Paper Example on Cultural Impact Assessment on the Yapese People

Introduction

Over the past six years, a China private corporation known as Exhibit and Travel Group (ETG) came up with a plan to construct a massive tourism project with a 20,000 room hotel a state-of-the-art convention center, casinos and entertainment centers, and between 8 and 15 golf courses. The project is expected to be developed on the central Yapese Island, home to more than 7200 people. In January of 2012, the Yap State Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding allowing plans to continue, and both a Business Permit and International Investment Permit were later issued to ETG. While the scale of this project on the tiny island complex of Yap is particularly unprecedented, tourism has become a central part of the economies of many Pacific Island nations and not without many effects. The development of the project on Yap Island will have an impact on the economy, the culture of the people and the environment. The plans by ETG will result in the displacement of a lot of Yapese people causing their movement from their villages; ETG argues that it would create new native communities. A lot of permanent changes are expected to occur on the implementation of the project which may result to an imbalance in the ecosystem and destruction of the original land (Inglehart & Wayne 2000, pp.21) The ETG and the Yapese government therefore should address the issues related to the environment, economic and cultural activities of the people inhabiting the area prior to the implementation of the plan as there should be a scaling of the considerate input of not only the magnitude of the project but also the contribution of the people in the economy building by working jointly with the project at the same time promoting their culture and environment.

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The ETG's project will influence the islands negatively in the Yap and the entire environment. The ecosystem would be affected adversely as the project is bigger than the Yapese Island. This is as a result of the components of the projects such as the convention center, hotel, golf course, hotel, and a casino. The Hawaiian author by the title Haunani-Kay Trask argues that as a result of tourism, a lot of plants and animals are becoming endangered and extinct more than the other nations like America (79). Trasks bases his arguments on the tourism and appropriation of the Hawaiian culture that has been the course of destruction of Hawaii and what it initially entailed. The adverse effects on the environment will have more impact on the small and more sensitive island of Yapese. Additionally, ETG aims at creating a community of natives through the relocation of the people of yap from their land, which will create tensions and a change of the traditional lifestyle of the people that they are used to. The people in the area have an exceptional value for their property and consider it as essential and sacred to them, therefore, their relocation to another ground which is entirely new to them may be a challenge to their living standards. A good instance of environment displacement and destruction is that of the Marshall islands whereby nuclear was tested on their land. The testing of the atomic project led to the movement of the people living in the island, which off course had an effect on the lifestyle of contamination of the surrounding environment resulting from the radiation (Shafik 1994, pp. 763). However, the project by ETG will not have an immediate effect on the environment. The massive project will change the ecosystem through the pollution that may be implicated in the water and land over time. The implications will be felt after a long period. Nonetheless, if ETG can liaise with the ecology experts in the Yapese island project, then they can come up with a way to reduce the damages that may occur. This consideration would be a show of concern on the future of the Yapese land the people in it

ETG projects will create a new economy that will have adverse effects on Yap as most of it does not include the Yapese citizens. The citizens would not benefit fully from the pool of job created by the project as they would prefer their fellow Chinese people on basis language barriers challenge. However, this is against the expectations as they should be working there as contributing to their economy on their lands other than seeking jobs and opportunities abroad like the Tongans. A good instance is that of the Tongans whereby they apply a strategy that they use in their lives maintenance in Tonga (Skoglund et al. 2016, pp. 510). Their family members are sent abroad work which sustains the majority of them; as a result, they are poorly paid. If ETG decides to give jobs to their fellow Chinese, then Yapese people may face a similar challenge. It is more sensible that the ETG would have to hire their fellow Chinese since most of the tourist will be Chinese speakers. Although, the Yapese's people should as well be given the opportunity to work in ETG projects and contribute to building their economy. For instance, in "Lovely Hula Hands" Haunani-Kay Trask illustrates that the investments by the Japanese waives the tax and opportunities to the coming workers and the Hawaiians have to get along with the situation as they can do nothing. They are left with options like the military, working in the industry or flee to other countries in seek of greener pastures. As a result, they are migrating to other nations because of the economic need and not by choice (194). The people of Hawaii lack job opportunities in their land as a result of the high control of the foreign industry. This compels them to work where the opportunity sprouts which in many cases outside their country. ETG should engage the Yapese people by ensuring that they work in their project. This can be achieved by teaching them the Chinese language, which can be done in the vocational school, which would strengthen the ties between ETG and the people of Yap.

