council reflects a demise of the traditional system and indicates that the
old division between Enjebi and Enewetak peoples has lost much of its

Meaning.

The council is now a representative body drawn from the entire

population and reflects a unified community with acknowledged common goals.
The chiefs, however, remain important figures as advisors and men of influence.
CHURCH AND RELIGION
The church is the focal point for many community social activities

of the Enewetak people. The prevailing religious system is a conservative
type of Protestantism in which church services, Bible classes, church
group meetings, and hymn singing have replaced traditional intertribal

wars, sports, games, and dancing.

The minister is the spiritual leader of the community and is
supported and assisted by the chiefs of the clans. The church functions
are time consuming and require a considerable effort from the membership. Sundays in particular are devoted almost entirely to church services
and related activities. From this it is apparent that the church influences
the life of the Enewetakese to a great degree.
LAND
The atoll soil is poor, thus agriculture is limited.

For centuries

subsistence has been marginal and precarious for the island inhabitants
despite hard work. Nevertheless, the residents have always maintained
a deep emotional attachment to their home islands and ancestral land.

The land parcels, or watos, on Enewetak Atoll were like those found
elsewhere in the Marshalls. Most commonly, each was a strip of land
stretching across an island from lagoon beach to ocean reef and varying
in size from about 1 to 5 acres in extent. The resources of al]
ecological zones were thus available to the individuals who held right to
the land. Less commonly, a parcel was divided into two or more portions
with transverse boundaries. This usually occurred when an island, Enjebi
for example, was very wide. Boundaries were usually marked by slashes
on the trunks of coconut trees, or less commonly, ornamental plants.
Also, other features of the natural topography, e.g., large boulders
on the ocean reef and the very configuration on an island, were used to fix
the position of landholdings.
One facet of Enewetak Atol] culture that differed from that of the
rest of the Marshalls was the system of Jand tenure and inheritances. In
contrast to the rest of the Marshalls were matrilineal descent groups
known as bwij or lineage constitute landholding corporations, the land

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