Churu—the dance-chants of Yap (Micronesia): A contemporary perspective

Abstract

Churu, Yapese dance-chants, were first documented by visitors to Yap in 1874. They were further documented in considerable detail in 1903 by Born and by Furness, in 1908 by a German expedition led by Wilhelm Müller, and in 1915 by a Capuchin missionary, Sixtus Walleser. In the eighty years since Walleser's publication, no comprehensive studies of churu have been published, leaving researchers with limited sources with which to work. These early documents can provide historical insight into Yapese performance and genres of churu, but their accuracy and reliability must now be questioned when compared with late twentieth-century churu genres and performance practice.