The four Toluk were given as gift by President Johnson Toribiong’s mother, Ucheliei Toribiong, to Mrs. Norwood when the former High Commissioner and Mrs. Norwood first came to Palau in 1966. After the couple passed away, the Toluk were left to their daughter, Betty Norwood Hemmings.
Hemmings got in touch with her friend Dr. Karen Peacock, who was also a good friend of Palau, and mentioned about the Toluk. Karen is the daughter of Daniel Peacock, the one responsible for developing libraries throughout Micronesia and was in Palau during the time when Norwood was the High Commissioner of the island.
Karen and Hemmings got in touch with Minister Faustina Rehuher-Marugg of Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs regarding the Toluk.
“We are trying to get Palauan artifacts back as much as possible,” said Marugg.“So we discussed over E-mail back and forth. We all agreed that the Toluk belong to Palau, to the President’s family.”
After several negotiations, it was agreed that Hemmings will send the Toluk back to Mrs. Toribiong, and the President’s family will then donate them to the Belau National Museum.
“I talked to the President and we decided that the Toluk should come back to Palau,” said Marugg. “Betty agreed to give them back to Mrs. Toribiong, the president’s mother.” Marugg said repatriation of artifacts is a complex process. Most of the time, they just base the discussions on oral history and through connections with friends.
Jane Barnewell, a friend of the Peacock family, agreed to hand-carry the Toluk as she was visiting Palau.
Mrs. Toribiong decided to keep one of the Toluk, the one with etchings, and give the three others to the Museum on Wednesday. President Toribiong was present when his mother handed over the Toluk to Pia Morei, Director of Belau National Museum.
Toluk is women’s traditional money that is only transacted among women in Palau. It is made of turtle shells, shaped like a bowl and comes in different forms and colors. “The Toluk are precious, even today we use them in our customary obligations. They’re very important part of our culture,” shared Marugg.
“The larger the Toluk, the more valuable it is,” said Morei. “We still use them for customary obligation even abroad.” Morei added that there are times when they get confiscated at the airport because they are made of turtle shells. “We had to undergo government to government negotiations to get them back.”
To make Toluk nowadays, Marugg said that a molder charges $50 to $250 dollar per piece, depending on the make and quality. Even though turtles are considered endangered species today, Palau still makes Toluk because it is an integral part of its culture.
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