapid contraction when Japan entered the First World War as an ally of Great Britain. All of Germany's Pacific colonies were lost within a few months, most being annexed by Japan, but some also being taken by Australia and New Zealand.
   In the mid 1800s, José de Brum (born in the Açores and a Portuguese national) and Adolph Capelle (a German from the Hanseatic city of Hamburg) became business partners in the historically significant Marshallese company, A. Capelle and Co. Both men married Marshallese women, producing large and influential families. Their social, political and commercial legacies remain highly significant in the Marshall Islands today. José de Brum purchased the rights to Likiep Atoll from Jortoka, the Iroij laplap of the Ratak chain of the Marshall Islands in 1877, paying with goods valued then at $1,250.
   The following year it was transferred to Capelle & Co. for the wholesale value of the trade goods paid to Jortoka. In 1883, Capelle & Co went into bankruptcy following several business reversals and all assets and interests (except Likiep Atoll) were transferred to the Deutsche Handels-und Plantagen-Gesellschaft der S¸dsee Inseln zu Hamburg. However, with a third partner, Charles Ingalls, they continued to trade through the Ratak chain from their base on Likiep.
   Ingalls died in Honolulu sometime in the 1890s and his share of the business was transferred to the Jaluit Gesellschaft because Capelle and De Brum were unable to fund its purchase. Subsequently it was returned to them in a complicated long-term commercial arrangement involving trading operations in the Ratak chain. In 1914, this debt was paid off and ownership of Likiep Atoll transferred in full to the De Brum and Capelle families before Japan declared war on Germany.
   After the deaths of the original partners, Joséís eldest son Joachim (1860-1937) and Adolphís son William jointly managed the business operations. A highly intelligent man with an extraordinary breadth of personal interests and intellectual pursuits, Joachim displayed business acumen rivaling that of Adolph Capelle. Under his guidance the family business expanded and diversified. Because Marshallese society is matriarchal, having Marshallese mothers meant that Joachim and William were considered to be bona fide Marshallese (particularly by the chiefs of other atolls) and so too was their business. During the time of German hegemony, the Capelle and de Brum partnership continued, although not without its difficulties.
     After the First World War, Japanese colonial policies forced foreign businesses out of those Micronesian territories included in the Japanese mandate. However, the Likiep enterprise continued trading because it was owned and operated by Marshallese descendents of the two men and was thus a legitimate Marshallese operation. By this time Likiep Atoll had become central to the Capelle/de Brum commercial empire and much tangible historic property directly associated with it remains today.
      Of particular interest is the timber frame house built in 1905 by Joachim consisting of three large rooms surrounded by a 3 metre-wide verandah on all sides, and several associated structures. However, many other historically significant properties also remain on Likiep as the atoll was spared the devastating bombardments suffered by other atolls during the Second World War. They include houses, many of which were built by Joachim de Brum, historically significant material attributed to the Spanish and Japanese, coral paths and Coconut Plantations, and disused taro pits.


The comfortable hotel, Likiep Plantation Haus (sic) is only a few metres from the clean waters of Likiep lagoon, and the hosts are wonderful.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The hotel pet. Fed on a weekly basis, it simply sat on the branch and waited patiently for each feedtime to come around and studiously ignored everything else going on around it.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The Joachim de Brum house. A significant example of the Pacific island-trader architecture of the early 19th Century.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The Catholic Church on Likiep. View from the north west.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

This church, like all others on Likiep, provides an important focus for the social and spiritual life of its congregation. Although there are less than 500 inhabitants on the island, virtually everybody attends at least weekly. View from the west.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Voluntary maintenance. View from the north.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Coconut palms quickly became a romantic symbol of the Pacific and are usually associated with gentle trade winds. To the much more pragmatic Marshallese however, they provide food, drink, cordage, shelter and utensils. To the Plantation owners and traders they provided profits through the export of copra.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The shallow hollows in both of these photographs are the remains of old Taro pits.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The Coconut fruit is split and left to dry, producing copra. This is still the main commercial industry on most Marshallese islands, although the returns are continuing to decline.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

