How did extended families and lineages control land in traditional Micronesia?

In traditional Micronesian society, land was considered the most important form of property, and its control was primarily vested in extended families or lineages. Because arable land was a scarce and limited resource, these kin groups maintained strong attachments to their specific territories, often supported by oral traditions regarding their ancestral origins on the land.12

Individuals typically acquired use rights to specific plots of land through their kin connections. To acknowledge the authority of the group, these individuals provided periodic offerings of first fruits to the kin group’s leader. These leaders, in turn, often provided offerings to community or superior chiefs who held jurisdiction over the land.1

While customs varied by island, matrilineal inheritance of land rights was the norm in most areas. However, the system remained flexible; children could often inherit use rights to land worked by their fathers or receive a share if the father’s lineage possessed a surplus. In some regions, particularly in eastern Micronesia, powerful chiefs held the authority to confiscate land from those who fell out of favor and redistribute it to loyal followers.1