oe eee ea + Te
"I appreciate bringing in the Human Relations
Team as well as the scientific team of Loma Linda
University.
This
is
very
important
to
us
particularly.
The Western world does not always
understand us and our culture.
They may mean well,
but they are often unsuccessful because, as I told
the Trust Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands
Commissioner,
‘The
problem of
the T.T.P.I.
in
the
past has been planning for people instead of planning
with people.'"
There are 33 senators in the Marshallese Parliament (The Nitijela), usually
one
from each
atoll
except where
there
is
a
concentration
of
population.
Kwajalein, for instance, elects three senators: Arno 2; and so forth.
There are
10 ministries in the government, and there should be obviously 10 ministers, but
the
President
Affairs,
is
responsible
so that leaves 9.
for
the portfolio of the Minister of Foreign
There is
also an
important council
of chiefs,
a
council of jiroij, which has 12 chiefs who come from the major districts of the
Marshall Islands.
The House of Iroij receives the bills from the legislature in
order to look at them and then examine them carefully to see if there is anything
that conflicts with the Marshallese customs and traditions and the things that
affect land and land tenure.
It it is something serious, they will recommend
change; it is is nothing serious, they will return it to the legislature for
final approval.
In
other words,
when
the Marshall
Islands modernized
their
system of
government, they agreed that some official body of leaders would have to be
chosen
to
safeguard
the
country's
traditions,
customs,
and
culture.
Consequently, they created the House of Iroij.
E.
Religion and Values
In 1852 the Boston Mission Society sent four missionaries to Micronesia.
These, however, did not establish themselves in the Marshall Islands. In 1857 a
reverend Doane together with his wife settled on the atoll
of Ebon.
It is
reported that by 1865 he had converted 125 of the 750 inhabitants of the island.
From this beginning missionary activities slowly progressed over the various
atolls and islands so that by the turn of the centruy the population of the
islands were mostly Congregational Christians.
In talking with the Marshallese about their old traditional religion, no one
could be found with authentic accounts of old religious beliefs.
There was,
however, clear evidence of what the Marshallese themselves now call superstition