A view of Likiep Lagoon looking south from the wharf.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Likiep lagoon again, looking south from the Hotel toward the wharf.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

A shallow opening from Likiep Lagoon to the ocean looking north from near the northern-most part of Likiep Island.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Sunset over Likiep lagoon, looking from the beach in front of the Hotel.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The Mercy K had been recently acquired and was on her maiden voyage around the atolls of the RMI. She was the first vessel to arrive in Likiep for almost 18 months that was capable of loading the copra stored in the warehouse, and stores of imported food and fuel were getting low.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Safely moored at the wharf. Notice the rapid increase in depth only a few metres from the lagoon shore. This was one of the attributes that Joachim de Brum exploited to establish his very successful shipyards. Large ships could be brought right up to the shore to be worked on.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The Mercy K looking south from near the Hotel.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

These are the foundations of a Community Centre built by Japan in the 1920s. Note the concrete slab construction, the stubs for verandah posts and the base of external walls.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Another view of the Community Centre from the south east. The wall in the background is the southern wall of a large cistern locally known as the Spanish Cistern.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

This is a view of the southern internal wall of the above cistern that is popularly attributed to Spanish construction in about 1865. Note the triple layer construction - external wall of coral slabs, a central wall of brick, and an inner covering of cement render.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Another view of the Spanish cistern, from the north east.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The remains of a wharf constructed of beach rock and coral fill remain about 75 metres south of the new wharf. This old wharf is also attributed to the Spanish and is generally known as the Spanish Wharf.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Another view of the Spanish Wharf, from the south looking towards the new wharf which can be seen in the background.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Another view of the Spanish Wharf - note the coral fill.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Another view of the Spanish wharf showing the extended "T" section reaching out into the lagoon.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

View of some of the many coral pieces that had been torn from the fringing reef and deposited near the lagoon shore by a typhoon that struck in the mid 1850s. Krämer & Nevermann (1938) reported on the 1907-1910 German expedition to the Pacific describing it as a "great storm surge".
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Approximately 50 centimetres in diameter, this boulder is one of thousands swept hundreds of metres across the reef and island and deposited near the lagoon shore during this typhoon.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The main street in Likiep Village looking north towards the wharf and Copra Warehouse. Photo taken from the western entrance to Joachim de Brum's house.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

The main street in Likiep Village looking south towards the airport. Photo taken from the western entrance to Joachim de Brum's house.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

An integral part of Marshallese culture is the very public recognition of traditional authority. On this occasion, these visitors to Likiep Island had travelled from a far island to pay their respect to Leonard de Brum.
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)

Not only is it important in Marshallese culture to show appropriate respect, but the warmth of a Marshallese welcome is something to be experienced. As Joe de Brum said to me before we caught our flight back to Majuro, "You might go, but you never leave."
(Photograph © 1999 Jon G. O'Neill)




[Atolls of the Marshall Islands]

Bibliographic citation for this document

O'Neill, Jon G. (2002). Likiep Village Historic Site, Republic of the Marshall Islands-- A Photo Essay. URL: http:/marshall.csu.edu.au/Marshalls/html/ONeill_Essays/Likiep.html

CONTACT:
Jon G. O'Neill Institute of Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, P.O.Box 789, Albury NSW 2640, Australia.
e-mail: jooneill@csu.edu.au

OR:
Dirk H.R. Spennemann, Institute of Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, P.O.Box 789, Albury NSW 2640, Australia.
e-mail: dspennemann@csu.edu.au

Acknowledgement
Permission was sought and obtained from Leonard de Brum to survey Likiep Village Historic Site, Likiep Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Authorisation to conduct research in the RMI was obtained from the Honorable Mr. Hiroshi Yamamura, Minister of Internal Affairs and Chairman of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. Yokwe and komol tata.



© Jon G. O'Neill 2002
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