-_m but which seems to be a carryover from the old religious sytam. there was more openness in discussing old legends and hero taleq not seen by Marshallese as having religious connotations, which today are ut which in the context of Micronesian culture and world view, seem to reflect religious beliefs and practices. For example, fhe pre-Christian If on the sixth day after b@rial, people are successful in hiding around the grave, they would see the soul] coming out and flying off through the air to Mili, southeast of the deceased @f Majuro. This, then, is an example of a pre-christian belief which has accomodated itself to their current Christian philosophy. Nowadays, many Protesant denominations, as well as the Catholic Church, are active in the Marshall Islands. These include representatives churches and also Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and others. the mainline In regent years, the Seventh-day Adventist Church through its educational and healt& become prominent in the Marshalls. programs has It appears that the religiqus beliefs and practices are an expression of the general Gemeinschaft nature of fhe Marshallese society, that is, a reinforcement of interpersonal relationship&, more than a means of salvation of the individual. Traditional healers] (magicians) continue to function covertly beneath the umbrella of and Rijoubwe christianity. One Marshallese informant in Majuro flashed a potentially tantalizing line of investigation into their beliefs by mentioning that the rekson why some Marshallese would not destroy or allow others to destroy rats on c@conut trees is because they feel rats are “their relatives, like others also congider sharks as their relatives." Is this a vestige of a totemic belief system? Ald 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 socia! strucutre, their family system, and material goods and power as pefceived by them in conquering nations, the latest of which is the United States. Consequently, anything "American" is superior and desirable from items of fool, to items of dress, to disco music and dancing, etc. In fact much of what broadcast on Radio Majuro is American rock, to say nothing of the proliferatign of “discos." Their perception of what is “American" is gleaned largely from Amefican films and from observing American expatriats such as volunteer worMers, American missionaries, American armed services personnel and their familiés. 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