Kosrae has a rich and colorful history. Almost everything you experience in Kosrae is linked to the cultural past.

In the beginning

The question of Kosrae has yet to answered conclusively. Archaeological evidence indicates that Kosrae was settled during the beginning of the first millennium by Malayo-Polynesian seafaring peoples. These were pioneers and explorers who sailed from the Marshall Islands or Vanuatu.

Only archaeology and legends can tell us what actually happened in the past since there was no written language until American missionaries arrived in the mid-19th century. The oral traditions say Kosraens flourished as an advanced fishing and horticultural society.

When worlds collide

Western expansion bypassed Kosrae until 1824 when the French captain Louis Isidore Dupperey sailing about the Coquille, anchored in Okat harbour and stayed in Kosrae for 10 days. Countless others would follow, in particular disenchanted whalers - known as beachcombers - who jumped the ship's configes and harsh living conditions to stay in what they considered to be an island paradise

Missionaries

Introduced diseases and alcohol devastated Kosrae's population. American missionaries felt the need to protect Kosrae from the large numbers of whalers and beachcombers who had made the island their home.

In 1852, the Reverend Dr. Benjamin Snow arrived in Kosrae at the height of the beachcomber era. Snow and other missionaries introduced western style clothing and discouraged drinking.

Schools were built and the missionaries wrote the Kosraen language for the first time. Many of the hymns sung in Kosrae today are identical to those heard in Boston churches generations ago.

Imperial Flags over Kosrae

The Germans entered Micronesia after the Spanish-American war in 1898. Though German rule would last only 15 years, they altered a subsistence lifestyle to include forced labour on copra plantations and introduced a cash economy.

The Japanese Empire forced the Germans out at the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The Japanese contributed greatly to Kosraen culture, but at severe cost, fully realised when the Pacific War (1941 - 1945) devastated Micronesia.

The armistice of 1945 ushered in a new era for Micronesia. The United Nations put the United States in charge of the social, economic, and political development of the former Japanese colonies of the Western Pacific, and a slow process of Americanisation took shape.

In 1986 the US ended its administration of Chuuk, Yap, Kosrae, and Pohnpei. These become the Federated States of Micronesia. The UN formally ended the trusteeship in 1990 and the FSM became a member of the UN.

The future of Kosrae

Today, Kosrae looks to the future with toursim, fishing, and agriculture as its main economic engines. Fueling this engine is the Mwolana spirit of hospitality and self-sufficiency