There will be an impact on the ritual and the artifacts which are sacred to the Yapese culture which may cause unnecessary changes like the case of Chambri. In case they allowed the ETG to implement their tourism plans in their land. Deborah Gewertz and Frederick Errington's "Twisted Histories, Altered Contexts" presents a case whereby Pap New Guinea's Chambri are being changed culturally as a result of "the new traditionalism" with the introduction of tourism in their native land. There is an objective contradiction noted as the tourists "were drawn to Chambri primarily to see those less developed whereas the Chambri sought to attract tourists so that could become more developed" (Gewertz and Errington, 28). The humor would be that if there were any more development in Chambri, then the tourist would be less attracted as they would search for other places where would experience primitive and unchanged people. This implied that for tourism to continue there would be the maintenance of the inequality element. On the other hand, the tourist performances by the Chambri were becoming less entertaining as a traditional element to the tourist, therefore necessitating the change of culture to please the visitors. Al in all the chambri was ready to share their cultural aspects which would affect their rituals and sacred artifacts, therefore, affect an inevitable cultural change.

This could be the appropriation that may occur to the Yapese people if they if they are faced with a scenario that may risk their cultural exposure to other people. The other case of the changing in the rituals and artifacts that have been caused by the tourism is when Maliwan, a senior person decides to construct a traditional men's house, walindimi, in a way that is not within their tradition(29). He is an example of a conventional person taking advantage of tourism to gain wealth, power and authority for sociopolitical purposes. The leader of the Chambri was ready to compromise his culture, rituals, and artifacts through the relationship that he was building with the tourists. He allowed the tourist to purchase through evaluating the basic value items that were considered to be associated with the ancestors, with extreme powers and great sociopolitical role. However the relationship between the Chambri and the tourists was dependent on the artifacts; therefore their ties would die as soon as the tourists pursued their objective (James 1992, pp. 194). This situation may be replicated to the Yapese people if they permit the tourists to grow indefinitely and multiply in their native land.

Conclusion

The adverse impacts on the environment, economy, and culture of Yap are not insignificant and cannot be ignored. The project that ETG proposes which includes: the 20,000-room hotels, golf courses, malls, casinos or convention centers will have a significant influence on the Yap lands and waters. The little and considerate ecosystem of every island cannot accommodate the great ETG project which is an issue that suggests an address by the Yapese government. It so inhuman to displace the thousands of people from their native and sacred village without considering the effects and tension that would be accrued to the process of relocating them. ETG has to acknowledge that Yapese people deserve their land, therefore understand that their project would have more disadvantages than benefits to the people if the plan is not changed. The Yapese government has to work jointly with ETG to carefully structure plans that will not cause harm to the citizens by finding a way to protect not only the people but also the land s and water. This will play an essential role in the achieving of the new economy that ETG desires to create at the same time promoting the culture that the Yapese people wish to uphold.

Works Cited

Gewertz, Deborah B., and Frederick K. Errington. Twisted Histories, Altered Contexts: Representing the Chambri in the World System. Vol. 9. Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Haunani-Kay, Trask. Lovely Hula Hands. From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai'i. Common Courage Press .(1993): 77-87.

Inglehart, Ronald, and Wayne E. Baker. "Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values." American sociological review (2000): 19-51.

James, Weiner. "Twisted histories, altered contexts; Representing the Chambri in a world system." (1992): 192-194.

Shafik, Nemat. "Economic development and environmental quality: an econometric analysis." Oxford economic papers (1994): 757-773.

Skoglund, Pontus, et al. "Genomic insights into the peopling of the Southwest Pacific." Nature 538.7626 (2016): 510.