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.