but which seems to be a carryover from the old religious sytem.
For example,
there was more openness in discussing old legends and hero tales which today are
not
seen
by Marshallese
as
having religious connotations,
but which
in the
context of Micronesian culture and world view, seem to reflect the pre-Christian
religious beliefs and practices.
If on the sixth day after burial, people are
successful in hiding around the grave, they would see the soul of the deceased
coming out and flying off through the air to Mili, southeast of Majuro.
This,
then, is an example of a pre-christian belief which has accommodated itself to
their current Christian philosophy.
Nowadays, many Protesant denominations, as wel! as the Catholic Church, are
active in the Marshall Islands.
These include representatives of the mainline
churches and also Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and others.
In recent years, the
Seventh-day Adventist Church through its educational and health programs has
become prominent in the Marshalls.
It appears that the religious beliefs and
practices are an expression of the general Gemeinschaft nature of the Marshallese
society, that is, a reinforcement of interpersonal relationships, more than a
means
of
salvation
of
the
individual.
Traditional
healers
and
Rijoubwe
(magicians) continue to function covertly beneath the umbrella of christianity.
One Marshallese informant in Majuro flashed a potentially tantalizing line of
investigation
into
their
beliefs
by
mentioning
that
the
reason
why
some
Marshallese would not destroy or allow others to destroy rats on coconut trees is
because they feel rats are “their relatives, like others also consider sharks as
their relatives."
Is this a vestige of a totemic belief system? And what are the
implications of this and similar beliefs to the introduction of health behavior
changes through a comprehensive health care program?
The major value system seems to be woven around their traditional social
strucutre, their family system, and material goods and power as perceived by them
in conquering nations, the latest of which is the United States.
Consequently,
anything “American” is superior and desirable from items of food, to items of
dress, to disco music and dancing, etc.
In fact much of what is broadcast on
Radio Majuro is American rock, to say nothing of the proliferation of "discos."
Their perception of what is "American" is gleaned largely from American films and
from
observing
American
expatriats
such
as
volunteer
workers,
American
missionaries, American armed services personnel and their families.
It appears that an American,
if accepted because of his respect for the
social structure and culture, becomes in the eyes of the Marshallese a type of
super-iroij, in other words, a highly respected leader potentially on the level