CULTURE
Marshallese society has always
been stratified, and despite increasing Westernization and the
introduction of a moneyed economy, social status still comes as
much from one's kinship as it does from one's own achievements.
Chiefs continue to wield a great deal of authority over land ownership
and usage.
Food cultivation on the islands
has always been catch as catch can. Fish and seafood provide the
bulk of the nonvegetable dishes, with tuna a staple of the catch.
On land, breadfruit, coconut, arrowroot, yams, taro and pumpkins
are the traditional mealtime mainstays. With the increasing Westernization
of the Pacific, North American junk food has been increasingly
dominating more traditional staples; on the rise too are the related
health problems of obesity, diabetes, high blood-pressure and
alcoholism.
In travels between the islands,
early inhabitants learned to read the patterns of the waves and
the positions of the stars, and they made stick charts to record
and pass on their observations to less experienced navigators.
By tying flat strips of wood together in imitation of the wave
patterns and attaching cowry shells to the sticks to represent
particular islands and atolls, the experienced navigator could
memorize the patterns for when he was out at sea - the charts
were not actually taken on the journeys. Although few modern Marshallese
know how to read the charts, many still make them for their popularity
as souvenirs.
Another craft once common
in the Marshall Islands (but growing less so) is canoe building.
The walap canoes of old could reach a length of 100ft (30m) and
carry up to 40 people, with supplies for open-sea voyages that
could last more than a month. The smaller and faster tipnol was
used mainly for fishing inside the lagoons, while the korkor,
a small outrigger sometimes fitted with a sail, was also used
within the lagoons.
Marshallese
and English are both official languages of the islands and are
commonly spoken throughout the country. Indicative of islanders'
general amicability, their traditional greeting, Yokwe yuk, means
'Love to you.'
[Source:
Lonely Planet]
