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| All the ingredients to fix a chew. on the left is the lime container with the lime inside (white powder) the betelnut in the middle and the pepper leaf on the right. |
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| Betelnut |
On my Island, It is tradition to chew betenut because the guardians of our islands had given the ingredients to us as gifts, and to honor the, we practice it everyday. I do not know why other islands have started chewing betelnut, and have made it such an infamous act. The chewing consists of a betelnut, a pepper leaf, and some lime. The story of the guardians offering the gifts is that they were sailing on their boat in the heavens when suddenly the boat hit the tip of the tallest mountain on our islands and and the people in that village went to help them. and in return they gave the people lime which is made of some type of coral which is cooked into the white powder the betelnut tree and the pepper leaf vine. So Yapese actually are the original chewers in the Micronesian region. chewing has some rules to it, people can not chew unless they have grown their own tree and leaves and get their own lime. and one must never spit around or throw their chewing remnant around otherwise someone perform voodoo on it as punishment for being ridiculously messy. there is always a "specific dumping site for each family". Last but not least women can not chew unless they are married which their husbands can provide them with chew. That is the story. I don't know why the other islanders have begun chewing without respect for other people who might be disgusted by them.
