The 2nd Annual Micronesian Culture and Traditions Day

Tuesday, March 31, 2026, /// DYCA PIO

Yap FM - Around 4:00 pm the Master of Ceremony, Mr. Martin L. Ruwniyol announced the Coconut Relay for interested individuals to participate. The Coconut Relay consists of 5 teams which contains 4 participants in each team. The idea of the game is that each participant in each team has a certain part to play in the game, from husking the copra, to grinding the copra into fine pieces, to squeezing the coconut through coconut which acts as a strainer. The winners of the Coconut Relay were Allentino, Ervin and Durk, in which they won second place and winning first place were Hermino, Kipper, and Joranimo.

Afterwards, the dancers from the Municipality of Maap made their way to the dancing platform to perform the traditional women's sitting dance. After the women from Maap performed a beautiful performance, the children from the Gagil Elementary School also made their way to the dancing platform to perform a traditional children's dance.

As the audience were cheering for an excellent performance done by children from the Gagil Elementary School, the kids from the North Fanif Elementary made their way to the dancing platform. The kids from the North Fanif Elementary School also performed a beautiful, energetic traditional marching dance. At the end of the performance, the Master of Ceremony thanked all the schools, including the women from the Maap Municipality for their outstanding performance.

The Master of Ceremony also introduced the display of the local attire that was worn a long time ago. Following this display, both local informants and informants from the Yap Historic Preservation Office (YHPO) explained each part of the local attire and what it was made out of. This gesture celebrates and honors our history and way of life from long ago that had been passed down from generation to generation.

After the display, the Master of Ceremony announced the next activity which was juggling. This game included 10 participants, and the rules of the game was that once the Master of Ceremony starts singing a local chant the participants will start juggling till the Master of Ceremony completes the local chant. The winners for the juggling were Abigail Thinyog winning fifth place, winning fourth place was Rocky Spuler, winning third place was Joe Waayan, winning second place was Shontelle Laagping and winning first place was Cecelia Giltinngin.

After the juggling the Master of Ceremony announced the game of Tug of War. The first two teams to play were the College of Micronesia- Fisheries and Maritime Institute versus the College of Micronesia - Yap Campus. The COM-FMI won against the COM-Yap Campus. The second team to play were the Yap Catholic High School versus the Yap High School. The YCHS won against the YHS. The last round of Tug of War was open to anyone who was interested to participate. After a fun game of Tug of War, participants lined up for a game of dodgeball. Whereas, 10 participants gather in the middle of the field while two participants stay on each end of the field and throw the ball. The winners of the game were Meujay R. winning 3rd place, Joe Waayan winning 2nd place and Andrew Teteth winning 1st place.

After the game, the Acting Director of DYCA, Mr. John W. Filmed gave his closing remarks thanking everyone for joining the event and most especially to the sponsors and to the schools that participated for their support.

To close out the event, the men from the Maap Municipality made their way to the dancing platform to perform the last dance of the event, which was a traditional Men's Standing Dance.

(For more information, please contact the Department of Youth and Civic Affairs at 350-DYCA)