420 Dive Log Australasia OCTOBER 2026

Stone and Memory

One afternoon we were invited to a rehearsal for a cultural celebration in Rumuu village. Women and girls in traditional dress sat along a stone pathway while last-minute adjustments were made. The dancers ranged from small children to elders.

It is impossible to spend much time here without encountering Yap’s famous stone money. Called Rai, the circular stones range from manageable disks to enormous pieces taller than a person and weighing several tons. Many were quarried in Palau and transported hundreds of miles across open ocean by Yapese voyagers. Their value is not determined simply by size. The quality of the stone matters. So does the difficulty of obtaining it and the history of the people who brought it to Yap.

Then the chanting began.

For more than an hour we watched dances that had been passed from one generation to another.

I could not understand the words.

I did not need to.

A Rai can change ownership without moving.

The children watched the older dancers. The older dancers corrected the younger ones. Movements were repeated until they were right.

There is little reason to move it.

Everyone knows where it is.

This was how the stories survived.

Everyone knows who owns it.

There were no tickets.

The system makes considerable sense when your currency weighs several tons.

No stage lights.

www.divelog.net.au A young Yapese girl dressed in traditional clothing in her village

This couple are in traditional outfits for cultural cerimonies and standing beside stone money in a village

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Dive Log Australasia #420 Oct’ 26