In 1947 the United States accepted a United Nations trusfreeship for what
came to be termed the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
former Japanese mandated
islands,
including
This comprised all
the Marshalls,f which had been
reconquered by American forces during World War II.
In 1980 representatives of the United States and the Marshall Islands agreed
to a Compact of Free Association.
Under this arrangement the[Marshallese wil]
enjoy full internal self-government and control over foreign
United States guaranteeing security and defense.
&ffairs, with the
This relationship will] continue
for fifteen years with the United States providing generous ecohomic assistance.
United Nations approval for the ending of the trust
drrangement seems
assured.
There is reason to expect that 1981 will see the birthfof the sovereign
nation of the Marshall
Islands.
She already has
organized a government, and created a flag.
developed] a constitution,
In their indepdndent status the
Marshal] Islands will need to continue developing an efficiest bureaucracy, a
viable economy, a functional educational
system, and an adequate health care
program.
(For
an
excellent
detailed
historical
summary of WestErn
influence
in
Micronesia, see the paper entitled American Rule in Micronesif: Where Have Al}
_the Dollars Gone
by Ors. Hamnett and Kiste of the East-WeBt Center and the
University of Hawaii, 1980.)
0.
The Marshallese Social System
There are three classes in the Marshall Islands in the sokial stratification
system. At the top there is the iroij system or class, whichfis the class of the
chiefs.
Iroij laplap is the term for high chief and there arB
chief 'owns' all of the land on a certain island or atoll or
few of those.
The
droup of atolis, and
he is the supreme authority.
The next class is the alab class, which is the lineage
really secondary land owners because the iroij
is still
th@
heads.
They are
chief land owner.
The alabs, then, are heads of families or clans and they fare responsible to
distribute the land for its various uses.
belongs to individuals.
Land is rarely efer in the hands or
It is only a trust that belongs to
[the whole family or
The atolls are very narrow, often a
qity block in width,
and the alab slices the island like a loaf of bread, giving
gach strip, known 35
tribe under the iroij.
wato, which extends from lagoon to ocean, to a household or tq a family to operate
it and live on it.