Abstract:
Before it was colonized a century ago, Palauans were largely isolated and constrained to living within the limitations o f their environment. Foreign governments brought a trade-based economy that eroded traditional practices, beliefs, and values, but did not remove their core. This paper describes the traditional belief structure in terms of stories, customs, and language. From 1885 to 1994, Palau was strongly influenced or controlled successively by the Spanish, the Germans, the Japanese and the Americans. With independence, the government is promoting tourism, but this is likely to bring many disruptive influences, including an increase in foreign laborers that makes more difficult any collective efforts at environmental protection. Despite initiatives by many, including NGOs and neighborhood groups that have traditional roots, to promote environmental values, development pressures remain somewhat out of control in Palau.