In the final episode of “Ozarks Ri-Majel," a KUAF/Listening Lab multimedia history of Marshallese migration in our region over the past 30 years, host April Brown, co-founder of the nonprofit Marshallese Educational Initiative headquartered in Springdale, interviews Josepha Maddison, chairperson of the Republic of the Marshall Islands Customary Law and Language Commission about her people's indigenous history.
April Brown: "Josepha resides in the capital city of Majuro and has agreed to meet virtually to talk about the indigenous cultural traditions of Marshall Islanders pre-settlement. Iakwe. Hello, Commissioner Madison."
Josepha Maddison: "Iakwe."
Brown: "Thank you for joining us. Your beautiful archipelago, comprised of two remote chains of islands and atolls located in the western Pacific north of the equator, was first settled by ancient southeastern Asian mariners between 2 and 3000 years ago. How were these ancient mariners able to navigate the vast Pacific Ocean?"
Maddison: "Yes. It's very interesting because, you know, navigation skills were passed down from generation to generation. So they were able to study the landmarks and the seamarks to know where and how to go about their journeys between islands."
Brown: "So what did the people, these new settlers call their homeland?
Maddison: "Well, before then there was only 'Aelon Kein," which comes from three syllables: 'Ae' means current, 'lon' is sky, and 'Kein' is vegetation. But it was only when the foreigners came, they named the islands after themselves. So there was William Marshall, and the other one was Gilbert. So we call them, us, Marshallese, after Marshall. These are the Marshall Islands."
Brown: "So what food crops and livestock, if any, were introduced by these new [islander] settlers? What, subsistence crops, plants and seafood were consumed?"
Maddison: "Our main source of protein [is seafood] because everything that's in the ocean is edible to us. And our indigenous plants we have are the pandanus, breadfruit, and, of course, the arrowroot plant. Anything else was introduced to our islands by the foreigners. We didn't have any chicken, but we had bird. That's why we have only one name for bird."
Brown: "So it's the same. The same word is used for both."
Maddison: "Yeah. We didn't have any domestic animals."
Brown: "Could you describe the housing constructed by these early settlers and any architectural means to survive the elements, the sun, exposure to tradewinds, typhoons and such?"
Maddison: " Well, you know, you've seen our houses, the ones made from thatch, with pandana leaves."
Brown: "So do you know what the indigenous islanders wore before the missionaries came?"
Maddison: "They wore cloth woven also from pandana plants. And they were really fine. The loin cloth, only the bottom that would cover both male and female. The women, they had two cloth that you put around to the front, the other one to the back, to cover more."
Brown: "What about tattoos?"
Maddison: "We talk about Wake Island. The Marshallese, we have our own name for Wake Island [Ānen Kio]. We claim that it is our island. That's where they grow one of the plants that they use to make oil to put on the body of the men when they go there to train for arm wrestling. And they have tattoos to make their body stronger. But mostly it was for body adornment."
Brown: "Your people's indigenous culture was rooted in a complex system of clans and lineages tied to matrilineal land ownership. Could you talk about that system?"
Maddison: "So like everything, you inherit from your mother, the right to the land, the right to the title of the land, all from your mother. You mentioned that we have a matrilineal system here, and this is a saying that the women, they own the islands."
Brown: "And so this system of land tenure and management, access to the land, still persists?"
Maddison: "It is very strong, we still use the system."
Brown: "What were some of the indigenous spiritual beliefs and ceremonies that were practiced by your ancestors, again, before the missionaries came? Do you know of any?"
Maddison: "You know, I don't think we did have any ceremonies because the Marshallese were very conservative with their own clan knowledge of medicine or spiritual beliefs. We don't share. Because if you share, then you lose the power. They get very weak. So we don't do ceremonies. We do it ourselves, like, put magic on someone or take the magic away. Or cure someone with the knowledge of local medicine. We don't share. We only do it within our own clan. So there was no, like, mass or any ceremonies that were done. And there were no spiritual deities. We don't have that. We don't worship any deities. But we have our own clan beliefs, knowledge, and we only pass it around within our clan."
Brown: "Right. And people were chosen to have that knowledge. Just a few were chosen. And then that was passed down orally."
Maddison: "Always passed down. The women's roles were passed between mother to daughter."
Brown: "What work is being done in the Marshall Islands to protect and maintain traditional Marshallese matrilineal land rights, or Marshallese cultural history and language?"
Maddison: "We've been doing surveys and inventory, both archeological and the ethnography through our research service. And they've been recorded, all the sites, the significant sites, both pre-historic or the cultural sites, the traditional, they've all been recorded. That's the job of the Marshall Islands Historic Preservation Office. And then we have the Alele Museum and Public Library taking care of all the artifacts, you know, the tangible side of culture as well as our office. And as you know, we're doing the codification of the code book of ethics for the land that will be used in the courthouse."
Brown: "And the Customary Law and Language Commission is doing a lot of work to maintain the language, especially with so many moving in diaspora and sort of losing that language."
Maddison: "Yes, it's kind of a challenge. Sometimes we think how are we going to keep our language. Every week we do a radio program and every now and then when you hear, especially the younger generation, when they talk, it's like all new words they are using. So, we are trying to correct them. The right way to pronounce the Marshallese words."
"And then we [share] like five Marshallese words that are rarely used or are archaic. And also, the 'saying' that we are trying to teach them, the meaning of all the 'saying' in the Marshallese language, what they depict. And of course, we already have the standardized [Marshallese] spelling. So they can be able to pronounce the word, now that we have our own grammar. And we're trying to enhance what we have on hand."
"We've been going around installing our Marshallese app. We have the keyboard and spellcheckers. We developed that. And we developed teaching materials for the students and make sure that they know about the Marshallese people. It's a big job. Only few of us and our small budget. But we try. And as you remember, we sent our group to Arkansas so they can start working with them because there's a lot to do over there."
Brown: "There is. And like you have said, you had one word for bird. But you have 40 words for coconut."
Maddison: "Of course we have! We have developed a poster that shows the stages of coconut [tree] growth. It is our tree of life."
Brown: "Well, thank you, chairperson Maddison. We really appreciate your time."
Maddison: "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to showcase what we're doing. Hopefully we can be able to do more in the future."
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. To view all full-length episodes of "Ozarks Ri-Majel" visit: https://www.listeninglabkuaf.com/marshallese
Ozarks ri-Ṃajeļ, a Listening Lab/KUAF Public Radio multimedia series, reveals how waves of legally present Marshallese migrants have navigated new lives on the Arkansas Ozarks over the past thirty years. The series, in partnership with the nonprofit Marshallese Educational Initiative, was filmed and edited by Listening Lab's director, Emerson Alexander, and produced by KUAF News Reporter Jacqueline Froelich, with assistance from KUAF News Reporter Sophia Nourani who also produced our MARK Harmony ensemble episode.
